Cape Town – It may be hard to believe, but the Stormers were actually disappointed with their performance at halftime of their exciting 37-27 United Rugby Championship win over the Bulls on Friday night.
After being rapturously received by a 30 000-strong crowd at Cape Town Stadium, they went into a 13-3 lead after 24 minutes following a penalty try, due to the Bulls collapsing a maul – with No 8 Elrigh Louw also yellow-carded.
But despite another earlier Bulls yellow card, to Marco van Staden for clashing with the head of Dan du Plessis, the Cape side coughed up possession at crucial times in general play and at the lineout.
The Bulls took advantage of that and roared back to make it 13-13 at halftime, via a Nizaam Carr try and goal-kicks by Johan Goosen.
The first-half issues disappeared in the second half, though, as the Capetonians rattled off three of the finest tries scored in the URC this season via Joseph Dweba – who ran through Goosen – Suleiman Hartzenberg and Leolin Zas to run up a 34-13 lead and bury the Bulls.
Junior Springbok star Hartzenberg’s thrilling touchdown was the pick of a dazzling lot, as it started inside their own 22 when rampaging No 8 Hacjivah Dayimani got the ball rolling by running it up and offloading in a tackle by opposite number Louw to lock Ben-Jason Dixon, who popped a pass to a flying Manie Libbok.
The Stormers flyhalf put his foot down to draw two defenders before offloading to Damian Willemse, who delivered a perfect pass to Angelo Davids, with the No 14 lining up Canan Moodie and putting Hartzenberg away for a sensational five-pointer.
Thanks to all 30 003 of you that turned up at DHL Stadium tonight. That was properly festive. #STOvBUL #iamastormer #dhldelivers @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/TvAlLDjCtr
Libbok sparked Zas’ try as well with an outstanding midfield break – after Goosen shot out of the defensive line – and then throwing a long pass to the left, where the Stormers No 11 danced his way past four defenders before riding the tackle of Mornay Smith to stretch over.
“I was disappointed with our return when we came in for halftime: we could have done better there. But those tries… I read this week that we like to kick to the corner and maul – which is how we got our first try – but the real DNA of the Stormers were those tries,” coach John Dobson said.
“So, I was very proud (of that) and pleased for the people. To have 30 000 here and see those tries makes us extremely happy.
“It was always going to be an intense game. Maybe because of the intensity of the game, I thought we weren’t as disciplined as we could’ve been, and I think that ill-discipline comes from a good place tonight – trying to compete, trying to (be physical). At halftime, we were disappointed. That’s the truth, but we put it right.”
Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff had another busy game and was the official Man of the Match, and stated that the home side had addressed their challenges at halftime.
“It’s a state secret!” the loosehead prop quipped when asked what the team talk was about at the break.
Leading from the front, as usual. @StevenKitshoff stepped up when we needed him the most to be the @Vodacom Man of the Match. #iamastormer #dhldelivers #kitsie pic.twitter.com/tQGFv8EgSl
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) December 24, 2022
“We spoke about missed opportunities – Hacjivah’s double movement and the penalties we gave away in the middle third by being a bit too over-eager in trying to win that confrontation game. I think we kept them in the game a bit.
“At halftime, the only chat was let’s avoid the mid-third penalties – between the two 10-metre lines – and just actually finish our opportunities, and that’s exactly what happened in the first 20 of the second half.”
The Stormers, who are second on the log behind the unbeaten Leinster (43) with 39 points from nine matches, finish off 2022 on New Year’s Eve against the Lions at Cape Town Stadium (7pm kickoff).
Points-Scorers
Stormers 37 – Tries: Penalty Try, Joseph Dweba, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Leolin Zas. Conversions: Manie Libbok (3). Penalties: Libbok (3).
Bulls 27 – Tries: Nizaam Carr, Marco van Staden, Bismarck du Plessis. Conversions: Johan Goosen (2), Chris Smith (1). Penalties: Goosen (2).
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