THE STORMERS’ SEASON SO FAR
WITH Super Rugby suspended, here are
Wynona Louw’s five favourite moments of the Cape team’s campaign up to now...
THAT SEASON-OPENING TRY
We often hear commentators refer to a piece of play as delicious, and sometimes the quality of the whatever they’re describing really does the word justice, other times not.
But how about the Stormers’ seasonopening try against the Hurricanes?
After picking the ball up from the base of a ruck a short distance from the try line, Herschel Jantjies put in a perfectlyexecuted cross kick to the corner for Sergeal Petersen, who easily collected the stitched oval to score.
There was something almost instinctive, no, telepathic, about that movement. There was no pause or stagger, it looked as though Petersen had already started his over-the-tryline dive when the ball magnetically landed in his hands. And then there was also Jantjies’ vision and decision-making.
Now that was delicious.
THEIR USE OF THE INSIDE BALL AGAINST THE LIONS
Rugby has a lot of beauties and marvels – an offload delivered to perfection, a long-range drop goal that hits the spot, a side-step done quickly and at a ridiculously close range, a spot tackle that gets the crowd talking for days, and so we can go on and on.
Another one is the inside ball, and in their away game against the Lions, the Stormers used it to devastating effect.
There was that hot one-handed delivery by Juarno Augustus, who was probably only three blades of grass away from the touchline, that set Petersen up to finish on his inside. But the best, by far, was the inside ball to Ruhan Nel which saw him grab the match-winning, redclock try.
That skip pass from Jean-Luc du Plessis to Petersen was already a fine production all on its own. The addition of Petersen’s inside pass to Nel, class.
THAT PERFORMANCE BY TROKKIE
Ahead of the Stormers’ big game against the Sharks, one that coach John Dobson described as ‘possibly season-defining’, the influence of an in-form Sikhumbuzo Notshe enjoyed quite a bit of air time in the week building up to the fixture, and for good reason.
The former Stormers loosie has certainly been flourishing under the Sharks’ style of play, and knowing all too well what Notshe can bring when given a bit of space, Dobson said his charges would have to keep the skilful forward in check.
But it was the Stormers’ Augustus that owned the battle of the back-rowers in their last Super Rugby meeting.
Given the injury troubles the young forward has encountered and the halts in momentum it has brought, it was great to see him produce a Super Rugby performance that showed just what he can do. Just a pity he won’t be able to build on it anytime soon.
EVERY MOMENT THEY SPENT AT THE TOP OF THE OVERALL LOG
Ja, ja, Super Rugby isn’t won after four rounds, but seeing the Stormers go through the first four rounds unbeaten and sitting pretty at the top of the combined standings was a screenshot worthy opportunity considering the horrors they’ve experienced in recent years. It didn’t last, and whether they’ll have a chance to work their way back to the top this season or not remains to be seen. Nonetheless, it was a lekker sight.
NULLIFYING THE KIWIS
Thought I’d be able to leave this one off the list, but as it turns out, the self-control just wasn’t there after all.
The Stormers couldn’t have opened their Super Rugby campaign on a better note, and while the Hurricanes were diabolical, you can’t take an ounce of credit away from the superb Stormers.
That 27-0 victory at Newlands was as impressive in terms of the scoreboard as it was in terms of performance. Regardless of how the latter part of the Stormers’ campaign went, it will forever be good to see a South African team hammer New Zealand opposition like that, especially if they’re as vuil as the Canes were in that game.