Lukewarm Stormers lash Landers
26 Apr 2008
The Stormers scored a comfortable 26-16 win over the Highlanders but failed to secure the all-important bonus point.
Seventeen second-half points buried the Highlanders, and even though winger Fetu’u Vanikolo scored at the death to give the scoreline some respectability the visitors were always second best. However, the Stormers could have won this encounter by far more, and it isn’t unfair to suggest they blew the ultimate opportunity to bag a bonus point.
The first period is one the hosts would rather forget, as the six changes to the starting line-up certainly effected their rhythm. The line-outs were a mess with Tiaan Liebenberg struggling to find his jumpers, and in the loose, the players failed to show that clinical edge so typical of their recent performances. Dylan des Fountain made an incisive break early on but ran away from his support, the end result being a turnover to the Highlanders on their own tryline.
Tony Brown and Highlanders flyhalf Mike Delany were the only men to get on the scoresheet in the first period, Brown nailing three penalties and Delany a drop goal and two penalties. Brown left the field with what seemed like an injury in the 27th minute, bringing Peter Grant into action earlier than expected. Although Grant lent fresh aggression to the backline assault, the Stormers struggled to penetrate the Highlanders defence.
Early in the second half, Jean de Villiers turned down three points in favour of a line-out five metres out. The decision backfired as the Stormers lost yet line-out another off their own throw.
But the Stormers kept their heads and reapplied the pressure, eventually earning another penalty. This time De Villiers pointed to the posts, and Grant reclaimed the lead.
Sireli Naqelevuki initiated the Schalk Brits try that broke the back of the Hurricanes last week and was once again responsible for a game-shifting piece of magic. A bullocking run on the left wing attracted as many as five defenders, but the Fijian still had the strength to get his hands through the tackle and offload to Andries Bekker. The mobile lock set up the next phase, and the ball flew wide to an unmarked Liebenberg on the right wing. The Highlanders cover arrived on cue, but the determined hooker shrugged off the would-be tacklers to score. Grant’s superb touchline conversion gave the hosts some breathing room at 19-9.
The momentum was with the hosts at this point and the Landers did their best to spoil. After 60 minutes, prop Clint Newland was yellow-carded for an offence at the maul. When the Stormers had an opportunity from point blank range, the forwards rumbled ominously and replacement Brits flew over for his second try in as many weeks. At 26-9, the result seemed secure, but the hosts were still hunting for that all-important bonus point for four tries.
A formidable 35m drive found the Highlanders with no answer to the Stormers pack’s synergy. Unfortunately for the hosts, another promising drive from the line-out was undone when No 8 Luke Watson knocked on with the try line begging.
The game ended in frustrating fashion for the hosts, as they spurned a couple of try-scoring opportunities through untimely turnovers. The scoreboard reflected a comfortable win, but the Stormers should have scored at least four tries.
The Lions and Cheetahs failed to do the Stormers any favours with their respective losses, but the Cape franchise could rue their own missed opportunities against the Highlanders. A four-try bonus would have elevated them to third on the log. A win is a good result, but they’re now under immense pressure to beat the Brumbies and climb the ladder from their current sixth-place standing.
Stormers - Tries: Tiaan Liebenberg, Schalk Brits. Conversions: Peter Grant (2). Penalties: Tony Brown (3), Grant.
Highlanders - Try: Fetu’u Vainikolo. Conversion: Blair Stewart. Penalties: Mike Delany. Drop goal: Delany.
By Jon Cardinelli
338 Comments
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26 Apr 2008, 19:47 pm
#299 K9_BaasPatrolliehond:
But I am 6 out of 6 for the first time
26 Apr 2008, 19:49 pm
#300 skopskiet:
hehe you are a Bulls supporter
26 Apr 2008, 19:56 pm
58 Crusaders
46 Hurricanes
46 Waratahs
44 Stormers
42 Chiefs
41 Sharks
37 Blues
37 Brumbies
26 Apr 2008, 20:00 pm
#300 skopskiet:
i think tahs for this one
Bulls v Waratahs Pretoria – Bulls 4 – Waratahs 1
26 Apr 2008, 20:00 pm
watch out for the Brumbies they had serious injury problem at the start , they still have a few out as far as i know but they gained a lot of experience. And they have a great history of being eliminated from the top 4 spots by the Bulls, this time the Bulls are not there.
26 Apr 2008, 20:02 pm
So take the above projection see where it leaves us.
Crusaders 43 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 58
Waratahs 36 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 42
Sharks 32 + 0 + 4 + 1 = 37
Chiefs 32 + 4 + 5 + 5 = 46
Hurricanes 31 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 46
Stormers 31 + 4 + 4 + 5 = 44
Brumbies 28 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 31
Blues 26 + 4 + 5 + 2 = 37
Force 24 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 30
Reds 16 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 19
Bulls 15 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 29
Highlanders 11 + 1 + 0 + 0 = 12
Cheetahs 11 + 4 + 1 + 1 = 17
Lions 8 + 0 + 1 + 1 = 10
Top 4 semi finalists Crusaders, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Stormers
26 Apr 2008, 20:06 pm
Nope Chch I’m a Stormers supporter and ironically enough looks like its going to be the old arch enemy Bulls to do the necessary to get us to the semi’s, long as we take care of Tahs, Brumbies and Lions ourselves which on todays performance is not a gimme.
26 Apr 2008, 20:06 pm
#306 skopskiet:
i thought that the Sharks would beat the Chiefs too
26 Apr 2008, 20:08 pm
Cheetahs stuffed my second clean sweep today, 6/6 last week and 5/6 today, pity I backed all the underdogs in the first few weeks though.
26 Apr 2008, 20:10 pm
#307 skopskiet:
This goes to show how important it was for the Stormers to get the bonus point tonight. They could have been competing to move away from a semi in Christchurch
26 Apr 2008, 20:10 pm
That last game Sharks – Chiefs will depend how its all stacked up to there, whoever will be hungrier, Sharks may even be out of it by then if they don’t score against Crusaders and lose to Cheetahs in Bloem.
26 Apr 2008, 20:12 pm
Yeah Stormers stuffed it tonight, should have put the bonus in the bag, they played wrong options last 20 going with forward roll overs instead of spreading it into space, they should have easily had the 4 tries, Bulls didn’t have a problem doing that last week.
26 Apr 2008, 20:12 pm
skopskiet,
You will be supporting the Blues and Reds in the last round
26 Apr 2008, 20:15 pm
The Crusaders just need 8 points for a home semi final now …. they can lose to the Sharks and it won’t matter. I think Robbie and the rest of us would want it wound up before we travel to Brisbane
26 Apr 2008, 20:16 pm
Yeah Church those two crunch derby games could go either way and Reds and Blues could do us big favors, too true.
26 Apr 2008, 20:18 pm
The other factor is that the Stormers for and against is about 20 points behind he Tahs and Huricanes. Even that last try tonight hurt them
26 Apr 2008, 20:20 pm
True again, was a poor result for Stormers tonight, trying too hard and not making the pressure tell when it mattered in the last 20, should have easily put 4 tries away without another breakaway try against us.
26 Apr 2008, 20:21 pm
It’s been a long season and one could see it in the Stormers’ performance tonight.
But the 6 changes were always going to have an impact. Here are some of my views:
* Tiaan L and Schalk F did not come off; the scrum where we had been highly competitive was thus nullified
* Tiaan’s lineout throws were just not good enough; ironic that he was man of the match
* Skeato also not did not quite deliver at the level that I would have expected him to; I think he needs to bulk up a bit
* Luke Watson, with the team battling, became his old individualist self again and I actually felt Rassie should brought Robbie D on earlier in Luke’s place
* Bolla was there and there about; Ricky upon arrival immediate provided a better platform
* Tony B’s confidence lacking at the moment
* Gcobani Bobo remains a liability at 13
* Gio Aplon simply too small at this level; 2008 Super 14 is showing that more than ever before
Stormers will be lucky to be in the Semis. But the improvement from 2007 to 2008 has been SENSATIONAL.
26 Apr 2008, 20:23 pm
#318 Sheriff:
Gio Aplon is good for high tackles
26 Apr 2008, 20:27 pm
Church
Yeah mate. But what do you make of my other observations?
26 Apr 2008, 20:27 pm
Stormers will have a good chance for the bonus point next week as the Brumbies have to play win at all costs rugby (with a bonus point preferable for them). The odd thing is that the Stormers looked ordinary when the Highlanders were throwing the kitchen sink
26 Apr 2008, 20:33 pm
Watson did very well while the momentum was there through the first 60, thereafter he tried one too many individualist moves trying too hard to make impressions, Liebenberg is a bit rusty having been out for awhile though I think his scrummaging and front row power is a better option to start long as he gets his line out throws right, Brits played well as impact.
Could be Schalk is out for the remainder and Watson goes back to 6 (his natural position), with Diack doing the traditional 8 play and Melck on the bench, not too bad a situation.)
Skeate’s also better off the bench with Fondse and Bekker starting.
Aplon is only an option if we’re way ahead already, he’s exciting when its open running time, I’d start with Des Fontain all the way through, I thought Bobo didn’t do badly at all, defended manfully and didn’t lose ball in contact.
Rassie will be hard pressed to win through the next 3 games with at least 2 more bonus points. Waratahs and Brumbies will be tough nuts to crack now that they got their noses firmly into the semi’s.
26 Apr 2008, 20:38 pm
#318 Sheriff:
I am not to sure about the individuals – don’t know the team that well and had no sound on game (late here). Was flicking between sports too
I did note some bad lineouts. Lack of attacking options taken. Slow ball etc
On the whole it looked a little uncoordinated. They had moments but it was all a little ‘safe’
If a lower team play open rugby again tthe Crusaders then the Crusaders say thank you very much … you can score 3 tries and we will score 6. Why didn’t the Sharks just have that game tonight. They needed to back themselves as the better team
26 Apr 2008, 20:39 pm
#323 church – like chch but pronounceable:
woops … I meant Stormers
26 Apr 2008, 20:44 pm
#323 church – like chch but pronounceable:
They tried but tried too hard, and it showed, they lost their coordination by trying to force it without playing confident attack style rugby.
26 Apr 2008, 20:44 pm
#318 Sheriff: I agree with everything except I thought the stormers were better when Tony Brown was on….. They were more structured.
26 Apr 2008, 20:45 pm
Skoppie
The problem started in 1 and 2 today for us as 1st phase ball had been building momentum for us over the last month or so.
Bekker and Fondse – I think they call him Affies for AF his initials- are the Matfield Botha of the future. Well this obviously impacted Bolla’s play, but I felt Ricky kicking ability and option taking has settled the argument for me in my own head.
In fact, I’m not convinced that Schalk F has recovered entirely from his injury. At a stage I had that sickening feeling that he was not coping at all.
If Tony is gonna play the mentoring role, then he needs to start playing like a mentor. He is talked up a lot but the confidence not quite there, as stated before.
No Bobo was and has consistently been better in defence. But what is needed is an injection at 13 – a role I’d like to reserve for HABANA. With Jean’s vision he will flourish at 13.
Naqalavuki gets nice go forward, but I want to see speedsters running off him more aggressively.
Connie had a frustrating day at the office not through his own doing.
26 Apr 2008, 20:48 pm
#326 K9_BaasPatrolliehond:
What is the story with Brown. How many of todays team wil not start next week?
It is hard to watch these late games when I don’t know who is even a probable semi finialist team or a starting player. You guys are bedating 1/3 of the team. I think the Crusaders are sorted now apart from injuries …. there will be no more surprises
26 Apr 2008, 20:51 pm
#328 church – like chch but pronounceable:
bedating = debating (late here)
26 Apr 2008, 20:52 pm
Church
It must be like Sunday AM 6h51 or so there…
Did you get any sleep mate?
26 Apr 2008, 20:54 pm
#330 Sheriff:
It has been a rugby and football all nighter. Becasue I am online on my laptop that alos means conversations with friends around the world (Yahoo and Skype).
I will now sleep till lunch time
26 Apr 2008, 20:56 pm
Many New Zealanders will not want a South African home semi just because the time difference sucks.
You guys should play night games as well (and let the Aussies complain)
26 Apr 2008, 20:57 pm
Brown, Burger, Moller out, leaves Liebenberg to start due to under powered front row, and Grant for Brown,
Got to go, late for a music evening at a mate.
Ciao
26 Apr 2008, 20:59 pm
This weekend Daniel Carter finially got knocked off as the top points scorer … how many weeks has he not played!
26 Apr 2008, 21:00 pm
Church
Lucky you.
Cheers mates, esp Stormers – let’s keep the faith
26 Apr 2008, 21:02 pm
Cheers skop
26 Apr 2008, 22:22 pm
Superbru…I had a 100% record this weekend to leave me THIRD on the log.
Woo hoo!!
Next week is an absolute toughie…anyone can win their games.
27 Apr 2008, 22:58 pm
#337 wallabie.: Who cares except yourself? Go tell that to your dog, maybe he will lick your toe.
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