Toulon feasted on DHL Stormers errors to score two second-half tries that secured them a hard-fought 24-14 win over the Cape franchise in, at times, an overly physical Investec Champions Cup game at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday evening.
The visitors trailed at halftime but produced an effort of intense physicality in the second half as they kept the hosts from troubling the scorers while they themselves capitalised on the mistakes they forced from their opponents.
It was the second time the Stormers have lost at home this season and it was again a loss away from the regular home base of DHL Stadium, following as it does the loss to the Vodacom United Rugby Championship title holders Glasgow Warriors before the international break.
Toulon get their #InvestecChampionsCup campaign off to a winning start in Gqeberha âś… pic.twitter.com/B2tdsAG6Qs
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) December 7, 2024
But if that might be seen as an excuse for the Stormers, it shouldn’t be - some 27 000 people filed into the stadium to watch this game and they produced an atmosphere as boisterous and passionate as it would have been at headquarters in Greenpoint.
If you are looking for reasons the Stormers lost, you could easily settle on the trend of the season so far - they were far too charitable to their opponents, offering gifts that the French team feasted on in the same way that the Hollywoodbets Sharks did in Durban last week.
Yet while it is true that the three tries scored by Toulon were all either the direct result or indirect result of Stormers errors, with that second category used to describe the surrendering of field position that led to scores, it is also true that much of what went wrong for the Stormers was due to the hardness of the Toulon approach.
The French are very South African in the physical approach they bring to the game, and the big hits put in certainly on this occasion contributed to the Stormers’ error rate.
Let it be said too that we also saw the ugly side of French rugby, for the hit by replacement forward Yannick Younette that looks likely to put Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok out of rugby for a while would have been a red card in any era.
Yannick Youyoutte sees red for this challenge on Mannie Libbok 👇🔴
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) December 7, 2024
đź“ş Stream #InvestecChampionsCup on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/BkRqfCUlbC
INJURY MALAISE CONTINUES FOR STORMERS
The only confusing thing about the showing of that red card was that the referees and TMO took so long deliberating over it.
Libbok was stretchered off with eight minutes to go, and looseforward Keke Morabe was stretchered off in the first half, so it was one of those nights where the injury malaise continued for the Stormers.
When Libbok was taken off the Stormers were trailing by 10 and when fullback Marius Domond was yellow carded a minute later and Toulon were down to 13 men, there might have been hopes that the Stormers would complete the Houdini act they just fell short of last week.
However, when Leolin Zas was then carded for going in high, and the French were able to relieve pressure with the resulting penalty, that chance was gone.
The Stormers clearly wanted to move the big Toulon forwards around early in the game, but the usual risk and reward aspect went against them.
Warrick Gelant won an early breakdown penalty, but the Stormers’ determination to try the 50/50 passes counted against them when the ball went loose.
TOULON FEASTED ON ERRORS
Toulon kicked the ball through, and it was their left wing Gabin Villiere who dotted down as the Stormers struggled to get control.
Scrumhalf Baptiste Serin kicked the conversion and it was Toulon who were off to a strong start as they led 7-0 after just six minutes.
And that became 10-0 when Serin kicked a penalty six minutes later.
Between their try and that penalty though play was held up for several minutes as the Stormers suffered yet another of those unfortunate injury blows that have blighted their season.
Morabe, selected at openside flank in this game, went over No 8 Willie Engelbrecht at a breakdown inside the Stormers 22, and ended up prone on the turf with what looked like a leg injury.
Morabe was stretchered from the field on the golf cart and for a while after that the Stormers looked like they lacked a bit of composure.
However, two minutes after the Serin penalty that put the visitors 10 ahead, the Stormers managed to do what they do best, by attacking from chaos and a break down the right flank which also featured the pacy Zas was spectacularly finished off in the right corner by Gelant.
The chorus of “Manie, Manie, Manie” reached cacophonous proportions from the rugby starved Nelson Mandela Bay crowd and Libbok, who missed just one long penalty that fell short in the second half, duly obliged by kicking the conversion from the corner.
The Stormers started to gain momentum after that, with their forwards following on from what they did in Durban last week, even though BJ Dixon was off for a time for an HIA assessment.
Arguably, like at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, they were also a bit wasteful at times, visiting the Toulon 22 metre area a couple of times without being clinical enough to finish off.
And there were some hairy moments too, such as when Zas carried the ball back after Toulon had kicked ahead and he struggled to completely control the bounce.
SURGE BEFORE HALFTIME
Fortunately though for the Stormers, that was when their scrum really came to the party, although the scrum penalty they forced did not reach touch off the boot of Libbok.
Libbok was on target though with a long line penalty late in the half, and while earlier they hadn’t capitalised on their opportunities in the red zone, this time their lineout drive was irrepressible and big Joseph Dweba dotted down under a mass of bodies to put his team in front for the first time in the game.
Libbok, again to the chanting of the Gqeberha faithful, slotted another touchline conversion to take his team to the break 14-10 up.
They were on the attack again early in the second half but rediscovered their habit of not being able to convert, and then also repeated the mistake of earlier when they were made a mess of what should have been an easy clearance from their line and were forced back over their line.
Toulon maintained the pressure this time and from a tap penalty No 8 Facunda Isa went over for his team’s second try and a 17-14 lead after 58 minutes with the conversion.
The theme had now been set, it was one of those days the opposition were making a habit of feasting on the mistakes that the Stormers were making a habit of making and when a heavy hit on Libbok saw the ball go loose it was kicked through by scrumhalf Serin, and he won the race to the touchdown.
The French team had regained their 10-point advantage and with less than 14 minutes to play the hosts had a mountain to climb.
It became tougher when Libbok was stretchered off.
SCORES
Toulon 24 - Tries: Gabin Villiere, Facunda Isa and Baptiste Serin; Conversions: Baptiste Serin 3; Penalty: Baptiste Serin.
DHL Stormers 14 - Tries: Warrick Geland and Joseph Dweba; Conversions: Manie Libbok 2.