All hail the mighty Stormers

SO WERE you one of the 40 000 or so lucky ones at Newlands on Saturday? If you were, you will know what we are talking about when we say the Stormers-Chiefs clash was one of the best rugby matches at the grand old stadium in, at least, the last 10 years.

In fact, the last time a Newlands crowd was so thrilled by a Stormers performance was probably even further back than that – the famous “Men in Black” era of the late 1990s, which culminated in them reaching the semi-finals.

Social media was buzzing on Saturday night. And, no wonder, because this was a match that had everything that makes the game of rugby so special – stunning tries, magic offloads, courageous and resolute defence, pin-point tactical kicking and deadly accurate goalkicking.

Let’s be honest, as good as the Stormers have been so far this season in their unbeaten stretch of five matches, even their most loyal fans knew deep down that the Chiefs at Newlands, their first New Zealand opposition this year, was the real test of Robbie Fleck’s men.

And how brilliantly did this young Stormers team respond.

The Chiefs scored three great tries, one of which is a candidate for try of the year, and yet each time the Stormers fought back and regained the lead, before defending their line with huge determination to keep the Kiwis from their line in a frantic final 10 minutes.

Even more pleasing for local fans is the fact that the Stormers have not deviated from their attacking strategy, and that was beautifully illustrated by the spectacular offload from Dillyn Leyds to SP Marais for his try.

New Zealander Paul Feeney’s influence as Stormers attack coach is clear to see, and the conditioning of the team allowed them to keep up with the Chiefs every step of the way.

Most of all, it warms our hearts to see good old fashioned “WeePee” rugby being played again at Newlands. Can we please have three loud cheers for Robbie Fleck!