Ruthless Saders give Stormers free lesson
16 Apr 2012
JON CARDINELLI writes the Stormers will need more than guts to end their 11-year trophy drought.
Consider the term ‘brave defeat’. Which word ultimately matters?
That the Stormers showed tremendous valour in Christchurch is not up for debate. They lost both of their starting locks in the first half, and still they managed to stand up to an All Blacks-studded Crusaders pack. They lost Rynhardt Elstadt to an absurd call from referee Chris Pollock in the final quarter, and still they managed to collect a losing bonus point.
But brave defeats are still defeats. There should be no consolation for title aspirants when they drop a game against other big contenders. The Stormers should not find solace in the fact that they went to Christchurch and pushed the seven-time champs close. The reality is it was a game the Stormers could have won had they been more bloody-minded.
It was the difference between the two sides. The Crusaders have a knack of winning games they shouldn’t, it’s become something of a trademark. They may not dominate a fixture from start to finish but they make the most of their opportunities, however few they are in number. This was once again highlighted in the most recent clash with the Stormers.
There are some Stormers fans who will aim their frustration at referee Chris Pollock. While I agree that Pollock had a howler last Saturday, I wouldn’t say he cost the Cape side the game. If anything Pollock was consistent, handing out dubious yellow cards to both teams and missing the sleight of hand at both sides of the breakdown.
But which team made the most of the referee’s mistakes? The Stormers benefited from a Pollock gaffe in the build-up to Bryan Habana’s try. A knock on by Joe Pietersen wasn’t spotted by Pollock or his assistants, and so the try stood at what was an important period of the contest.
The Stormers suffered a terrible blow when Andries Bekker and Eben Etzebeth left the field with injuries in the first half, but they had a fantastic opportunity to take the lead towards the end of the second quarter. Crusaders prop Wyatt Crockett was carded for an innocuous tackle and so the hosts went a man down for 10 minutes.
It’s not clear why the Stormers are unable to take advantage in these situations. The Hurricanes were down to 13 men in the first round match against the Stormers, but the Cape side still battled to breach the Hurricanes line. It was embarrassing to see flyhalf Gary van Aswegen kicking a drop goal after a 15-man Stormers attack failed to penetrate a 13-man Hurricanes defence.
Looking back, we can say that impotency proved a sign of things to come.
Last Saturday, the Stormers scored three points while Crockett was off the park, but also conceded three at the other end. The Stormers should have piled on the points at this stage, and were made to regret blowing such an opportunity later in the piece.
The Crusaders were ruthless by comparison. When Elstadt was sin-binned they scored nine points. From there, they continued to pressure the Stormers and with the visitors trailing by 10 points that pressure told, with the Stormers making some basic errors in their own 22. The Crusaders finished this game well but the match was won while Elstadt was in the bin.
There is no denying the Stormers were at a disadvantage having lost both locks, and that they did remarkably well to emerge with a losing bonus point. But looking at the game as a whole and how close they came to recording their first-ever win in Christchurch, they should be disappointed more than anything else.
That it is not a new thing to squander such opportunities should be cause for concern. They had the Sharks on the rack in round two when Ross Skeate was yellow-carded in the 60th minute. They should have closed out the game but only scored three points, and when Skeate returned the Sharks launched a fierce challenge that so nearly forced an upset.
When they hosted the Bulls, the Stormers had a golden opportunity to extend their lead when lock Flip van der Merwe was carded in the 42nd minute. But again they wilted under the pressure, they didn’t seem to enjoy the advantage. They didn’t score again until the 62nd minute. In fact it was the Bulls who scored 10 unanswered points while Van der Merwe was off the field.
The Stormers have shown a lot of guts this season, the manner in which they defend shows their incredible courage under fire. There is a big difference, however, between courage and ruthlessness.
Being brave isn’t enough to win championships. The Stormers need to start showing some killer instinct if they want to be genuine title contenders rather than also-rans.
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405 Comments
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16 Apr 2012, 10:35 am
I will say this, NZ ref’s appear to be too timid to stand up and make a decision based on what they have seen directly in front of them.
How an assistant ref 25 metres away can make calls that the on field ref should be able to see so much clearer is beyond me.
Time has come where technology should allow the on field ref to whistle up a review by the TMO where their is conflicting thoughts running through the mains refs brain.
And so what if it adds 5 minutes more to the game, or even 10 minutes.
16 Apr 2012, 10:38 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-49:
the sad thing in all of this is that our buddy in China is too scared to take his chinese bride back to new zealand for fear of racial abuse.
he needs to take some time for introspection.
his new nickname doesn’t seem to be helping him in his constant quest for validation on a south african blog..
16 Apr 2012, 10:41 am
Is De Jong and Habana trying out for ‘So you think you can dance’
WTF is up with the funky sh it after a score? They look pathetic.
16 Apr 2012, 10:42 am
Anyway I thought the Crusaders were much better on Saturday.
They will be a force at the business end as usual.
That Fruean has had a quiet season so far, but he is going to be a monster.
That one tackle put Liebenberg in his ****.
16 Apr 2012, 10:43 am
@Brads(Brads)-101:
yeah brads… with you on this…
as much as we’d all like the game to flow… we’re reaching the point where we must do what it takes to ensure the correct calls are made… even if it does mean taking more time…
sure it may detract from the spectacle… but incompetent reffing – from all countries and in all games for and against all sides – is ruining rugby quicker than a lamppost ruining a speeding drunk driver’s car… and is just as unpleasant to watch…
16 Apr 2012, 10:46 am
@102.Sadly that is the gospel truth.I know a kiwi who met a chinese girl in oz and won’t go back to nz for the same reason.
Wow hurricane has a new iphone,huge fkin bellywobble.
16 Apr 2012, 10:46 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-103: Maybe you should try it once in a while… to lighten up.
16 Apr 2012, 10:48 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-103:
Dis die papsak tango…
16 Apr 2012, 10:49 am
@stormerforlife1(stormerforlife1)-107: Nee fok ou maat die goed lyk soos hippies gone wrong!!
16 Apr 2012, 10:50 am
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-106: Stop behaving like a complete tool on this blog.
16 Apr 2012, 10:50 am
@Blouste(Blouste)-108: Hehehehe. Suurwyn serenade…
16 Apr 2012, 10:52 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-103: Its a dig at Digby!
16 Apr 2012, 10:55 am
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-112: At least Digby does’nt look like he’s at a new years party at about 2:30AM
16 Apr 2012, 10:58 am
A historical and probably irrelevant pick-me-up for depressed Stormers everywhere:
On this day in 2004 (at around this time actually) the Stormers hammer the defending champion Auckland Blues 51-23 at Eden Park in one of their remarkable Playstation-like performances against Kiwi teams. De Wet Barry, in his best ever season as a pro, plants Doug Howlett on his arse, Tonderai Chavanga makes the best winger in the world Joe Rokocoko look slow and Hendrik Gerber puts smiles on faces in Canterbury and Australia as he levels Carlos Spencer in a borderline brutal tackle.
Significantly, these three victims had tortured all South African teams the previous year, almost toying with them in truth, culminating in memorable 52-12 and 29-9 humiliations of the Boks. This result, coming at a time when our rugby is at a crossroads on the back of four seasons of mediocrity underlined by the Staaldraad debacle, appears to be a turning point as half this Stormers team forms the core of the Trinations-winning team of 2004.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaUIqSkk9kI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzoHoBfDZGU
In typical 90s-early 00s Stormer fashion, the table-topping Mountain Goats (coined that year) deliver dogsh*t as they crash to the Chiefs the next week and then lose to a Crusaders side that plays for 60 minutes with 14 men.
Oh, to be a Stormer.
16 Apr 2012, 10:58 am
i dig our kiwi brothers and sisters.
loads.
but rugby is their blindspot and if we have to hold up the light to make them see that their practices (read:cheating/condoning of cheating) are being watched then so be it.
paddy is long gone so they shouldnt expect any more apologies.
p.s. the finger in the eye jingoism they displayed by making bryce lawrence kiwi ref of the year after his disgraceful showing in the wc 1/4 will neither be forgotten nor forgiven until we receive an apology from the nzru and paddy.
other than that, have a great day under the cloud kiwis!
16 Apr 2012, 10:59 am
kwagga…
the white boys would dance too if they had any rhythm…
or do you just prefer meisiekind’s screaming air punches..?
i quite enjoy the dance celebrations… the islanders are quite good…!!
16 Apr 2012, 11:00 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-113: lol
16 Apr 2012, 11:02 am
@ufo(ufo)-105:
Absolutely.
It is a disgrace to the game that a ref’s call can be displayed on the big screen at the venue for all to see as being wrong and he has no opportunity to reverse the decision.
Rightly or wrongly, I suspect that that has injected a streak of yellow up the spines of some refs in not making decisions unless the offence is certifiable, and if his side buddy line gives an opinion, he jumps on it.
16 Apr 2012, 11:02 am
bryan doesnt have much rythm.
must be the white genes.
he looked like a puppet with a fat upper torso and no legs to speak of being controlled by a crack freebasing puppeteer on day three of rehab.
16 Apr 2012, 11:03 am
@BishopsOD(BishopsOD)-114: Who said that we are depressed,but,thanks in any case for the uplifting article.
16 Apr 2012, 11:05 am
@ufo(ufo)-116: Difficult to dance wearing pink and high heel shoes.
16 Apr 2012, 11:06 am
@ufo(ufo)-116: See post 113. Much rather see one quick air punch than two of our more senior players swinging like the local dronkgat at the pub.
The islanders makes this look a whole lot better. Compairing the two is like compairing Rambo to Dr. Dolittle.
16 Apr 2012, 11:06 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-119:
apparently Simon Cowell is looking for his number>
16 Apr 2012, 11:07 am
its nice to have poppa back, hopefully we can all treat him with the respect he deserves as a guest in our virtupub.
then again, if he k u k s on the carpet and tries to steal the silverware again we will have to send him tot he naughty corner again.
16 Apr 2012, 11:09 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-123: for the latest season of X(tasy) factor?
16 Apr 2012, 11:09 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-119: Now THATS kak funny!!!!!
@stormerforlife1(stormerforlife1)-121: More than 3/4 of Cape Town seems to be getting it right…..
16 Apr 2012, 11:09 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-115:
you know ranger… i accept that refs makes mistakes… (far too many for comfort) against both sides…
i don’t think they’re deliberately dishonest… only obliviously incompetent…
but what really irritated me on saturday… and i can only imagine the fuss that would’ve been made if it was a south african captain doing so in front of his home crowd…
was reid… geeing up the christchurch crowd to dissent and make a noise to influence the ref prior to elstadt being sent off…
he looked like a triple-jumper at the world champs before setting off on his run…
i find it disappointing in the extreme that rugby has descended to this sort of showmanship/bad-sportsmanship…
and even more disappointing that the the incident has been completely ignored by the the authorities and media…
we can all imagine what would happen if schalk did the same at newlands…
16 Apr 2012, 11:11 am
@ufo(ufo)-116:
You tell that to Peter (the Robot) Crouch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96eSrFlUVh0
16 Apr 2012, 11:11 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-124:
poops is starting to remind me of freddy kruger.
maybe he has some afrikaanser in him?
@ufo(ufo)-116:
screaming air punches?
ahem.
no boet.
16 Apr 2012, 11:13 am
@Brads(Brads)-118:
yeah brads.. agree with everything you say…
@stormerforlife1(stormerforlife1)-121:
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-122:
i’m not fussed by it at all…
i think rugby has got far more serious challenges ruining it as a spectacle than post-try celebrations… which actually add the the spectacle imo…
16 Apr 2012, 11:14 am
@ufo(ufo)-127: reid is a horrible character.
his “ahma eat me some apple pie later” image he likes to project makes me think he is schitzophrenic.
how long before it all unravels.
clue: poppa started off eating the pie and ended up trying to hump it before serving it as afters.
16 Apr 2012, 11:14 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-122: I sat in that corner at Newlands when meisiekind went in to an induced labour.Doing the Digby is a far more dignified than hearing and seeing an air-punching and creaming chick giving birth.
16 Apr 2012, 11:15 am
@stormerforlife1(stormerforlife1)-132: screaming
16 Apr 2012, 11:15 am
@ufo(ufo)-127:
I watched the game, and don’t recall the incident.
Perhaps I was refreshing my beer in the break.
But you are right, do we want that sort of behaviour – No.
Is it illegal – no.
How do you stop it,……. more of what you have done. Piss and moan and make it an issue!
16 Apr 2012, 11:15 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-91:
still stearing the conversation away from what you dont like to what you do like….always deflecting…always projecting…
you’re being no different to cane and china.
16 Apr 2012, 11:16 am
I think Allistar said in his pre match speech they need to come out swinging……
16 Apr 2012, 11:16 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-129:
hehehe…
ahem… ja boet…
you call them… meisie does them…
watch his post-try reactions at newlands… fist in the air… face contorted in a scream…
don’t blame me… tweet him and object…
16 Apr 2012, 11:17 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-88: Thought you fcked off to the looney bin… For some remedial reading lessons and IQ massage, yeah?
What’d they do – just give up on you, bro?
Sling us a coconut when you get the chance won’t you?
Try not blubber, sniffle and wail when things get a bit rough for you again on this site, okay…?
No room for Pat Lam crybabies here… Africa and hence Keo is not for sissies… by extension cheeky little Piri Pir Maoris too… Got that?
16 Apr 2012, 11:17 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-129: uh oh………s h it s gonna get real round here.
i think poppa missed his calling personally.
with all that time on his hands he should become a private d i c k, trolling the internet for sordid facts to set the world right and put enemies of the state to shame.
dount hollywood will come knocking anytime soon
16 Apr 2012, 11:17 am
Gotta run. Have a good one guys and keep them hips loose!!
16 Apr 2012, 11:18 am
@stormerforlife1(stormerforlife1)-133:
freudian slip…
16 Apr 2012, 11:22 am
@Brads(Brads)-134:
yip… that’s the thing…
because there’s no specific law saying it is illegal…
but there are things that speak about the spirit of the game and the sportsmanship and bringing the game into disrepute…
so what will be said when other teams follow reid’s example and gee their crowds up when they don’t like the ref’s calls…??
a sad precedent has been set…
16 Apr 2012, 11:22 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-140: cheers bud!
16 Apr 2012, 11:23 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-131:
He may piss you off, but he works for me.
I didn’t witness the rev up of the crowd he is said to have done, but okay, that was not necessary.
That said, he will be the next AB Captain. but do not assume he will behave like that EVER wearing the silver fern… Captain or not.
The AB’s are all about image and sponsorship. No way in Hades would **** like that be performed.
16 Apr 2012, 11:24 am
@Brads(Brads)-134:
it shouldn’t be up to the public to make an issue of it…
sanzar/irb should be proactive about it…
same as the brass band making weird ‘down the pipe’ notes when grant and pietersen were kicking…
i hate booing… but that’s much harder to stop… the band being obnoxious should be very easy to stop…
16 Apr 2012, 11:26 am
@ufo(ufo)-141:……NO!.I would never accuse any Bulls player of creaming meisiekind.
16 Apr 2012, 11:26 am
I see the Cape Town stadium roof is coming loose!! So much for newly built better stadiums!! RL always said Kings Park was a deathtrap!! Bla bla bla
16 Apr 2012, 11:28 am
@THE MAULER(THE MAULER)-147:
eagles must’ve blown the roof off…
great concert…!!
16 Apr 2012, 11:28 am
@ufo(ufo)-142:
From what I saw,
Kieran Read was not facing the Stand when he motioned with his arms. He was facing infield, away from the sideline.
Perhaps you are mistaken.
16 Apr 2012, 11:31 am
@THE MAULER(THE MAULER)-147: Nothing to get excited about Mauler…..our efficient DA government will sort it out quickly.
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