Dark clouds gather over Stormers with defeat to Toulon as injury list grows

The lacklustre Stormers fell away in the second half as three-time winners Toulon heaped more misery on their season. Toulon won 24-14 in their opening Champions Cup match in Gqeberha on Saturday — but apart from the defeat, the Cape side will also lament an injury list that has extended.

The Stormers had hoped to find form in the Champions Cup after winning just two of their six United Rugby Championship matches, but Toulon made their size and experience count as they turned the screw in the second half.

The visitors' forwards fronted up, but at the back they possess players of invention and craft. Pint-sized winger Gabin Villiere, nicknamed Frodo on account of his hulking hands, handled with dexterity but he wasn't the only back who posed awkward questions of the Stormers.

Scrumhalf Baptiste Serin's Test career stalled just as the star of Antoine Dupont started hitting the stratosphere. Serin, however, remains a tormentor of defences and his hands-on approach was evident from the start. He was named man of the match.

Wales veteran Dan Biggar brought composure at flyhalf. The trio proved instrumental in Toulon's opening try when they stung the Stormers in the fifth minute. Slick offloading led to a try for France winger Villiere but only after the TMO ruled its legality.

To compound matters for the hosts, Keke Morabe, who had made the transition to openside flanker from No 8, was forced to leave the field in the ninth minute after sustaining what appears to be a serious knee injury.

When blindside flank Ben-Jason Dixon left the field in the 28th minute after he knocked his head into the turf while being tackled, the Stormers looked a little thin in their back row. However, he returned.

Flyhalf Manie Libbok suffered a sickening blow in a head-on-head clash with eight minutes to go and had to be stretchered off. The Stormers have had rotten luck with injuries and it is particularly keenly felt in the absence of squad replenishment.

In the opening quarter the Stormers appeared to make little headway. They were disjointed with little fluidity in their attacking player. They do, however, have a few players that can provide a spark.

One of them, Warrick Gelant, scored a try from the heavens in the 16th minute. Helped in the build-up by fellow three-quarters Leolin Zas and Suleiman Hartzenberg, Gelant beat a defender and darted for the corner with two defenders closing in.

They ensured no smooth passage to the tryline for the fullback, but the airborne Gelant crucially freed an arm with which he could reach for the tryline. It was a spectacular try that Libbok backed up with an impeccable conversion.

Just before halftime the Stormers were rewarded for continuing to roll the dice by kicking for the corner flag instead of the poles. Hooker Joseph Dweba was at the back of a maul for a converted try to hand his team the lead. It was due reward on his 50th appearance for the franchise.

For most of the third quarter the match was in somewhat of a holding pattern as neither team could assert dominance. Errors mounted but crucially the Stormers, who had defended stoically, conceded a scrum close to their tryline. They then conceded a free-kick, which provided visiting No 8 Facundo Isa an opportunity to surge for the tryline. Serin added the conversion.

Yannick Youyouette's red card for clattering into Libbok in the 72nd minute and Marius Domon's yellow a minute later threw the Stormers a potential lifeline. However, Zas was yellow-carded for a high hit on Serin and with it the hosts' chances of a rearguard action disappeared.

Scorers

Stormers (14) 14 - Tries: Warrick Gelant, Joseph Dweba. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2).

Toulon (10) 24 - Tries: Gabin Villiere, Facundo Isa, Baptiste Serin. Conversions: Serin (3). Penalty: Serin.