Lions pay the price as Stormers get it right
THE Stormers ended a fivematch losing streak with a much-needed victory over the Lions yesterday, which was all that mattered for the battered Cape franchise.
The Stormers scored the only two tries of the match in the first half and the Lions scored the only points of a diabolical second half from a lone Marnitz Boshoff penalty.
The match summed up the current poor state of South African rugby with a litany of errors and turnovers that would have cost both teams heavily against better opposition. One of the small positives was the performance of Stormers hooker Deon Fourie. He wore the No 2 but played like an openside flank and was instrumental in seeing his team to their first win in six weeks.
He poached, harried, harassed and infringed with manic intensity to lay a winning platform for his team.
A crucial steal on the stroke of half time, minutes after Fourie had twice been penalised for slowing the ball on his tryline, underlined his performance.
Fourie lived on the edge having earlier received a yellow card for a silly shoulder charge on Lions prop Julian Redel- inghuys, but his competitive nature shone through and was the catalyst for the victory.
Initially it seemed nothing would go to script for the Stormers. They lost flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis in the fourth minute after a knock on the head. It meant Peter Grant returned to No 10, with Jaco Taute coming on at fullback.
Grant’s goal-kicking woes, stemming from an ankle injury in Japanese club rugby, continued. He missed a straightforward penalty and an easier conversion but the Stormers controlled the contest thanks to a surfeit of possession.
Their lineout was particularly menacing after weeks of impotence and the scrums were more of a battle against referee Stuart Berry than the Lions.
Even when No 8 Duane Vermeulen was forced to throw in while Fourie was in the sin bin, the Stormers won the lineout.
There was a clear decision to attack from deep, in stark contrast to their style of the past four years where they played for field position before moving the ball wide.
While effort and endeavour were there, the Stormers’ execution was mostly poor. Clearly years of ingrained conservatism won’t be eradicated in a couple of weeks.
The Stormers’ first try was a result of quick thinking from captain Jean de Villiers, who tapped a penalty instead of ordering a shot at goal. It created panic in the Lions defence and wing Damian de Allende was unstoppable from close.
Six minutes before the break, flank Nizaam Carr crashed through two tacklers to score after the Stormers had taken the ball through a dozen phases. It was as much as the home team deserved, having made all the running in the first half.