No slowing down by Super Stormers
Jaguares outmuscled at wet Newlands
THE Stormers can now say they have built a habit of winning.
After their dramatic win over the Lions at Ellis Park last weekend, head coach John Dobson said that they could only confidently say they’re making winning a habit if they won the Round Four fixture.
In their Johannesburg game against the Lions, the Stormers struggled to string phases together, and that also added to Dobson’s frustration where try-scoring was concerned. They eventually snatched the game from the hosts’ claws with a red-clock try by centre Ruhan Nel.
But against the Jaguares, in a match for early conference supremacy, it went better.
In many ways, this game was exactly what we expected it to be. It was tough. It was physical. Neither side backed down when it came to the physical exchanges. The scrum was a good show, an area where the Jaguares definitely looked better than they had the week before but, ultimately, it was one the Stormers could claim.
The defence of both sides ensured that no tries were scored before the break. Until then, the major points included some fine scrummaging displays by the Stormers especially (even when Frans Malherbe went off with a yellow and centre Jamie Roberts packed down at the set-piece), a couple of line-out glitches and aerial fumbles by the home side, and a penalty kick slotted by flyhalf Damian Willemse early on. For the Jaguares, their error rate would have been the most frustrating part; they failed to hold onto the ball too many times. The Stormers just did better in slippery conditions. They took their chances.
Then, after the break, the Herschel Jantjies factor was injected into the inter-conference contest.
The Springbok scrumhalf scored a beaut of an intercept try after reminding the Jaguares in midfield just why you can never take your eyes off him. He sniped through them, before stepping in-out past a defender to score the opening try. Willemse converted to extend their lead to 10-0.
That piece of play again showed just why Janthies is such a gamechanger – that vision, that awareness, and that quick reaction was only made better by his display of pace and quick feet.
After that, the game opened up and the Stormers moved the ball through the hands more, and they got good return for it when outside centre Ruhan Nel showed his power to bash through defenders and get the ball down for their second. Willemse made no mistakes with this one either and added the extras (17-0).
Things might have got scrappy early in the second half, but the Argentinians didn’t allow the Stormers to keep another team scoreless at Newlands when No8 Rodrigo Bruni crashed over to get their first try, with Domingo Miotti hitting his target to add the conversion (17-7).
They threatened to narrow the margin again in the last quarter, but what first appeared to be a try wasn’t awarded and the hosts maintained a healthy lead.
The Stormers, who top the South African conference, next face the Blues at Newlands, then they have a bye before taking on the Sharks in Durban in their last game on South African soil.
Tries: Rodrigo Bruni Conversions: Domingo Miotti
SHARKS REBELS (22) 36 (10) 24
IF there was one moment that summed up the esprit de corps the Sharks are enjoying under Sean Everitt’s refreshing guidance, it was when Makazole Mapimpi had sauntered over the Rebels’ tryline only for him to selflessly pass the ball to Curwin Bosch for the dot down, instead of notching a hattrick in Melbourne yesterday.
That act illustrated that this Sharks side is not about individuals or personal milestones and is evidence that the team-comes-first culture that Everitt insists on is gaining serious traction.
That spirit and character further revealed itself when the Sharks played five minutes of the second half with 13 men. After having been good value for their 22-10 half-time lead, the Sharks had two players yellow carded soon after each other. Just a minute into the second half, hooker Kerron van Vuuren was binned for a dangerous tackle and then five minutes later wing Madosh Tambwe was carded following multiple penalties against his team for offside.
The Rebels did score in that period but it could have been a lot worse if the Sharks hadn’t responded with their best defence of the game. The Rebels had closed the score to 22-17 and it appeared that it was game on but the Sharks rallied, defended stoically and then immediately they were restored to their full complement they produced their best period of play of the game, a 19-phase attack that culminated in Mapimpi wrestling over for what the referee deemed a try when TV evidence suggested the contrary.
It was a bit of fortune for the Sharks and with their tails up, they nailed the game when a breakout from the Sharks’ line by captain Andre Esterhuizen eventually saw Mapimpi striding over and then gifting Bosch the match-clinching try.
On the subject of Esterhuizen, this match marked the awakening of the slumbering giant. Perhaps warming to the captaincy given him because of the absence of Lukhanyo Am (rested in accordance with Springbok protocols), he exploded into rumbustious form after having been largely dormant in the previous three rounds.
The 115kg of prime Klerksdorp beef bullied and bashed the Rebels defenders, snatched three turnovers at ruck time, scored a try and smashed the ball over the advantage line a multitude of times.
Speaking of forwards, the Sharks were noticeably better up front than they were in the defeat to the Hurricanes. As anticipated, the return of front-line props Thomas du Toit and Ox Nche to the starting line-up made a significant difference.
The Sharks won the scrum battles and the aforementioned pair were also impressively busy in general play — it was Du Toit’s 20m bullocking run to within a metre of the tryline that set up a try for Tambwe, who benefited from a long, wide pass from Bosch.
While it seemed apparent to all but the TMO that Bosch’s pass had drifted forward, the try was allowed to stand.
The awarding of two dubious tries to the Sharks by the TMO suggests the Sharks were lucky to win this game but that is far from the case — on balance of play the final score flattered the Rebels.
And with regards to the TMO, South African teams have suffered endlessly over the years at the jaundiced eyes of Aussie TMOS, so a bit of payback is only fair.
POINT SCORERS
Stormers:
Conversions:
Jaguares: