A well-taken Warrick Gelant try five minutes from time placed the seal on a solid 30-13 DHL Stormers win over the Toyota Cheetahs in a hard-fought Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked match at Newlands on Saturday night.
The win ensured that the Stormers' rehabilitation that started last week continued and the all-round performance was comprehensive enough to help erase some of the memory of the Cape team’s nightmare trip to Loftus, where they were humiliated by the Vodacom Bulls two weeks ago.
Early forward ascendancy and dominance of the territory battle paved the way for the hosts, and with their strong ball carrying, good kicking game and sound defence keeping the pressure on the Cheetahs, the Stormers were seldom threatened and always looked likely winners.
However, they might have felt they could have been further ahead than 13-3 at the break and the Cheetahs did come back at them with a spectacular try scored by Rosco Spekman in the 65th minute that brought them within a score of the Stormers.
That was the cue though for the Stormers to lift a gear and a penalty kicked by Damian Willemse, who certainly had both his field and place-kicking boots laced on in this game, was followed by a well-worked try that Gelant rounded off out on the right to put his team well out of range of the visitors.
The win propelled the Stormers back to second on the Unlocked log ahead of the Cell C Sharks on points difference, two points behind the Vodacom Bulls after the same number of games.
Although the Stormers always looked in command and the likely winners on a chilly November evening in Cape Town, they didn’t pick up the try-scoring bonus point that would have put more pressure on the Bulls to go for broke in their final game against the Phakisa Pumas.
With the Sharks also not managing a bonus point in their win in Kimberley on Friday night, a win will be enough for the Bulls to secure the Unlocked trophy on the final weekend - although of course it is still unclear what will become of the game scheduled for Nelspruit on Friday night given the Covid-19 situation in the Pumas camp that forced their scheduled game against the Lions to be postponed.
LONG-RANGE DROP-GOALThe Stormers started with energy and forced some early penalties to build up to a clever try from Springbok scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies in the sixth minute.
Jantjies caught the Cheetahs defenders wrong footed as he ran down the short side after wing Angelo Davids had done well to stand up in the tackle and make the ball available.
This was a night where Willemse put his earlier goalkicking problems behind him, and he slotted the angled conversion and then kicked a penalty on the 20 minute mark after a series of Stormers scrum penalties near the Cheetahs line.
The Stormers enjoyed 59 per cent of the possession in the first half and might have rued not building up their score more during their period of ascendancy had the result not gone their way.
Certainly the Stormers would have been kicking themselves after a lineout inside the Cheetahs 22 in the 32nd minute went against the throw and when play was transferred to the other end of the field the Cheetahs were awarded a penalty that Tiaan Schoeman kicked to make it 10-3.
A seven-point lead was certainly less than the Stormers performance in the first half warranted, but they were boosted just before the break by an excellent long-range drop-goal from the aforementioned Willemse to stretch the difference back to 10 points.
The Cheetahs scrum, having been under the kosh in the first half, started the second half impressively by forcing a penalty which Schoeman kicked in the 43rd minute to cut the Stormers lead back to seven points.
But the Stormers responded almost immediately, with some good thinking and a skillful pass from Willemse sending Ruhan Nel on a strong surge down the right touchline that had the Cheetahs defence at sixes and sevens when he cut inside.
Juarno Augustus, who with his strong ball carrying was one of the best Stormers players on the night, rounded off after hooker Scarra Ntubeni the straightened the angle of attack and unleashed the final pass.
The Stormers were looking comfortable at 20-6 up but the Cheetahs were more in the game from a territorial and possession aspect after halftime, and Spekman’s excellent try, where he touched the ball down while airborne above the corner flag, coupled with a successful angled conversion from Schoeman brought them back into the game with 14 minutes to go.
The Stormers were not going to be denied though and after the gear shift there was always going to be only one winner.
SCORES
DHL Stormers 30 - Tries: Herschel Jantjies, Juarno Augustus and Warrick Gelant; Conversions: Damian Willemse 3; Penalties: Damian Willemse 3.
Toyota Cheetahs 13 - Try: Rosco Spekman; Conversion: Tiaan Schoeman; Penalties: Tiaan Schoeman 2.