Stormers notch up crucial win despite error-strewn display

The Stormers scored five tries, earning a much-needed victory in a messy URC encounter with the Lions in Cape Town on Saturday.

Having suffered defeats in each of their last four matches, the Stormers won’t care much for the aesthetics but will be pleased they can start making their way up from 13th position in the log, where they found themselves before the opening whistle.

Their director of rugby, John Dobson, mentioned before the match that it was one that was “not a million miles away from being do-or-die” and certainly his team looked like one lacking confidence, given recent travails. 

A plethora of knock-ons, wayward passes and balls inexplicably dropped to the floor littered this mostly dire encounter, which only really came to life late in the second half as the Lions courageously sought to make a comeback. 

But the play from both teams was frantic and any attempt to accelerate the tempo resulted in mistakes. 

The Stormers lacked rhythm, a result of confidence being absent given recent results, but their forwards did gain the ascendancy in the opening quarter, allowing hooker Joseph Dweba to score the first of his two tries — both of which came from line-out mauls.

What was already proving to be a difficult afternoon for the visiting Lions became harder when lock Ruben Schoeman was justifiably red-carded for a reckless cleanout of Manie Libbok at a ruck. 

Suleiman Hartzenberg took advantage of the gaps that appeared in the Lions defence, breaking through tackles on the halfway line to spark a move that he finished off after another typically accurate cross-field kick from Libbok. 

The Springbok flyhalf, who missed the Champions Cup match last week due to concussion protocols, again struggled from the kicking tee — missing three conversions — but masked those problems with his general play, which featured lots of deft passing. 

Unfortunately for the Stormers, the Libbok/Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu combination at 10 and 12 didn’t get enough time to make an impression, after the latter suffered yet another injury blow. 

His anger as made his way off the field before the half-hour mark was understandable. Having returned from a long-term knee ailment that forced him to miss the Boks’ European tour, Feinberg-Mngomezulu suffered concussion in his first match back against the Sharks three weeks ago and missed the subsequent Champions Cup matches. 

Before yesterday’s encounter, he’d dismissed talk of returning to the national setup, saying he wanted to focus on the Stormers and put together a run of matches for his franchise, free of injury. He will hope the latest ailment won’t hamper that ambition. 

The Lions showed plenty of endeavour in the second half, despite being a man down, with left-wing Edwill van der Merwe producing a moment of individual magic to spark a revival. But despite a cleverly worked line-out move that saw hooker Franco Marais score, and reduced the deficit to 12 points, they were unable to sustain the momentum they created. 

Neethling Fouche finished off a move that featured nifty handling from Warwick Gelant to put a seal on what was an important victory for the Stormers.

Scorers

Stormers 29 (15) — Tries: Joseph Dweba (2), Suleiman Hartzenberg, Leolin Zas, Neethling Fouche. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2) 

Lions 10 (0) — Tries: Edwill van der Merwe, Franco Marais