Try festival at Newlands as Stormers smash Kings
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST: Stormers flanker Rynhardt Elstadt is tackled by scrumhalf James Hall of the Southern Kings at Newlands Stadium, Cape Town, yesterday at Newlands CENTRE Huw Jones scored four tries and wing Leolin Zas a hat-trick as the Stormers dusted the Kings aside in a match that had no bearing on the final log positions, but could have serious consequences for the Cape side.
The Stormers will go into next week’s Super Rugby quarterfinal against the Chiefs without flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis after the youngster suffered an ankle injury late in the first half.
The only danger the hosts faced going into a dead rubber clash with the lowly Southern Kings was losing a key player to injury, and that’s exactly what happened.
Du Plessis has been the find of the season after being thrust into the pivotal role midway through the campaign after injuries to Rob du Preez and Kurt Coleman. It’s a serious blow for the Stormers before what will be their toughest test this season.
At the time he went off, Du Plessis was playing scrumhalf with Louis Schreuder in the sin bin, the victim of a team warning for repeated infringements close to their line.
Jones, newly capped by Scotland last month, scored two tries and Zas another by the time the Kings responded with a strike of their own through fullback Malcolm Jaer to keep the visitors interested going into the break.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck opted to rest Bok locks Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit and both were missed as the Stormers lineout misfired while the scrum was erratic.
It’s not that hooker Scarra Ntubeni didn’t connect with locks Jean Kleyn and JD Schickerling, but that the Stormers couldn’t set their rolling maul after gaining possession.
Jones’ second try came from a dominant scrum but minutes later the Stormers were shoved off the ball and then suffered losing a tighthead after that.
Despite the mistakes, there was some good play and Jones did his cause no harm to retain the No 13 jersey next week.
After making his test debut in the second match against Japan last month, Jones looked a different player. He suddenly appears to have an authority and massive confidence that was absent before June.
The Kings’ season was always going to be difficult but they finished it scrapping rather than putting up the white flag. That is a small crumb to hang on to for next season, as they scored two tries in the final five minutes to display fighting spirit.
Hooker Edgar Marutlulle continued his good form and was a handful in the loose away from his polished primary tasks. He looks like he could be a man to build a team around in seasons to come.
The Stormers wanted to continue building momentum going into the playoffs and they did that with five second-half tries as Jones and Zas completed their hat-tricks and replacement flyhalf Brandon Thomson scored his first Super Rugby try.
In a twist of fate, it’s Thomson who emerged from this match as a key man going into next week.