Chiefs in thrilling victory
Stormers fail to hold visitors as game goes into crucial stage
A STIRRING second-half performance by the Chiefs earned them a superb win over the previously undefeated Stormers in a pulsating Super Rugby encounter yesterday.
The Chiefs “won” the second half thanks to their superior attacking game that saw them score two tries after the break despite a creaking scrum and less possession.
For 30 minutes during the first half, when the Stormers ran into a 13-3 lead, they looked set to run away with it. But the visitors hung in there with tenacious defence while firing a few salvos of their own with the scraps they had.
This was a contest between the structure of the Stormers and the brilliance of the Chiefs in contact. Sublime offloads and a great awareness of space showed why the New Zealanders are considered the competition’s most dangerous side.
The win lifted the Chiefs to fourth on the overall standings while the Stormers, who failed to earn a losing bonus point, remained top of the SA Conference with 16 points.
They will have some soulsearching to do in their bye week before heading off on their Australasian tour.
One of the main subplots of this game was the contest between the opposing inside centres – the Stormers’ Damian de Allende and the Chiefs’ Sonny Bill Williams. And it lived up to the hype.
Williams made the first incision with a clever inside ball to flyhalf Aaron Cruden after sucking in De Allende and Juan de Jongh. But Stormers No 8 Duane Vermeulen read the play and smashed Cruden.
Minutes later De Allende took the ball at pace, skinned Williams on the outside, fed De Jongh, who then freed right wing Kobus van Wyk. The wing looked like a clear winner as he went for the corner, but Chiefs wing Bryce Heem covered acres of turf to make a try-saving tackle.
Sonny Bill wasn’t on the field when De Allende ran over replacement Tom Marshall to set up Van Wyk for the game’s opening try in the 19th minute.
Williams had departed the field a minute earlier after a sickening clash of heads with Stormers tighthead Vincent Koch. The New Zealander, who is also a professional heavyweight boxer, has never looked as groggy in the ring. But he passed the concussion protocols and was back on the field to finish the half.
The Stormers dominated first-half collisions and their scrum continues to set the competition standard. They won three first-half scrum penalties and two tightheads as the Chiefs failed to come to terms with the set piece.
But the Chiefs are littered with game breakers and despite surviving off scraps they went into the break only three points down after Cruden scored a try against the run of play.
Cruden’s ability to run support lines is understated but devastating. He was on hand to collect Heem’s inside pass for their first try and after the break he ran a lovely outside support line to set up left wing James Lowe for a try.
A late Sam Cane try sealed the victory.