Despite brave fightback, Stormers in trouble with three losses in a row

THE Stormers’ Super Rugby campaign is fast approaching a crossroads after they slumped to a third consecutive loss after starting the season with four straight wins.

Friday’s defeat against the Hurricanes in Wellington had its genesis in a poor first-half display that saw the home team run into a 25-3 lead at the break.

With that cushion, the Hurricanes were almost impossible to beat and although the Stormers showed tremendous character and fighting spirit to rally and “win” the second half 17-0, the mountain was just too big to summit in 40 minutes.

The result has left the Stormers struggling outside of a play-off berth on the overall standings on 17 points. After four rounds, they had 16 points and in the past three outings they have managed to collect only one more league point out of a possible 15.

Captain Duane Vermeulen is also coming home for “more rest”, according to coach Allister Coetzee.

The Stormers claim this was always a part of their plan, but considering Vermeulen sat out their tour opener against the Highlanders last weekend, it appears to be an odd decision.

Centre Juan de Jongh is also struggling with an ankle injury, so Pat Howard has been called up as cover.

With their game against defending champion the Waratahs looming in Sydney this weekend, things don’t become easier. The Stormers have not won in Sydney since 2007.

After losing to the Hurricanes, the Stormers were quietly aggrieved at some errors from the officials that led directly to two Hurricanes tries.

But the reality was that in the first half the Stormers were flat-footed and inaccurate, and that, more than mistakes by officials, was the source of NO WAY THROUGH: Stormers wing Dillyn Leyds tries to get around Brad Shields of the Hurricanes in Wellington their undoing. The Stormers uncharacteristically fell off tackles and failed to secure their own possession in promising attacking positions.

Several times they worked the ball into Hurricanes territory, only to cough it up and be forced to scramble on defence 60 metres downfield.

On one occasion, it led to a sublime try by flyhalf Beauden Barrett that started just about on the Hurricanes’ own tryline.

The home team gave the visitors a lesson in ball handling, support play and running lines to carve their way upfield for a try that will feature as one of the best of the season.

The Stormers’ scrum again functioned superbly with props Vincent Koch and Steven Kitshoff particularly impressive, not only when pushing, but also around the park.

It was a series of powerful scrums that led to a penalty try for the Stormers early in the second half, which marked the start of the fightback.

The pressure exerted at the set piece filtered through the rest of the Hurricanes team and they started to make errors that they didn’t in the opening 40 minutes.

When centre Huw Jones, a late replacement for De Jongh before kickoff, slithered into the corner off a clever pass from No 8 Vermeulen there was a faint glimmer of a sensational result.

A 72nd-minute penalty from replacement flyhalf Kurt Coleman brought the Stormers within grasp of victory. But they couldn’t find a way through in the final seven minutes as the Hurricanes remained the only undefeated team in this year’s Super Rugby tournament with their seventh consecutive win.