Advertisement

Stormers pass depth test with flying colours

rugby25 November 2022 18:53| © SuperSport
By:Gavin Rich
Share

The DHL Stormers made a resounding success of their test of depth as a first-half tidal wave set up a comprehensive 36-19 Vodacom United Rugby Championship win over Scarlets in front of an appreciative crowd at DHL Stadium on Friday night.

With eight players away with the Springboks in London and another couple on the injured list, the Stormers went into this game with such a changed-up team that there was only one survivor, in the form of No 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, from the team that won the 2021/22 final against the Vodacom Bulls at this venue.

While coach John Dobson was publicly confident about his team’s chances of winning, in private he may have understandably been a bit concerned, but on the night some of his claims in the pre-match press conference proved spot on.

Predictions such as that debutant lock Gary Porter would become a Cape Town hero and prove a late bloomer - he is 26 - who will go on to play 100 games for the Stormers by the time he is 33.

Porter certainly looks the part of a player who could do well at this level. He was also accurate in his prediction that relatively unknown players like centre Cornel Smit would show the Cape Town public what they could do.

They did that and more, with flyhalf Kade Wolhuter, the third or fourth ranked pivot at the franchise, turning a great allround performance as he returned to the No 10 jersey for the first time in two years in the absence of new Bok Manie Libbok.

And let it be said that on a night where the Stormers were much improved as a lineout force, and perhaps here Porter can take a bow, hooker Joseph Dweba proved why he is a Bok.

Indeed, Dweba was the stand-out Stormers player on the night, with his driving and general destructiveness around the collisions making a massive imprint on his opponents.

Dweba was one of a couple of Stormers forwards, with Neethling Fouche, Porter, skipper Ernst van Rhyn and Dayimani being others, who ensured the hosts were a force in the collisions and the battle of the gain line.

The flat passing and interplay of the backs, where Dan du Plessis, Smit, fullback Clayton Blommetjies and Leolin Zas were particular stand-outs, kept the Scarlets defence floundering once reserve scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, on as a blood replacement, burrowed over for a try under the posts after 16 minutes.

TWO QUICK SCARLETS TRIES

Scarlets had threatened to deliver on Dobson’s fear of a tough night for his team before that, and missed an early kickable penalty attempt, but after the Jantjies try the Stormers clicked into overdrive and for the rest of the half they played some dazzling rugby.

It was a great mix of strengths too, with the kicking game - the Stormers did have a strong wind at their backs - the driving of the forwards and the passing game giving the URC champions the perfect balance to their game.

The Stormers had scored their four-try bonus point before halftime when Dayimani ran over for a typically brilliant individual try just beyond the half hour mark, a score that was added to a sublime try finished off by wing Zas, a sweep from deep in their own territory that was typical Stormers and featured a strong run from Smit, while Van Rhyn drove over for the third.

The Stormers were playing with a strong wind at their backs and with Ryan Conbeer scoring a good try for the Scarlets, who did periodically show signs of being capable of breaking out and wasted a few scoring chances, the Stormers were concerned enough about the opposing team’s potential to ask Wolhuter to kick a long-range penalty when they were already 26-7 ahead.

That was on the halftime hooter and it made the halftime score 29-7, with the Scarlets looked well out of it.

But a fear that Dobson expressed when passing through the press box at halftime that it might get messy with Scarlets chasing the game with the wind behind them in the second half proved founded.

After Dan du Plessis had rounded off another brilliant attack in which outside centre Smit featured prominently again, it was mostly the Scarlets who attacked and the Stormers who defended for the rest of the game.

That’s not to say the Stormers didn’t have opportunities, and they may have scored again had it not been for their execution deserting them, but the Scarlets struck back with two quick tries that momentarily had Stormers fans feeling nervous as they cut the deficit to 17 with 27 minutes left on the clock.

But if the young, inexperienced Stormers weren’t accurate with their execution in the second half, the Scarlets were sometimes worse in the face of the swarming, advancing Stormers defensive line, with the number of passes going straight into touch being quite comical.

It was clear the Scarlets had set their sights on a four try bonus point but although they were pressing for it at the final hooter, they eventually fell short.

SCORES

DHL Stormers 36 - Tries: Herschel Jantjies, Leolin Zas, Ernst van Rhyn, Hacjivah Dayimani and Dan du Plessis; Conversions: Kade Wolhuter 4; Penalty: Kade Wolhuter.

SCARLETS 19 - Tries: Ryan Conbeer 2 and Thomas Rogers; Conversions: Dan Jones and Rhys Patchell.

Advertisement