Stormers blow away Bulls, but too little, too late
THE Stormers saved their best display for last at an electric Newlands last night, leaving their fans with happy smiles and shrugs of frustration, wondering why they didn’t put on a performance like this earlier in the season.
In the end the Stormers have missed the play-offs by one place, while the Bulls now face the prospect of a possible final in New Zealand — if they progress past the semifinal stage in a fortnight.
After last week’s patchy and frankly fortuitous win against the Sharks at Loftus, the Bulls couldn’t cope with the ferocity and skill of the Stormers. The Bulls’ graph looks to have flat-lined at the most critical stage of the season. Fortunately, apart from the Crusaders, the other four teams in the play-offs — the Cheetahs, Brumbies, Reds and Chiefs — don’t appear to have much momentum either.
Although the Bulls were assured of a home semifinal before the kick-off, following the Brumbies’ loss earlier in the day, top of the overall standings was still theirs for the taking with a win. Their failure to rise to the occasion last night raises questions about their title credentials.
The Bulls were rocked back by a ferocious Stormers first-half onslaught in a test-like atmosphere and even though the home team was punished with two yellow cards, the visitors still couldn’t take advantage.
The Cape side won the collisions, dominated the breakdown, bossed the lineouts and ruled the scrum. The Bulls simply couldn’t get into the game for the first 40 minutes, and the only way they could limit damage was by defending close to the offside line, stifling the Stormers’ movement as quickly as possible.
It worked with moderate effect, but they were still unable to stop Jean de Villiers’ deft inside pass freeing wing Bryan Habana to score against his former side from 30m out, with less than a quarter of the match gone.
Habana, playing his 57th and final Stormers match, dotted down for the 18th time in the hooped jersey to drive the dagger further into the Bulls’ hearts, taking the home team into a 14-3 lead at that stage.
De Villiers was both hero and villain on the night, making scything breaks and scoring a crucial secondhalf try, but also earning a yellow card for a late shoulder charge on opposite number Francois Venter.
His indiscretion, on the stroke of halftime, saw Morné Steyn land his second penalty to make it 23-13 at the break and could have ruined the Stormers’ momentum. But they dug in in the early stages of the second half while De Villiers looked help- lessly on, conceding no more than the three points Steyn had taken.
Once again the Stormers pack laid the foundation, with lock Eben Etzebeth leaving no doubt about the identity of SA’s pre-eminent tight forward.
For the Bulls, Steyn’s kicking, both from the tee and from hand, was evidence of his great form and confidence, while No 8 Dewald Potgieter led from the front. But it wasn’t enough, leaving the Bulls, having been comprehensively outplayed, with some soul-searching to do before the semifinals .