Stormers’ first half guarantees win over Cheetahs
THE Stormers ran out 16-14 victors over the Cheetahs in a Super Rugby match at Newlands on Saturday night, after leading 16-0 at the break.
The game was poised on a knife-edge as the Cheetahs clawed their way back in the last quarter of the match after they outscored the Stormers by two tries to nil in the second half.
But the Stormers’ 16-0 halftime cushion was ultimately enough to see the home side to victory after 80 minutes.
The Cheetahs showed early intent to run the ball from inside their own half but they came up against a solid defence in the opening five minutes. At that stage they seemed determined to continue in that fashion and the Stormers looked comfortable absorbing the pressure.
When the Stormers managed to change the flow of the match the Cheetahs battled to contain several sorties into their 22-metre area and they often offended at the breakdowns.
In the space of six minutes, the Cheetahs were penalised three times and Stormers flyhalf Peter Grant was on target with all three attempts to give his side a 9-0 lead after only 15 minutes.
The Stormers lifted their play with several attacking movements which saw fine interplay as the forwards combined well with the backs. This resulted in pressure on the Cheetahs defence and they finally yielded in the 23rd minute when lock Eben Etzebeth crashed over near the Railway Stand corner flag. Grant goaled splendidly from the touchline (16-0).
The Stormers started the second half strongly and they were nearly in at the Grandstand corner flag but Grant was bundled out by the Cheetahs’ cover defence. The Stormers looked to add more pressure but the Cheetahs staged a break-out from their 22-metre area to lay the platform for their opening try.
The Stormers’ defence out wide failed to contain the attack and Hennie Daniller rounded off splendidly in the corner. Substitute Riaan Smit converted (16-7).
In the 55th minute a free-for-all lasting some four minutes saw the play held up and Stormers flank Rynhardt Elstadt was yellow carded.
The Stormers continued to hold the upper hand in the match and looked set for another advance as they came within a whisker of scoring a few times but they were rocked by a Willie le Roux intercept pass virtually on his own try line. He sprinted the length of the field to score in the corner. Smit again raised the flags from the touchline (16-14). — Sapa