Stormers’ third quarter surge sends them into semis

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The DHL Stormers came out snorting after halftime and scored 15 points in the first 14 minutes of the second half to set up a 28-17 quarterfinal win over Edinburgh at the DHL Stadium that clinches them a Vodacom United Rugby Championship semifinal here next week.

The Stormers will meet Irish team Ulster, who they beat by the narrowest of margins in the league phase of the competition, for the right to contest the final in their first year of trying in the competition.

In the other semifinal, the Vodacom Bulls will travel to Dublin to face Leinster.

Having two South African teams in the last four was in the balance at halftime. The Stormers had started like they had a train to catch, but Edinburgh had come back well after that.

Fullback Warrick Gelant dotted down the first try in just the third minute to bring the biggest crowd that their home ground has seen since the start of Covid to its feet and into the mood.

It was a typical Stormers score, with Leolin Zas getting momentum down the left flank and just barging his direct opponent out of the way before the ball was transferred to the pacy Hacjivah Dayimani.

The former Lions player has been an unsung hero of the Stormers’ impressive winning run, which is now stretched to 10 games, as his ability to be up in support and accelerate through gaps has played a massive role in the way they keep their attack going.

On this occasion Edinburgh’s scrambling defence was back and the Stormers were dispossessed but the visiting team tapped the ball back and Warrick Gelant was through to gather and score the try that put the Stormers into a 7-0 lead.

PRETORIUS INJURY CREATED WORST SCENARIO

However, the joy of scoring would have been tempered for the Stormers by the knowledge that inside centre Rikus Pretorius had been injured in the build-up to the score. Pretorius tries to regain his feet but had to limp off the field with what looked like a calf injury.

It was the worst possible scenario for Stormers coach John Dobson, who’d selected rookie 20-year-old Sacha Mngonezulu as his only outside back cover.

Mngonezulu is a highly rated youngster and has a big future ahead of him but a URC quarterfinal against a team that had 14 players with international experience in it was one hell of a game to make a debut in.

But Dobson clearly knew that the player would be up to it and, until he had to go off the field towards the end with cramp, he delivered in his first big game.

The Stormers made several line breaks in the first half and had chances to score again, but Edinburgh came back at them with an Emiliano Bofelli penalty and then a try to hooker Dave Cherry off a driving maul that was executed way too easily for the Stormers’ comfort.

Those scores canceled out the Gelant score and a later Manie Libbok penalty to make it 10-all at halftime.

At that point the visitors were winning the aerial battle and the Stormers were struggling to get the territory they needed.

However, given the ease with which they were breaking the line, it always seemed likely they would take control of the game if they could just get a foothold in the territory game and that is what they did.

NEL’S TRY WAS CRUCIAL

There weren’t many scrums in the first half and those that were set were relatively even, but the Stormers did start to take control of that battle after halftime.

It was crucial for them to be the first to score in the second half to settle nerves and strike a psychological blow against their opponents, and they did that four minutes into the half, just as their No 8 Magnus Bradbury was due to come back onto the field after he’d been yellow carded for a dangerous tackle towards the end of the first half.

It came through a scintillating hand-to-hand build-up from the Stormers that originated just their side of halfway, with Seabelo Senatla being set free down the right touchline and transferring inside to the unmarked fellow former Blitzbok Ruhan Nel to cross and dot down near the posts.

The Stormers were clearly gaining in energy and with the crowd behind them they had Edinburgh under intense pressure as they ran at them, and Libbok was able to extend the lead with a penalty in the 52nd minute.

The 10 point lead became 15 just two minutes later as a ball was kicked through and the impressive Evan Roos, who had another game where his dynamic style was writ large, picked it up and went over the line for the try.

It should have been a 17 point lead but Libbok missed a relatively easy conversion.

Libbok was then culpable when Edinburgh, much against the run of play, went over for their second try. It was Libbok’s poor hoisted kick from inside his 22 that set up Edinburgh with the field position from which they attacked and put their scrumhalf through for the try under the posts.

What was shaping as a party in the heaving stands was momentarily quietened and Edinburgh were back in the game. Full marks then to the Stormers for the way they settled things, with their defence and play at the breakdowns effectively keeping the Edinburgh ambitions in check.

,Libbok kicked an important three pointer in the 68th minute to further calm any nerves among those biting their nails in the stands.

Given that there was considerable disruption at the back in the last minutes after Mngonezulu went off, with reserve scrumhalf Godlen Masimla taking up wing, the Stormers’ defensive effort was outstanding.

And Masimila played his role too, doing well to get across to slide onto a chip kick from Edinburgh that looked dangerous. His mark got the Stormers out of peril, as did an earlier scrum penalty and a breakdown penalty.

The Stormers managed the game well towards the end and spent the last five minutes where you want to be when you are leading a quarterfinal by 11 points - in other words camped in the Edinburgh 22.

The game was ended when they were awarded a penalty on the Edinburgh line but with no try-scoring bonus points available in this game, they were happy to kick into touch and end the game with their 11 point margin and passage into next week’s semifinal secured.