There were times in the first two Vodacom United Rugby Championship seasons that the stars seemed to align perfectly for the DHL Stormers but they might agree that the opposite is happening this time around after their 31-24 defeat to Cardiff at Cardiff Arms Park.
The Stormers led 14-0 early in the game and were almost perfect up to the 20 minute mark as they hardly gave the home team any possession.
But then they became loose and scrappy and let slip their stranglehold as Cardiff fought their way into the game to cut the deficit to just 17-14 at halftime.
In the second half it looked like the Stormers had taken control again when they scored another good try to take the lead to 10 points but then came a half hour where the Stormers appeared to be desperately trying to get right the one thing they have been adept at on their four match tour - conspiring against themselves.
Unbelievable as Cardiff secure a last gasp try, to defeat the DHL Stormers 🤯 pic.twitter.com/lN8hCZobNP
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) November 24, 2023
Almost immediately the Stormers allowed Cardiff to hit back as the impressive Mason Darcy, the strongly built and explosive Cardiff left wing who gave the Cape men headaches almost every time he touched the ball, went over off a training ground move off an attacking lineout set up by a penalty.
Cardiff fractured the lineout and Darcy came through the open channel to score untouched and with Tinus de Beer’s conversion Cardiff were back to just three points behind.
The Stormers had a few promising moments after that but tended to overplay, something that has become a habit for them, and then when De Beer got a chance to level the scores at 24-all with 16 minutes to go, he took it.
CAPE TEAM THEIR OWN WORST ENEMIES AGAIN
Level it remained until the last move of the game, when Cardiff dotted down under the posts through their driving forwards after they had been presented with an attacking scrum in a perfect position by a horrible mistake from Clayton Blommetjies, who did well to field a hoisted kick from Cardiff running back towards his own tryline and then knocking it on.
The Stormers were always chasing the win and wouldn’t have been satisfied with a draw, but they should be kicking themselves for not taking a kickable attempt in the 75th minute that was easily within the impressive place-kicking boot of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s range.
Had they slotted it, they would surely have won.
Instead they kicked for touch, through Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and like last week in a similar situation it didn’t work out, although this time at least some good play from Cardiff was complicit as a player leapt into the air near the corner flag to prevent it going out to set up the lineout.
The Stormers were doing most of the attacking at that point and it was them pressing for the win, but as the commentators aptly put it, that moment provided a massive swing.
The Stormers frankly shot themselves in both feet with their decision not to kick for posts, the win should surely have been first and foremost in their focus, and what makes it worse for them is that this was the second time on tour they made the same mistake.
Against Benetton two weeks ago they also had a chance to kick for posts and didn’t, although admittedly that one was for the draw and not the win and the Stormers in that game were choosing between one losing bonus point, two for a draw and five for the win.
But this time it was the difference between four and one, and they really made a mess of it.
🔥🔥🔥 COMMENT HOW YOU ARE FEELING 👇👇👇
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) November 24, 2023
Breathtaking game... Unforgettable memories ❤️@Vodacom #URC | #CARvSTO pic.twitter.com/aQUK36awR8
THREE LOSING BONUS POINTS FROM FOUR TOUR MATCHES
The Stormers were their own worst enemies and as a consequence they arrive home having lost all four games they played on tour and only have the losing bonus points from the last three games to show for their efforts.
It looked like it was going to be a full house of log points for the Stormers when Marcel Theunissen broke through almost from the start, and then from the resultant scrum forced a penalty that was kicked to the corner and Andre-Hugo Venter barged his way over in the left corner after just four minutes.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who was also again excellent in general play, kicked the angled conversion and he was on target again to convert the first of two Ruhan Nel tries as the Stormers went into a 14-0 lead after just 12 minutes.
There was some excellent play from the Stormers in their period of early dominance, not least from Nama Xaba, who was busy at the breakdowns both defensively and in trying to keep the attacking moves going.
He forced a good turnover penalty near his line at a stage when most people were probably still thinking the Stormers were going to win with ease.
However, Cardiff started to create problems for the Stormers by exploiting some defensive errors when they ran the ball down the left flank, or when De Beer grubbered it in that direction, and both of their break back tries, the first to debutant Gabriel Hamer-Webb in the left corner in the 25th minute and then the second to skipper Liam Belcher five minutes from halftime included good decisions and touches from the former Griquas and Pumas flyhalf.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu had kicked a penalty a bit earlier which accounted for the Stormers’ three point lead.
When Nel went over for his second try off a good little faint from Warrick Gelant it looked like the Stormers were on their way again but it was not to be and as the visitors continued their habit of overplaying when chasing the game and it ultimately cost them.
🔥 Outrageous delayed pass from Warrick Gelant to set Ruhan Nel away for his second try of the game!
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) November 24, 2023
The @THESTORMERS looking potent in Cardiff 😮💨@Vodacom #URC | #CARvSTO pic.twitter.com/sB8dvA2Srr
SCORES
Cardiff 31 - Tries: Gabriel Harmer-Webb, Liam Belcher, Mason Grady and Rhys Litterick; Conversions: Tinus de Beer 4; Penalty: Tinus de Beer. DHL
Stormers 24 - Tries: Andre-Hugo Venter and Ruhan Nel 2; Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu; Penalty: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.