Stormers bash Blues
16 Mar 2012
JON CARDINELLI watched a superior forward performance lay the platform for the Stormers’ 27-17 win against the Blues on Friday.
Having stood up to the Bulls pack in the most hostile of rugby environments, the Blues would have hoped for a repeat performance in a clash against a similarly robust Stormers side. On this occasion, however, they were handed a physical lesson by a more determined and accurate Stormers eight.
And once again, the Blues did themselves no favours with an erratic showing at the set pieces.
The home side showed plenty of intent during the initial stages, bossing territory as well as the battle at the gainline. It was another big match for youngsters like Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi, but it was a collective physical effort that pressured the Blues into errors and created scoring opportunities.
The Blues were on the back foot at the scrum and Keven Mealamu’s wayward lineout feeds gifted the hosts possession. It was in the first quarter where the Stormers made the most of their opportunities, pressuring the Blues defence and playing for territory. And it was ultimately a smart tactical probe by Dewaldt Duvenage that created the try-scoring opportunity, although the chase and finish by Bryan Habana was world class.
The backline made good ground and enjoyed a few half-breaks early on, but it was only in the second half where they tasted any real success. A sustained period on attack culminated in a try for captain Jean de Villiers, who broke the Blues line and powered over for the score.
But despite their forward dominance, the Stormers struggled to put a depleted (as far as the availability of first-choice players was concerned) and disjointed Blues side away.
A try from Benson Stanley in the 58th minute kept the visitors in the game, and this seemed to galvanise the Blues forwards. Charlie Faumuina crashed over from close range eight minutes later and a Gareth Anscombe conversion reduced the deficit to just seven points.
Some desperate defence by the collective and exemplary line-kicking by fullback Joe Pietersen allowed the Stormers to wrest back the initiative in the dying stages. Yet another scrum penalty against the inferior Blues pack allowed Pietersen to kick his fifth three-pointer of the night and establish a commanding 10-point buffer.
320 Comments
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17 Mar 2012, 08:50 am
I will really enjoy it when your scrums get what they got coming
17 Mar 2012, 09:01 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-300:
yeah… i’m not complaining… we’ve done enough to win…
our back line looked good in patches last night… when it clicks… i think we will have sour cake and be able to eat it too…
i agree with you about joe… he adds a lot to the team… in terms of his play, skills, speed, kicking but also as you suggest condifence and calmness…
i’m with you on our 10s… none are anything to get to excited about… if i was ac i’d out in a big offer to pat lambie… to me he is still the best all-round 10 in the country…
anyway… enough of the stormers… did well… done dusted… now need to do well next week…
17 Mar 2012, 09:19 am
some are never satisfied
They see Stormers suddenly getting it together as a TEAM under a proper decent captain and they start crying, we need another 9 and 10 we don’t have a this one or a that one, put an offer in for mediocre Lambie when we already got an exciting young prospect like Van Aswegen in the wings, or Pietersen if push came to shove and Grant who is as steady as they come. Now we must fck up the works by getting some other spanner out of somebody else’s tool kit to screw it all up.
What I really wanna know is wtf they gonna do when Burger wants to come waiting back and fck up all the synergy and good energy Stormers have got developing and going WITHOUT him.??
Which f’ng dunce is going to chuck all the cohesion and good work the TEAM is getting right under a proper thinking and natural leader like JdV out the window and go fck all that progress to hell again when the f’ng hapless hopeless legendary Burger decide he wants his glory boy place back in the sun again??
17 Mar 2012, 09:43 am
Eish Skop, too early mate.
I think we improved and got the job done – now lets wait and see if the guppies can do the same. Although I doubt this. Reds to win by 5.
17 Mar 2012, 09:56 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-303: Skop, if we never strived for improvement we’d struggle this year. We must improve on last night’s showing if we are to beat the top teams, which we face starting next week.
I was one of the firts to punt Gary’s potential, when he was playing in the U21 team.
He has been out of that team for 2 years though and has struggled to impose himself on the position.
I’m not saying that he can’t get there but I’m not sure, quite frankly that he’s able to make the step up. Maybe he can, but he’s the same age as Lambie, Elton and Goosen (older even) and isn’t at the same level.
As for Schalk, when he’s fit he will take his place again, along with Kolisi 97) and Vermeulen (8). Koster on the bench,
Bigger and better, Kolisi to play to the ball.
17 Mar 2012, 11:07 am
Helluva good result, best stormers pack on years maybe a decade and so young, they also get carstens and elstadt back this week and burger in a couple of weeks – alot of depth – I think they could go all tge way this season if they don’t get too grootkop and just keep busting a gut each game – away tour coming up which will make or break the season but they’ve travelled reasonably well in recent seasons.
17 Mar 2012, 12:06 pm
we do NOT need another 9 or 10 and we most certainly do NOT need Burger back to fck up all the cohesive synergy and momentum being built in this team around JdV’s captaincy.. any fck up dunce wanna come and spoil the party by chucking overrated grootkop Burger back in the mix they gonna fck everything up that is nicely developing here
Go ahead and do it but don’t fcking come crying when with Burger back at first receiver open side that is playing mid field general slow f’ng droll in the back line fcking up the works and it all goes all fall f’ng down around his overrated f’ng head AGAIN..!!!
F’ng morons will NOT learn.. bring Burger back and its tickets… leave him OUT the mix and watch the team go all the way… how much you wanna bet ???
17 Mar 2012, 12:20 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-305:
I do not think Gary really had enough chances to prove whether he is up to it or not – remember he was injured for just about the whole of last year and I think he only started in about 2 super games so far- he was terrible in the match against the Canes but played much better against the Sharks before he was pulled off- I would give him a go against the Lions next week.
With Grant we are not going to get anywhere- we all know he cannot kick (line or tactically) and he has also not shown any decent attacking flair over the last few seasons- he is a journeyman who can defend and kick for goals (short distance only) and I doubt whether he will make the starting lineup of any other team in the super 15. He should concentrate on his career in Japan.
Re the loosies I would not change anything and let Schalk start off the bench – there will in any event probably be injuries and players will have to be rested so everybody will in all likelyhood be able to get gametime- maybe it will never be necessary to make any hard choices.
I must say I agree with Skoppy and also prefer Jean as Captain.
17 Mar 2012, 12:29 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-308: I agree with both you and Skop in that Grant isn’t the answer. That’s not new news, I’ve been saying that for years now.
And as Ive said, I’ve been punting Gary for a while too.
So again, nothing new.
the thing is, when I’ve watched him expecting good things i’ve been disappointed. I hope he does come through, I’m not convinced yet.
As for Schalk, i agree that either Andries or Jean is better as a Capt. but as a no 7 i support his inclusion, but not at the exclusion of Kolisi.
If you think of the 4 we have as first choice players it’s a great asset, given that rotation and substitution will form a large part of any successful team’s strategy this season. I hope AC does follow this tactic.
17 Mar 2012, 12:49 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-309:
Yes, I really hope AC has learnt his lesson about playing people into the ground. i shuddered last night when Etsebeth went down clutching a knee, also when bekker took the blow to the jaw or head. We are all very excited at the moment about the quantity and quality of our locks and loosies but it can change in a flash- Bekker is injury proned, Etsebeth was injured last year for the whole curry cup season (same knee), Elstadt is also a concern specially taking into consideration the abrasive way in which he plays- its vital to rotate them as I certainly do not want to see us starting the the knock out phase (if we make it) with journeyman Steenkamp and rookie Quinn Roux as locks.
17 Mar 2012, 13:02 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-310: 100%.
And considering that we are only 3 games into the season it’s a big concern.
If Elstadt is fit I’d even be inclined to rest Eben next week, have Steenkamp start with Elstadt off the bench.
We need to monitor our players carefully as you say.
Even guys like Carr must get some decent game time, if he’s as good as people say he is then he’s worth spending some time on.
17 Mar 2012, 14:45 pm
WP versus Sharks Vodacom cup game now on SS1
Elstadt, Roux, du Plessis, Carstens, Blaauw , Karlkakilis, Groom etc…..
VS
Hoffman, Marius Joubert….. etc
17 Mar 2012, 14:56 pm
Just heard that Mervyn Davies died yesterday. One of the truly great 8th men of all time. I consider it a privilege to have seen him play.
RIP Merv the Swerve.
17 Mar 2012, 15:05 pm
@David(David)-313:
Yes, he was part of arguably the best team who ever toured (or even played) in SA- the 1974 Lions.
The loose trio of that team (Merv, Roger Uttley and Fergus Slattery ) was the ultimate.
What a player. RIP.
17 Mar 2012, 15:32 pm
All Rassie’s hard work at junior levels now paying off as they mature…
17 Mar 2012, 15:49 pm
@bryce_in_oz(bryce_in_oz)-315:
i think he was silly to have left when he did, tho in fairness the impact of kitshoff and estsebeth has been massive, they’ve stepped up big time very early, wonder how they go on tour tho, i suspect they might not stand out as much.
RobZ is right a few injuries could change things, but they got a lot of depth and to be honest the stormers probably got 3 or 4 locks better than what sharks do. All the lock talent at stormers and bulls.
17 Mar 2012, 15:54 pm
I’d say keep playing etsebeth, he’s young and the more game time he gets the better both for stormers and possible bok spot. They deserve their spots and you cant really cottonwool players, also not sure you want to when on a role, funny what a difference one loss can make also to momentum – they busy devceloping a winning mentality, they dont want to lose now. i say strike while the iron is out, keep playing the same team bring elstadt, carsten and burger onto the bench until they lose, then slot them in to start.
17 Mar 2012, 16:30 pm
@cab(cab)-316:
You know why he left no?
Man of principles and lucky for admin they’re riding his legacy…
Schreuder, Kitshoff’s, Carr, Kolisi, Etzabeth, Eldstadt, Malherbe, and the list goes on and on…
17 Mar 2012, 16:32 pm
@cab(cab)-317:
Couldn’t agree more… look no further than the James O Connor’s and Pococks as an example…
17 Mar 2012, 18:08 pm
cab @ 317
bryce @ 319
agree absolutely…
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