The Stormers have mostly their forwards to thank for an unexpectedly comprehensive 46-19 away Vodacom United Rugby Championship rout of the Cell C Sharks at HollwoodBets Kings Park but the Jekyll and Hyde performance of Manie Libbok was deserving of a headline.
Libbok walked away with the Man of the Match award but it might not be unkind to suggest that had it not been for his plethora of mistakes amidst the sheer genius he also showed, the Stormers might have hit 60.
It was Libbok’s break off some good thinking from Clayton Blommetjies that set the Stormers on the road to victory with a try within two minutes of the start and he also scored one of the Cape team’s six tries. He was a constant thorn to the Sharks defensive effort when he had ball in hand.
But he also missed no less than three penalty kicks for touch. In among some outstanding kicks for posts, he also missed a few, one of them almost from in front.
The bad from Libbok also featured some handling errors at a venue where he produced arguably his worst performance in Stormers colours in the 2021/2022 season.
KINGS PARK FAITHFULL WILL REMEMBER THE GOOD
It is the good though that the Durban crowd will remember of a player who was once one of theirs from a game where their team just never featured, mainly because they were completely dominated at forward, with the scrums as a starting point, and here Neethling Fouche would also have been a deserving man of the match, as well as the quick recycling of the breakdown that had the Sharks defence floundering.
In many ways it was a replay of the Sharks match against Harlequins in London two weeks ago in the Heineken Champions Cup, where the Durbanites were beaten by the speed with which their opponents got the ball back.
With Herschel Jantjies at scrumhalf back to his more assertive and decisive best, it meant the Stormers were able to get their attacking and counter-attacking game together in a game that was a surprisingly good spectacle given the humid conditions.
According to one Durbanite before kick-off, the humidity could be cut with a knife, so it is an indication of how teams may have adapted to the debilitating aspects of playing rugby in the Durban summer, and in the middle of the day at that, that nine tries were scored by the two teams, and some of them, particularly those from the Stormers, were impressive.
There were handling mistakes, yeah there were plenty of those, and it in some ways it was apt that Libbok should end his own man of the match performance by knocking on the final ball when the Stormers were searching for the score that would take them beyond the 50 mark.
CAPE TEAM HIT TARGET
Not that Stormers coach John Dobson and his players will be complaining as they banked the full points they needed ahead of another tricky away derby against the Vodacom Bulls two weeks from now.
They scored their fourth try, to clinch the bonus point, almost immediately after the restart following halftime when Seabelo Senatla, returning from a long injury layoff, flew over in the left corner.
That made it 31-7 after an excellent Libbok touchline conversion and with a 24 point lead there was going to be no stopping the Stormers after that.
In fairness, it was probably over when the Stormers crossed for their second try, when Ruben van Heerden, the former Sharks player who must have thoroughly enjoyed his experience of being a visiting player to Kings Park, thundered over for the second try just short of the 20 minute mark.
With Libbok’s conversion to add to the Jantjies score in the opening minutes, that made it 14-0, and then Libbok kicked a penalty to make it 17-0 after 25 minutes.
The Stormers were dominating the scrums, and when they weren’t winning penalties they were forcing turnover ball, and they could have been even further ahead had it not been for Libbok inexplicably missing his touches from those penalties.
And then it was Libbok who lost the ball as he was crossing for what would have been his team’s third try in the 29th minute.
COMPLETE DOMINANCE UP FRONT
Not that it was likely to matter given the complete dominance of the Stormers, and sure enough just three minutes later an attacking lineout position was capitalised on by the Stormers in the form of a drive over try to Joseph Dweba, who continues to grow in Stormers colours.
His contribution to the Stormers’ scrumming dominance cannot be underestimated and neither his contribution as a support player and on the drive.
Dweba’s lineout throwing performance was good too, and while the Stormers did miss some, that was mainly after Dweba had left the field.
The Stormers had Van Heerden in good form, but Gary Porter, who hasn’t played much, was again a revelation in the middle of the lineout. He is a good replacement for the resting Springbok, Marvin Orie.
Dweba’s try took the Stormers into a 24-0 lead and that looked likely to be the halftime score before Gerbrandt Grobler crossed for a try completely against the run of play just before halftime.
But while that should have galvanised the Sharks even though they trailed 24-7, their concession of the Senatla try immediately after the break surrendered any momentum they might have taken to the break.
SENATLA BRILLIANT AND UNSELFISH
Talking of Senatla, his chase of a Stormers kick ahead from a deep defensive position a few minutes after that was excellent, he gathered the ball deftly in the face of the Sharks defender, and then he unselfishly offloaded to the equally pacy Suleiman Hartzenberg for a try near the posts that put the Stormers 38-7.
Games between these teams are normally close so no-one would have envisaged that scoreline.
Then came a Libbok Jekyll and Hyde moment when he picked up a dropped pass to cross untouched, only to miss a conversion from almost in front.
Grobler scored a second try to go with one from former Western Province hooker Dan Jooste as the Sharks chased a try scoring bonus point, but that also proved beyond them.
Instead it was Libbok who was the final points scorer in the game as he kicked a long-range penalty that was probably more about giving his hard-working teammates a rest in the heat and humidity rather than in quest for more points for his team.
By then they’d long since stopped being necessary.
Scores
DHL Stormers 46 - Tries: Herschel Jantjies, Ruben van Heerden, Joseph Dweba, Seabelo Senatla, Sulieman Hartzenberg and Manie Libbok; Conversions: Clayton Blommetjies and Manie Libbok 4; Penalties: Manie Libbok 2.
Cell C Sharks 19 - Tries: Gerbrandt Grobler 2 and Dan Jooste; Conversions: Curwin Bosch 2.