Du Preez lets slip Stormers’ closely-guarded‚ bruising ‘Kiwi day’ to prepare for NZ teams

Some might call it madness and others genius‚ but Thursdays at Stormers’ training are no longer gentle strolls through match-day preparation‚ but rather a thunderously intense session designed to take players to the limit of their capabilities.

The 55-minute afternoon field session has become known as ‘Kiwi day’ around the High Performance Centre in Bellville.

It was a closely guarded secret until flyhalf Rob du Preez casually tossed in the phrase when answering a question this week.

There was a pricking of journalists’ ears when Du Preez said: “Every Thursday we call a ‘Kiwi day’ where we prepare for them (NZ teams)‚ because we know they pose a different threat. We go hard at each other on Thursdays.”

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He did not expand and it was left to coach Robbie Fleck to try and throw a fire blanket on the remark.

“Kiwi Day is when we really increase the intensity‚ physicality and the tempo of our training session‚” Fleck explained.

“It’s a 55-minute session where it’s full on and we try to beat match-day intensity.

“It’s full contact and hard. The full contact part is only a portion of the session but it’s all about doing more than is required in a match situation.

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“The mindset is to beat a Kiwi type of game. We do it specifically on a Thursday because it’s closer to the match and players are starting to feel the intensity of the match already. They’re starting to switch on.

“Some teams like to do contact on a Tuesday but we prefer it being closer to the match. The All Blacks do 10 to 15 minutes of it on Thursday as well.

“We don’t want to be like them‚ but we want to beat them‚ and they are the standard at the moment.

“It’s been called a ‘Kiwi day’ but it could be called anything. We also have a ‘Turnover Tuesday’.

“We never used to do contact here at the Stormers in a week leading up to a match because some of the older players didn’t enjoy it and wanted to stay fresh. But we have taken a different approach without fear of injuries.”

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There is no doubt that the concept was brought across the Indian Ocean by New Zealander Paul Feeney who joined the Stormers’ coaching staff this year.

Although there is reluctance on the part of the Stormers to admit they’re focusing on NZ teams in this year’s competition‚ they are right to prepare as if they’re playing the Chiefs every weekend.

NZ rugby is the standard‚ which the world is trying to match‚ and there is no shame in the Stormers trying to do the same. The players seem to enjoy it as well.

• Stormers feel the heat, then apply the heatThe Stormers came close to losing their unbeaten run this season against a Sunwolves team that showed surprising enterprise in Singapore. 

Lock Pieter-Steph du Toit made no attempt to downplay how brutal‚ but important the session can be.

“The Kiwi Thursday has become quite a thing here‚ but I wouldn’t say we’re doing it specifically with New Zealand teams in mind‚” Du Toit said.

“The key is a 10-minute period within a high intensity session where we have full contact. We try to kill each other at training.

"It’s about making a mind-shift change with regards to getting our headspace right for game day.”

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport