Three try flurry saves Stormers
21 Apr 2006
Three tries in four minutes midway through the second half propelled the Stormers to their third away victory of the Vodacom Super 14 when they downed the Reds 24-20 in Brisbane.
The dance of the desperates never promised much, and errors plagued both side’s attempts to play constructively. The Stormers were further hamstrung by poor decision making – particularly at halfback – and a defensively frail back three. But for their four minute purple match, they did not threaten the Reds line with any conviction.
Credit, however, has to go to under-fire Stormers coach Kobus van der Merwe. His tactical decisions have been questionable this season, but tonight in Brisbane he got it right.
Last week the substitution of Naas Olivier after 50 minutes was a major contibuting factor to the defeat to the Chiefs. Now the same move was the catalyst to victory.
Olivier endured a disappointing first half, and the simulatenous injection of Peter Grant at flyhalf and Joe Pietersen at fullback sparked the Stormers, and 13-3 became 13-24 in minutes.
The momentum, so convincingly wrenched from the Reds, was never going to be conceded and a late score through veteran centre Ben Tune was a shade less than consolation.
The performance, coming after two consecutive defeats, was vital in the context of the Cape side’s season. The quality of the opposition was not great, but with the Crusaders, Sharks and Bulls to come, the Stormers knew that a win was crucial.
The confidence boost and familiar surroundings could well prove the cocktail that lifts the Stormers to a late season charge, ensuring respectability and – more importantly – time for the existing coaching staff and management.
Van der Merwe is a realist, and will know that the victory does not camouflage some home truths. Tonderai Chavhanga is not a fullback, he possesses neither the defensive ability or positional sense to inspire the most brittle confidence. His place is on the wing.
Jongi Nokwe, who later atoned through an 80 metre try, produced another wobbly with ball in hand and Rayno Benjamin was just plain appalling.
De Wet Barry, slated for the defeat against the Chiefs and caught up in the captaincy storm that followed, was immense in his return to jersey 12. Barry is not a 13 and if Van der Merwe cannot accomodate him as a 12 then he cannot accomodate him in the starting side.
Jean de Villiers underlined his split rugby personality further by again providing flashes of genius on attack, before fading to a ghost on defence. It was his awful attempt at a first-time tackle on Drew Mitchell that saw the Reds out to their convincing half time lead.
The Stormers return to Cape Town with renewed hope, but it is vital that perspective is maintained. The Reds in Brisbane are an entirely different prospect to the Crusaders in Cape Town, and it is the fixtures with the champions, semi-final chasing Sharks and arch enemies the Bulls that will decide whether the Cape side’s campaign will be deemed acceptable.
At this stage of the season, however, the Stormers will take what they get. Victory, no matter the opposition or the circumstance, is good enough for now.
THE MOMENTS THAT MATTER
78 mins: Consolation for the Reds through Ben Tune. Huxley converts. (Huxley 2/5)
60 mins: De Villiers inches from an intercept score. He knocks on unfortunately and it’s a Reds scrum.
58 mins: Stormers on fire! They score their try of the season with awesome work from De Villiers, Benjamin and Barry. Great support lines and handling sees Gerrie Britz under the poles. Grant converts. (Grant 3/3)
56 mins: Nokwe atones for a poor game with an 80m try. His control in dribbling from his own line is impressive and he has the pace and composure to score. Grant converts from in front , and the Stormers snatch the lead. (Grant 2/2)
54 mins: Stormers coach Kobus van der Merwe introduces Peter Grant and Joe Pietersen and it has an immediate impact. Strength in contact from Grant and fine touches from Pietersen see Brits make the scoring pass to Van Niekerk. Grant converts. (Grant 1/1)
51 mins: Andries Bekker is penalised for mountaineering, a call captain Barry and Bekker contest to no avail. Huxley to push the Reds out further … he’s missed an absolute sitter. (Huxley 1/4)
48 mins: Benjamin having a shocker. He knocks on again after a well worked Watson/Brits blindside move.
43 mins: 5m scrum sees Van Niekerk carry the ball strongly. It comes back to Olivier but he takes the wrong option and knocks on in heavy traffic.
42 mins: Stormers make a few metres through one-off runners, and the Reds concede the penalty. Barry instructs Olivier to go for the lineout, which is knocked on by the Reds. 5m scrum.
39 mins: Luke Watson makes a scrambling cover tackle that saves a certain score. Stormers’ line again broken with ease.
38 mins: Benjamin with an appalling clearance. The back three continue to struggle.
30 mins: Jean de Villiers AGAIN misses a routine tackle, he makes a pathetic attempt on Mitchell and the Wallaby flyer is through. Appalling, unacceptable defence. Huxley misses the conversion. (Huxley 1/3)
29 mins: Benjamin knocks the rolling ball. It’s not getting any better for those wearing 11,14 and 15.
26 mins: Great chase by Barry and fierce contesting by Burger wins the Stormers a vital penalty against the run of play. Big moments from the two Boks. Olivier has the chance to reduce the lead to two. He pushes it. (Olivier 1/2)
23 mins: Stormers back three on the ropes. Probing kicks behind Benjamin are also finding acres of space. Reds unlucky not to score from a maul when they’re pinged for accidental offside.
19 mins: Back three again appear shaky. Chavhanga takes the ball back into his 22 before clearing, thus the lineout is from where he kicked it. Reds showing a willingness to exploit Chavhanga and Nokwe’s brittle defence
18 mins: Reds not helping their cause by terrible tactical kicking. Second kick out on the full in 4 minutes.
16 mins: Simple high ball spilled by Nokwe.
14 mins: Good incisive attack by the Stormers. Barry and Chavhanga make good ground, but Nokwe is crowded out.
11 mins: Stormers retain possession well and get it within a metre. Reds pinged and this time Barry opts for the three. No problem for Olivier. (Olivier 1/1)
9 mins: Kickable penlty, and the Stormers opt for the lineout. Brave play.
7 mins: Naas Olivier’s attempted clearance is charged down, and from the resultant scrambling ruck De Wet Barry is pinged for hands. Gives Huxley the simplest chance to extend the lead, and he does. (Huxley 1/2)
6 mins: Reds inches away from another linebreak, this time in the Stormers 22. It’s tips of the fingers stuff for Drew Mitchell, and he just can’t hold on. Again, Stormers seem defensively frail out wide.
3 mins: Stormers start badly, as is now routine. They kick away a lot of possession early and concede a soft try to the rampaging Rodney Blake from close out.Julian Huxley has the chance to convert, but he pulls it. (Huxley 0/1)
SCORERS
Reds
Tries: Rodney Blake, Drew Mitchell and Ben Tune
Con: Julian Huxley
Pen: Huxley
Stormers
Tries: Joe van Niekerk, Jongi Nokwe and Gerrie Britz
Cons: Peter Grant 3
Pen: Naas Olivier
By Chris Hewitt
423 Comments
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21 Apr 2006, 12:55 pm
try no 3
21 Apr 2006, 12:55 pm
TRY STORMERS!!! again.
21 Apr 2006, 12:55 pm
the scary thing is, that despite playing disgusting rugby. the stormers are still in with a shout here.
says all you need to know about just how **** the opposition is. and thats got to be comforting.
we may have some kak teams in SA, notably the Cats and Stormers. But at least the Aussies have 2 kak teams – and even the kiwi’s have 2 very average teams as well. so its not all bad…
(yes I’m searching for positives…)
21 Apr 2006, 12:55 pm
*****! The Stormers have just scored 3 tries in a couple of minutes!
21 Apr 2006, 12:55 pm
aaah, the fickle nature of a sa rugby supporter!
21 Apr 2006, 12:56 pm
****, another Stormers try! This time a beaut. 3 tries in 3 mins!
21 Apr 2006, 12:56 pm
nice try i never knew the stormers were a second half team like the brumbies
21 Apr 2006, 12:56 pm
Antoher try!!! Come on!!!!!!
21 Apr 2006, 12:56 pm
Now we’re talking, guys I think the stormers heard what we all said.
21 Apr 2006, 12:56 pm
rapid,
kuduclub.com need to sign up tho …
21 Apr 2006, 12:56 pm
Try Big Joe , Nokwe , Gerrie Britz 22-13 STORMERS
21 Apr 2006, 12:56 pm
That’s a bit better. I guess it’s the coach. That’s the only thing that could explain such inconsistent performance.
21 Apr 2006, 12:57 pm
Sien ouens al wat hierdie dose nodig gehad het was n tongue lashing van jedi master yoda af, nou druk big doos en nokwe driee en selfs JDV lyk goed
21 Apr 2006, 12:57 pm
hoped fester taped his halftime speech
21 Apr 2006, 12:57 pm
raining in cape town since they socred. must be some kind of connection.
21 Apr 2006, 12:57 pm
Nice one LOL
21 Apr 2006, 12:58 pm
Stormers have a defensive lineout inside the reds 22, they will challenge and knock on reds, scrum stormers, 15 out from the reds line.
21 Apr 2006, 12:58 pm
wtf is going on with this team, are they insane?
21 Apr 2006, 12:58 pm
now how come they can’t play the whole game like these 3 min?
21 Apr 2006, 12:59 pm
Did they just score 3 tries or am I already half drunk ?
21 Apr 2006, 12:59 pm
LMAO shosholosa
21 Apr 2006, 12:59 pm
Penalty Reds as stormers were offside.
21 Apr 2006, 13:00 pm
**** me, did the Reds come out after half time?
21 Apr 2006, 13:00 pm
looks like good subs by Fester. 1st thing he’s done right in a while….
21 Apr 2006, 13:00 pm
Go you chops go! Anyone know if the Chippendales showed up at the match?
21 Apr 2006, 13:01 pm
stan
What worries me is that there are another 20min remaining.
21 Apr 2006, 13:01 pm
Stormers: The rugby version of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the stormers go close and the stromers are on FIRE, let me say that again FIRE!!!
21 Apr 2006, 13:01 pm
Yep 3 Tries in about 6 min.Barry had a role in all three , He is having a cracker
21 Apr 2006, 13:03 pm
Can’t belive the change in personnel has made this difference. Maybe Fester threatened them?
21 Apr 2006, 13:03 pm
jondood,
Yes, the 5 minutes of glory is over.
21 Apr 2006, 13:04 pm
5 out from the scrum, they attack midfield and conradie inside to andrews, britz now and knocks it on and valentine has it, huxley kicks and not out watson takes the tackle and they go wide, conradie almost thru, the reds turn over and mitchell out wide, johansson around the corner, mitchell, tune and pietersen gets his man and knocked on valentine/huxley, one of them.
21 Apr 2006, 13:04 pm
Munkiboi,
Money is influence boet – in any terminology. The world runs on money.
Mallet took a great team and made them no.1 in the world, then he decided to decimate it by pushing in more and more Stormers/WP until everything fell down. Where is Mullet today? Earning big bucks at the courtesy of WP!
SInce Mullet we have had a string of ‘pretenders’ all fillling the ranks with WP players and where are we? Not top, not in the top 3. What do you think White is up to? If you don’t believe me wait until White gets the bullet (it will happen) and, after a sojourn overseas, he will return in the WP management.
Mark my words.
As has been commented, the Stroremers players ‘are ensured of continued big bucks in the bok squad’
are ‘not performing well’.
Make up your own mind. As CSI said, ‘if your a professional then you should perform like one’ or similar. Are you convinced the Stormers players are playing as well as they should?
Do you think that, given they are a ‘cert’ for the bok side, they still need to perform knowing they are still going to get paid?
Work it out for yourself boet!
21 Apr 2006, 13:04 pm
Barry is a great player.
21 Apr 2006, 13:05 pm
get that bonus point, and you’ll add a semblance of respectability to your season guys!
c’mon, dont fade and let it slip as you’ve been want to do!
21 Apr 2006, 13:05 pm
Ag shame Stan , die Flou Bulle het mos verloor teen die Reds , nou is jy suur omdat die Stormers gat skop . Tipies Bul ondersteuner , geniet dit meer as die Stormers verloor as wat die Bulle wen.
21 Apr 2006, 13:05 pm
I think fester sent a message on to the field that if they didn’t win this one, they weren’t going to visit the *** clubs in Sydney on the way home.
21 Apr 2006, 13:05 pm
Stormers turn over and burger down the far touch line and tackled into touch by Matheson the prop.
21 Apr 2006, 13:06 pm
lol
21 Apr 2006, 13:06 pm
Nee Sremkots,
Ons nie nie suur nie, ons is verstom!
3 driee in 3 minute. Hoeveel het julle verlede naweek gedruk?
21 Apr 2006, 13:07 pm
if only the bulls could score tries like that.
21 Apr 2006, 13:07 pm
Stormers playing with ‘***’ abandon. Like they have nothing to lose. Option taking still shabby though. would like to see de Kock on.
21 Apr 2006, 13:08 pm
Feit bly staan , die Bulle het hul gat gesien Stanley.
21 Apr 2006, 13:09 pm
I’m sure the Stormers would also like to see a bit of “de Kock”
21 Apr 2006, 13:09 pm
Klink of Barry n moerse game het. Ek’s bly vir die klong.
21 Apr 2006, 13:09 pm
Just waiting for them to start defending the lead and then lose the match in the last few minutes…
21 Apr 2006, 13:10 pm
good day veltie.
21 Apr 2006, 13:10 pm
hope they play for the full 5 points. The kicking is quite pointless half the time. A better team than the reds would punish them.
21 Apr 2006, 13:10 pm
Stemvrots
Stem saam stan glad nie suur nie how did this game started KAK scored 3 tries and then what started playing pissy again we lost and thats that!!!!!!!!
21 Apr 2006, 13:11 pm
They look good in space, but the Stormers are useless in structured play. This game perfectly illustrates it. Clearly the coaching is the issue.
21 Apr 2006, 13:12 pm
sarky – de Kock is not on the bench , late withdrawel injured.Joe Pietersen is his stand in.
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