Naka gets nada in Cape of Storms
at Newlands CHEETAHS head coach Naka Drotske signed off his eightyear coaching tenure last night with another defeat — an all too regular occurrence during his time in charge.
This was the 144th and final time Drotske took charge in a Super Rugby game and the 96th time his side has lost. Yesterday’s result was never in doubt after the Stormers dominated the opening quarter of the match and ran up a 16-0 lead.
The Stormers march towards the SA Conference title with their 10th victory of the season. It was their most stylish so far, with five tries, and they moved to 43 points on the standings.
Last year, the Cheetahs lost 33-0 at Newlands and it is turning into a horror venue for the Bloemfontein side.
Stormers flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis contributed 17 points with flawless kicking, underlining the fact that having a banker as a goal-kicker is still vital.
There were stellar performances everywhere from the home team. The scrum again slaughtered their opposition and two tries were gloriously worked off the set piece.
Replacement flank Sikhumbuso Notshe’s late strike from a scrum 45m out was a beautifully HOLDING ON: Damian de Allende of the Stormers is tackled by the Cheetahs’ Francois Venter constructed move that featured Cheslin Kolbe and Juan de Jongh in pivotal support roles.
But the star was wing Seabelo Senatla. He proved that his scoring prowess is not limited to the Sevens format, with two brilliantly taken first-half tries.
The first came after the Stormers countered from inside their own 22m area, starting with a great offload from Nizaam Carr to free the fast men out wide. Senatla finished strongly in the right-hand corner after the ball had travelled through half a dozen sets of hands.
His second try was a wellworked move off the dominant scrum close to the Cheetahs line. Duane Vermeulen picked up and fed scrumhalf Nic Groom, who found Senatla at an almost standing start. But his explosive acceleration saw him burst through a tackle to score under the crossbar.
The Stormers dominated the first half and came close to scoring several times on counterattacks. There was awareness that the Cheetahs defence is about as watertight as a colander and they attempted to exploit it at every opportunity.
But once again, their ability to finish moves was exposed in the opening period. They should have had three more first-half tries as moves broke down through knock-ons, wayward passes and poor options.
Against better opposition in the play-offs, those chances won’t come as often and they will need to be more clinical when they arrive.
The visitors, starved of possession for large swathes of the game, offered little more than effective rolling mauls from lineouts, high kicks on Stormers fullback Kolbe that had limited success and spoiling tactics at the breakdown.
The home team were far more effective and coordinated in attack.
Prop Steven Kitshoff, lock Eben Etzebeth and flank Siya Kolisi stood out as ball carriers, often giving their side momentum at contact points.
The Cheetahs’ one bright moment came from a rollingmaul try to flank Boom Prinsloo midway through the first half, but they offered little on attack.
A yellow card for Cheetahs No 8 Willie Britz after a high tackle on Kolbe made things worse for the visitors and the Stormers duly capitalised.
The Stormers put thoughts of an unlikely comeback to bed when centre Damian de Allende, who had another strong game, scored after Kolisi was held up just short of the line.