Stormers coach Rassie Erasmus says despite his team being relieved of the pressure of making the Super 14 play-offs, they still have a lot to play for this season.

When Erasmus started his tenure with the Stormers two years ago many heralded him as the Cape franchise's saviour after witnessing many seasons of Super Rugby disappointment.

The team's impressive showing during last year's tournament further encouraged belief that the team is heading for an upward curve.

However, this year's slide from grace is illustrated by their eleventh ranking on the Super 14 standings and Erasmus is feeling the heat as his position started to come under the spotlight over the past few weeks.

"When you lose a lot of players and you also lose so many close games pressure does start to build," Erasmus told us ahead of their clash against the third-placed Chiefs at Newlands on Saturday.

"The pressure will always be on players and coaches playing in Cape Town because people are rugby mad here.

"But we also put pressure on ourselves and I think that's the way it should be.

"We'll take the credit if it's going well and we'll also take the pressure if it's not. It's part of the game," he explains.

Speculation has been rife that Erasmus' position as Stormers coach was under threat, with World Cup winning Springbok coach Jake White's name having been linked with the franchise in recent times. However, the possibility of White taking up a position of director of rugby with Western Province and Stormers, seems like a more likely scenario.

Erasmus' contract still has one year to run and Stormers bosses have also expressed their unconditional support for their beleaguered senior professional coach.

While Erasmus has also been linked to the yet-to-be launched Southern Kings, which SA Rugby hopes to have included in Super Rugby by 2011, he quickly dismissed any rumours of a possible move to the Eastern Cape.

"My contract runs until the end of next year," Erasmus stressed. "We are in a process and I think we are getting things right although the scoreboard does not show that all the time.

"We took a step back this year after doing well last year. I have made mistakes [but] I am improving as a coach and the players are getting better as well.

"We must learn from tough times like this. Unfortunately sponsors and fans want results, so we need to learn quicker."

365

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