The DHL Stormers extended the Vodacom Bulls - and their Director of Rugby Jake White’s misery with a fifth consecutive Vodacom United Rugby Championship win, beating them 23-19 in an epic arm-wrestle at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The fact that a Stormers team that is missing several key players could come to Loftus Versfeld and win is a testament to the exceptional place they find themselves in right now, but also shows how poor the Bulls' attacking options were with the more than enough ball that they had on the night.
The result is that the South African conference is virtually sewn up for the Cape side, and while they may not get top spot as they did last season, they are assured of a home playoff game until the final this year.
The victory was built on a mountain of defence that stood firm when it needed to, and Stormers defence coach Norman Laker will be a very happy man with the way it held firm.
To be fair, it was aided by one-off runners, and very little imagination on attack from the home side when they had the ball. And they had plenty of ball to play with.
RUDDELESS ON ATTACK
Few sides are as rudderless on attack when presented on their home ground with 64 per cent possession and 62 per cent territory. The statistics put those numbers perfectly into perspective when they tell a story of 186 Stormers tackles made, and only one try breaching their defensive line.
This will be a result that will hurt the Bulls badly. They staked so much on this game, with almost 42 000 fans turning up to watch the match. All week, the talk was of how this was a must-win game for them, “backs against the wall” stuff. But when the final whistle went it was another story that would be told.
Five straight victories for the Stormers underline their dominance of SA Rugby and the dynasty that is slowly being built in Cape Town under John Dobson.
It is a story of resilience and of fringe players standing up and being counted. While the usual suspects were all the rage between Manie Libbok and Deon Fourie, it was the fringe players who made a massive difference.
FRINGE PLAYERS STOOD TALL FOR STORMERS
Marcell Theunissen stood as one of the tallest players on the night, taking the pass for one of the Stormers' tries and making an incredible 20 tackles. Ernst van Rhyn didn’t miss a tackle all night.
Fourie’s three turnovers for the night and a beauty of a turnover at the end from Sazi Sandi underlined the fact that when the Stormers needed something special, there was always someone there to give it.
The road ahead gets darker for the Bulls. They have some tough games ahead and with the conference slipping away and the wins for Glasgow and Munster on Friday night, they are very much in danger of losing their home playoff spot they wanted so badly.
With Leinster heading to Loftus in the coming weeks and Ulster waiting for them in Belfast, it doesn’t get any easier for White’s side.
The concern goes deeper than that. This is the second time the Bulls have gone to extra lengths in the build-up against the Stormers and the second time they have lost. The next time they play them, the pressure will only be greater. And the opposite is true for the Cape side.
They had very little to lose with this fixture and now find themselves stronger than ever. A big win in Durban before this and now an away win in Pretoria and their season is going swimmingly.
SEVERAL POSERS FOR BULLS
By contrast, the Bulls face several questions. One is their lack of a defence coach - something that became increasingly apparent when Theunissen scored his try and the wing defence was nowhere to be seen. The second is just why they are so poor on attack. With Coetzee at the helm, they seemed a lot more steely.
Now they seem brittle and have some very soft points that teams have exploited way too easily.
That was more than clear in the first half when they dominated play so much that the Stormers only made 17 carries the entire half.
But despite that they were behind on the scoreboard - with Chris Smith’s four penalties being overtaken by a superb pass by Herschelle Jantjies that found a gaping hole on the wing where normally a defender would have been, for Theunissen to be gifted an easy run in. That and three Manie Libbok penalties - thanks to referee Marius van der Westhuizen’s decision that the Bulls were infringing all the time in the scrum, saw the Stormers 13-12 up at the break.
PINNED IN OWN HALF
The Stormers pinned the Bulls in their own half for the first part of the second half, and it wasn’t a surprise when Junior Pokomela went over from close range to score.
The Bulls' hope of being a bit more direct happened when Morne Steyn finally got onto the field for his 150th franchise match and immediately got the Bulls on the front foot.
It spurred on an ingenious blindside try where Elrigh Louw’s backflip pass found S’bu Nkosi to go over for the try that would bring them within a point to crown his comeback to competitive rugby.
Manie Libbok’s cheeky drop goal was a key reminder to those who never saw his worth at Loftus Versfeld and gave the Stormers a points cushion they held onto.
The Bulls pounded and pounded and never got the reward they wanted.
The Stormers defence was just too good. And that meant more misery for the Bulls
Scorers
Vodacom Bulls - try: S'bu Nkosi. Conversion: Morne Steyn. Penalties: Chris Smith (4).
DHL Stormers - tries: Marcell Theunissen, Junior Pokomela. Conversion: Manie Libbok. Penalties: Libbok (3). Drop Goal: Libbok.