The DHL Stormers were flat and out of sorts and crashed to a 42-17 loss to the Exeter Chiefs as they exited Europe at Sandy Park on Saturday night.
It was hard to fault the Stormers' performance, especially as they were shadows of themselves and slumped to a 19-0 deficit in the first half with possibly their flattest and worst performance of the past few seasons.
It would be easy to dismiss the travel factor, but in the end, it had to catch up to them sometime. Those who dismiss the effect on SA teams forget the Stormers were in Dublin a fortnight ago to face Leinster, then had their travel plans disrupted this week and travelled economy class to only get to their hotel in England on Wednesday night.
The odds would always have been stacked against them, especially against an Exeter side waiting at home and relishing their comeback win over Montpellier last weekend.
And when they lost their talisman Deon Fourie this week, it tilted the scales heavily in favour of the home side.
The Stormers won’t use the travel factor as an excuse, they were beaten fairly and squarely on the day by an Exeter side that was more motivated and more in tune with their game plan.
The Stormers looked like a shadow of themselves - whether that was the travel or whether it was Exeter’s blistering attack at times is something only the Stormers coaching staff will know.
But as a lesson, it was a harsh one to learn, and one SA sides will need to take into account and plan accordingly.
The odds are likely to be against SA sides for a long time, and unless they adjust and find a way of overcoming them, it may be a situation where the results in Europe don’t come as they should.
At Sandy Park, Exeter seemed to be on another level. Their first try was from a breakout on the left flank and a recycled ball that saw a kick pass to the right for Tom Wyatt to snatch out of the air and score.
The second try saw Exeter captain Jack Nowell pick the ball up from the ruck and burst through the middle, reaching over to score.
The third was perhaps a sore point for the Stormers as the lineout throw went over the 15, but was nowhere near straight, leaving Ollie Woodburn to burst through from a perfect pass to score almost untouched.
Just like that, the Stormers were 19-0 down.
And things got worse in the second half when Sam Simmonds burst through two half tackles to run 20 metres to score. 26-0 down, game over.
The Stormers did try and work their way back into the game, but they were always going to be on an uphill struggle.
Damian Willemse, one of the few Stormers who stood out, worked his way over the line to get his side onto the board, before Suleiman Hartzenburg pounced on a ball kicked through to put the Stormers into double figures.
Jack Yeandle’s score managed to take the game away from the Stormers, and any hope they could mount an amazing comeback but the visitors managed to get one back in a highly contentious TMO decision that saw Marvin Orie’s touchdown being awarded.
A final try by Tom Cairns settled the game in the favour of the home side, and ended the Stormers’ European run.
With a whimper rather than a bang.
Scorers
Exeter Chiefs - Tries:Tom Wyatt, Jack Nowell, Olly Woodburn, Sam Simmonds, Jack Yeandle, Tom Cairns. Conversions:Joe Simmonds.
DHL Stormers - Tries:Damian Willemse, Suleiman Hartzenburg, Marvin Orie. Conversion:Manie Libbok.