Stormers remain unbeaten after shrugging off Zebre
Zebre (7) 20 Stormers (17) 37
Zebre — Tries: Christopher Cook, Ion Neculai. Conversions: Tiff Eden (2). Penalties: Eden (2). Tries: Junior Pokomela, Neethling Fouche, Herschel Jantjies, Sacha Mngomezulu; Conversions: Mngomezulu (4); Penalties: Mngomezulu (3).
● The Stormers struggled for rhythm and tempo but they kept Zebre Parma at arm’s length to remain unbeaten in the United Rugby Championship yesterday.
The defending champions were far from polished but they applied just enough elbow grease to get the job done against nagging opponents. They won 37-20 and secured a bonus point in the process.
It was perhaps a performance one has come to expect from a much changed team in their first match on tour.
The Stormers played with little continuity but they showed enough game awareness and physicality to beat down the challenge of a team still searching for their first win of the campaign.
Though the hosts played with grit and enthusiasm, they committed far too many elementary errors to trouble the tourists. This, of course, was a much changed Stormers team, as many of their star players were being rested.
Flank Willie Engelbrecht is a man drawn to the thick of things and he was one of the Stormers’ forwards at the forefront of the assault on the home team. So too was Junior Pokomela.
The visitors got an early lead after a well worked maul try for Pokomela but they struggled to assert themselves for the next half-hour.
The backs, though, looked a little disjointed. They had one stand-out performer, Sacha Mngomezulu, who played with assurance and maturity and generally looked the part at inside centre. He did well off the kicking tee too and, perhaps fittingly, secured the bonus point try in the 79th minute. He is a potential star in the making.
There were times, however, when the visitors were a little sloppy but their cause was aided by opponents whose tactical kicking was off the mark.
The hosts did not do themselves any favours. Once frustrated by the Stormers defence, they turned to the boot but found little joy.
The game got scrappy after Pokomela’s try and it took another half-hour before another rumbling effort from the Stormers’ forwards to get the visitors over the line again. Pokomela featured prominently in the buildup, before Neethling Fouche touched down.
If that created the impression the Stormers would firmly grab the initiative, it was soon disproved when the home team hit back with a try of their own.
The Stormers’ defence, which had been firm for much of the first-half, suddenly became quite passive. It allowed Christopher Cook to dive over for a converted try that left the Stormers with a 17-7 lead at the break.
Soon after half-time, however, the Stormers’ defence was again found wanting as Zebre’s pick and go helped them edge closer to the goal line before tighthead prop Ion Neculai crashed over.
Mngomezulu’s boot, however, helped keep them at bay.