Storming game by Siya Kolisi sees off Cheetahs
STORMERS flank Siya Kolisi carried his superb Springbok form back into the Super Rugby arena with a blockbusting performance that steered his side to a comprehensive win over the Cheetahs last night.
Kolisi capped the display with a fine try 14 minutes from time, but it was his overall work rate, in tandem with Deon Fourie in the back row, that proved pivotal.
It was a clinical display from the Stormers that underlined their best traits, from a solid lineout and scrum, physicality in the tackle, to more incisiveness on attack. It also served to remind their fans of what might have been.
Despite the valuable four points, the Stormers have left themselves too much to do to earn anything more than an away trip to either Australia or New Zealand if they make the play-offs. And making the last six is still a long shot.
The win moved them to 42 points and 10th on the standings, still four points behind the sixthplaced Cheetahs.
With the unerring boot of fullback Joe Pietersen on hand to punish any
Free State team had a chance to confirm their place in the last six for the first time
Cheetahs mistake, the Stormers squeezed the life out of the Free Staters like a python would do to a buck.
Pietersen contributed 13 points from two conversions and three penalties to keep the Stormers’ slim play-off chances alive, while the result put a serious dent in the Cheetahs’ post-season aspirations.
After the Hurricanes and the Blues both lost earlier this weekend, the Cheetahs had a chance to confirm their place in the last six for the first time. They now face the Blues in Bloemfontein next weekend in what is essentially play-off eliminator in their only remaining game.
The Stormers have an away match against the Kings and a home game versus the Bulls to come. They will need 10 points to stand a chance.
The match was characterised by the brutal defence of both teams, a style synonymous with the Stormers but not always the Cheetahs.
However, the Cape side, comfortable with their attacking limitations, used defence as a weapon. The Cheetahs simply grew increasingly impatient at the nature of the game in which their strike runners were bottled up and eventually cracked under the strain of having no
Despite the four points, the Cape side have left themselves too much to do
space or time on the ball.
Free State flanks Heinrich Brussow and Lappies Labuschagne were superb in the opening 30 minutes, with the former displaying all his skills at the breakdown and the latter making mountains of tackles.
When Stormers wing Gio Aplon trampled on Brussow’s face on the half hour, perhaps unintentionally, it resulted in a blood-bin visit for the flank and a change in the tide of the match.
The Stormers pressed hard and in Brussow’s absence, they were able to build momentum through multiple-phase attacks where hooker Scarra Ntubeni, a late replacement for Tiaan Liebenberg, and centre Damian de Allende were prominent.
From one such movement Kolisi also carried strongly and the Stormers earned a penalty in the red zone. Instead of opting for an almost guaranteed three points, captain Fourie gambled on a lineout and rolling maul in search of a try.
The plan was executed perfectly and Fourie was on the end of the maul to flop over the line, which Pietersen converted.
It gave the Stormers the edge at the break and the momentum they needed to carry them to their biggest win of the season and, improbably, in sight of the play-offs.