Stormers agony as champions edge Cape Town thriller

La Rochelle remained on course for a third successive Investec Champions Cup title by edging out the DHL Stormers 22-21 in a thrilling and dramatic round of 16 clash at the DHL Stadium but Ronan O’Gara’s team so nearly found themselves blown out of the competition.

“Blown out” might have been an apt phrase on a Cape Town autumn day where gale-force winds blew around the stadium and rendered kicking a nightmare. So while it might be tempting to base the narrative from this game around the fact Manie Libbok for once missed a clutch kick that would have won his team the game, it would be wrong to do that.

Everyone at the stadium would have appreciated how tough the conversion kick that Libbok lined up after he’d set up a last gasp try for wing Suleiman Hartzenberg in the far corner actually was. The Stormers were clearly mindful of it too, for minutes earlier Damian Willemse had butchered what was a certain try by cutting inside when there was no-one to stop him had he run for the corner.

The Hartzenberg try brought the Stormers their first points of the second half and cut what had been a six point deficit to just one point. Libbok kicked a conversion from exactly the same position to win the equally tight pool game here in December. But that was a sweltering hot day with hardly any wind, a far cry from this day when insurance companies were sending out messages to their clients to be careful in the level orange gale that became even more treacherous for kickers because it came in gusts.

HOSTS DEALT WITH PHENOMENAL ATTRITION RATE

Had the Stormers got across the line it would have been an heroic victory for the ages, and for several reasons. Firstly, it would have been their second win in the season over the might champions of Europe, they also showed huge physical commitment and resolve with their tenacious fight, and that led to the third reason - the freakish attrition rate.

The Stormers lost both starting flanks by the halfway point of the game, with Stormers talisman Deon Fourie being stretchered off shortly before the break and not long after Ben-Jason Dixon had been removed from the fray. Replacement flanker Hacjivah Dayimani then became the third loose-forward to leave the field, and the second on a stretcher, necessitating replacement lock Adre Smith coming on as a flank.

That meant both locks would have to play through to the final whistle, but that didn’t happen as skipper Salmaan Moerat then also went down. Initially he was set to be stretchered off, but he stood up and was able to walk off with a bit of help. It meant the Stormers pack had to be completely rejigged, with hooker Joseph Dweba coming back on and the replacement hooker Andre-Hugo Venter moving to flank. Venter played that position at school but he wouldn’t have played there in a game of this magnitude.

Then to compound the situation Marcel Theunissen was yellow carded, thus robbing the Stormers of their last remaining flank. So when Gregory Alldritt scored in the 62nd minute it was against a Stormers team that had only one regular loose-forward in the back row. The conversion to that forward try between the posts put the visitors into the lead for the first time in the match.

The Stormers showed their never say die attitude by immediately striking back with what looked like brilliant try to Willemse, who ran like a wing after being set free down the right touchline, but unfortunately for the Stormers the TMO wound the video back and spotted a handling error from Herschel Jantjies at the start of the movement.

SEVERELY DEPLETED

With Theunissen still off, it was a severely depleted scrum unit that the La Rochelle scrum destroyed to net the penalty that set up the field position from which they forced their way over for a try to replacement front row forward Joel Sclavi. Had Antoine Hastoy kicked the angled conversion, La Rochelle would have been more than a score ahead.

But he missed, and the Stormers needed a converted try to win. They came so close when Willemse was set free down the left touchline with four minutes to go, and then came a series of scrums and penalties close to the La Rochelle line. Former Stormers fullback/wing Dillyn Leyds had been yellow carded and penalised when Willemse had been held up just short.

It was a brave move from Libbok to kick across to Hartzenberg who made no mistake as he gathered and dotted down. But you always sensed it might just be too far out in the conditions to make it good odds on Libbok landing what would have been the winning conversion.

FIRST HALF WAS EXCELLENT

The Stormers were much better than in the pool game here in December in the first half, playing the game they intended to by stretching La Rochelle and playing them into their half with the strong wind at their back. If anything, when the Stormers look back on why they didn’t win, it could be their old bogey of not converting opportunities into points.

Certainly it felt like a win for La Rochelle when after a period of sustained Stormers pressure in their 22 and after a yellow card for repeated infringements to the giant Wallaby lock Will Skelton, Libbok kicked for posts in the 22nd minute to make it 6-0. They were in severe danger several times of conceding a five pointer.

The Stormers’ first try though was beautifully conceived, starting with a run out from his own territory by fullback Warrick Gelant but featuring a good carry from Ruben van Heerden as well as lock partner Moerat yet set up in the main by a lovely back flip pass from the outstanding Willemse.

That was in the 28th minute and it put the Stormers 13-0 up, which was the halftime score. A penalty from close to the posts into the teeth of the wind five minutes into the second half put the Stormers more than two converted tries ahead at 16-0. At that point it looked like the work the Stormers had done with the wind at their backs might just be enough to carry them to victory.

But Stormers coach John Dobson had spoken of La Rochelle being a different animal during the buildup and they undeniably are. When they got the momentum and the bit between their teeth they showed why they are champions of Europe and it took an heroic effort from the Stormers in the end to be in a position where they were kicking a conversion for what would have been a seismic result. It wasn’t to be and La Rochelle march on, winning their 12th playoff match of the last 13 they’ve played in this competition. Not many have been by such a narrow margin.

Scores

La Rochelle 22 - Tries: Louis Perverne, Gregory Alldritt and Joel Sclave; Conversions: Antoine Hastoy 2; Penalty: Antoine Hastoy. DHL Stormers 21 - Tries: Herschel Jantjies and Suleiman Hartzenberg; Conversion: Manie Libbok; Penalties: Manie Libbok 3.