Stormers fire then fade
13 Feb 2010
A powerful first-half performance set the platform for the Stormers’ 26-13 win over the Lions in Johannesburg.
The visitors scored all of their points before the break, and at that point, it seemed the Stormers would leave with the rarest of rewards: five log points away from home.
They had the lion’s share of both possession and territory in the first half, and although they botched a few early opportunities, their two tries arrived in such an emphatic manner that a four-try bonus seemed a formality. Unfortunately, the Lions switched from Hyde to Jekyll in the second period, lifting the tempo when they received more ball. You could accuse the Stormers of being more complacent, but the truth is the Lions were twice as dangerous in the second half.
Pietersen kicked four penalties to lay the platform the visitors, but the Stormers took 35 minutes before breaching the defence for their first try. Juan de Jongh spun a lovely pass to put Bryan Habana through a hole, and the Springbok winger then gifted the final pass to Pietersen. It looked to be a telling blow right before half-time, but the bad news for the Lions was that the Stormers were only just getting started.
The forwards started to hit their straps with the ball recycled swiftly at ruck time. A sustained build up ultimately ended with Jaque Fourie rounding the posts to the dismay of his former home crowd. Both Fourie and Habana proved their worth in this fixture, and the encouraging thing for the Stormers is the Bok pair do have that extra gear for the bigger occasion.
The Lions won a few penalties early in the second stanza and opted to drive for the Stormers’ line. The visitors repelled a determined surge, captain Schalk Burger and Andries Bekker responsible for a try-saving tackle apiece. All the pressure amounted to nought as Fourie smashed the final surge back to earn his side a turnover.
Carlos Spencer battled to put his unique stamp of proceedings, but you could hardly blame him given the dearth of possession on offer in early stages. The handling of the hosts was poor, and the air of desperation that characterised the 2009 campaign was prominent and certainly cost the Lions at crucial moments.
Reserve back Michael Killian brought the game to life when he cruised through the Stormers’ defence in the 63rd minute. The Lions started to come into their own as the play grew looser in the final quarter, but again poor handling culled many promising movements.
The scoreline will suggest the Stormers took their foot off the pedal in the second stanza, but credit must go to the Lions for their lift in intensity and tempo. Pietersen also had a chance to put the game out of reach, but missed two penalties in quick succession. In the big matches, this could be the difference between a win and a loss.
The Stormers fullback did rack up 21 of his side’s points and was a threat whenever he joined the line. Although Habana and Fourie added a touch of class, plaudits should go to Peter Grant, Gio Aplon and De Jongh for their all-round efforts. Scrumhalf Dewald Duvenage was also a key man with his boot spearheading the much-publicised kick-chase.
There’s plenty to think about following the first game of the season. The Stormers will hope to improve on their execution, as some poor decision-making and knock-ons in contact cost them possession early on. They also need to put teams like the Lions away when they have the chance, as they will know one log point could be the difference between play-off qualification and oblivion. If you’re not in the top four by the end of the round robin, you might as well be last.
The Cape side play the Waratahs at Newlands week and will fancy their chances. If they can maintain the standard seen in the first 40 minutes at Ellis Park, they will be strong favourites to down the Sydney-siders.
By Jon Cardinelli
177 Comments
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14 Feb 2010, 00:57 am
@WilladieLeeu: What is happening with Buys?
What changes do you see next week?
14 Feb 2010, 00:58 am
“Doppies had a great game today.”
Your kidding me???
The three tackles he missed?????
Spencer got a high tackle from Schalk….injured his neck. Ref apparently didn’t see.
14 Feb 2010, 00:59 am
Fourie wanted to come out and sign some stormers jerseys but his security detail forbade it…
14 Feb 2010, 01:02 am
@SodaJoe:
Buys will be fine next week.
Jacques will start.
Walter will start. Hollenbach will start. George Earl will start.
Clever will start. Dusty will start.
14 Feb 2010, 01:02 am
@WilladieLeeu: Harsh. He made his tackles too, made hospital passes look better than they were, broke the line and also played that “fetcher” role he does so well excellently.
The high tackle was more King Carlos slipping boet.
14 Feb 2010, 01:03 am
@gunther: Hello Shunts.
14 Feb 2010, 01:04 am
@WilladieLeeu:
#152
Carlos ducked into the tackle. It was pointed out to the ref by Marius Jonker (you can trust him to never miss anything from a Stormer) and he reprimanded Schalk for not using his arms. The commentators thought it was a bit harsh.
14 Feb 2010, 01:05 am
My bloody Mighty Whites need to start winning a few. I cannot cope with another playoff.
14 Feb 2010, 01:08 am
@SodaJoe:
walaykum my old mucker sorry bout your boys today, even the normally hot dancing girls looked a bit rough if i’m honest…
14 Feb 2010, 01:09 am
@SodaJoe:
Your thinking of the first tackle. There was a second one.
14 Feb 2010, 01:09 am
@Robzim:
to be fair carlos isn’t very tall…
still very naughty of the stormers to try and sink the lions battleship…
14 Feb 2010, 01:14 am
@gunther: I made the same comment. Really – they might do better getting some of the “ladies” in Ponte Towers or Yeoville. And wtf were they wearing?
14 Feb 2010, 01:15 am
sa take the field in the vegas sevens (this is not a card game) to the sound of bruce springstein’s well known rock anthem born in the rsa…
14 Feb 2010, 01:16 am
@SodaJoe:
actually the lions girls from last year were smoking hot… apparently they are all pregnant now…
14 Feb 2010, 01:19 am
@gunther: Classic. I’ve missed this.
14 Feb 2010, 01:22 am
@SodaJoe:
they did try some of the ponte tower “ladies” but their ***** were distracting the players…
14 Feb 2010, 02:54 am
@Slappes:
What do you mean? I wanted them to win with a bonus point.
These new “law interpretations” are ridiculous. Out of all the games I watched, I only saw a handful of actual steals. Only way to turn the ball over now is from a knock on/forward pass, pathetic. These Australasians are ruining my rugby, they have no clue. Someone should punch John O’Neil really hard right in his stupid convict face.
14 Feb 2010, 05:23 am
May as well get rid of the 2 props and turn it into the 13 man game. When player gets tackled defending team gotta get the hell out the way. So why not just blow the whistle and let attacking team start with a tap kick. Get up stand up and start all over again. If no contest on the ground then rugga union is pretty much dead and buried, may as well call it rugga league and get the snot en trane right out the way.
14 Feb 2010, 06:13 am
Well i have always backed Fourie that his ego has not got ahead of him but his arrogant display after his try must have got the Lions management smarting – dont think it was called for from such a world class player
14 Feb 2010, 06:27 am
The biggest disappointment for me was when the Stormers opted to go for poles with 10 mins to play. They were up by thirteen. That was the moment to go for the 4 try bonus point. Bonus points don’t seem to be valued at the beginning of the season, but when it is all wrapping up teams find themselves having to chase those points or miss out. How many times do we see this belated regret over points left behind?
14 Feb 2010, 06:38 am
@WilladieLeeu:
As if the tackle would have had a bearing in the match. Face it, the Lions were nowhere, attacked the Stormers line continuously, pounding phase after phase…nothing.
Heinke van der Merwe wasn’t terrific, in fact he was mediocre, I think they should stop doing interviews with the guy. Honestly, leave him on the field playing, communicating…or perhaps it should be, thinking seems to be difficult for him.
Quote from yesterday…
Worst dressed player?
Heinke: Uh Tod Clever..uh..because he is American…and uh in America…uh…he is funny
Brilliant.
14 Feb 2010, 07:43 am
very dissapointing Stormers performance. Really they must be bold and give L Cronje a run at 10…
14 Feb 2010, 10:22 am
@WilladieLeeu:
That wasn’t a high tackle at all…
Spencer lost his footing and was going down… and smacked his face into Schalk’s arm… had he not slipped the tackle would’ve been around waste height…
BUT… Stormers were not good enough on the night to be serious contenders…
they have to up their game and play for the full 80 minutes if they’re gonna come anywhere close to contending…
14 Feb 2010, 10:55 am
I like the new law or strict way on the old law!!
Too many times in the past teams got away by slowing down the ball when a team is attacking in the red zone….now there is no hiding behind this and also no players just simply lying on the ball!! I love that they get pinned for it for a change!
Allister must go I must say…..any coach worth his salt should have seen in the second halve that the lions were not going to kick and run everything, sure against most other teams the kick for territory would be great but come on…..
READ the game AC…..they ran everything….just keep the ball in hand and grind them and make them tackle!!!! A good coach would have read this and send the message out to the players….but in the second half we were still playing the same plan instead of reading the game and situation!!!?????
That is why we have no silver ware….AC will tel you we ticked the boxes, BUT we are not a champion side like the bulls……we should have finished this weak lions with a 75-14…instead we went with defending an ordinary lead and that is what we will stay if we keep on defending weak leads!!!!!
14 Feb 2010, 19:25 pm
@Hoops: Yep…we actually seem to be suffering from Bull/Bok sickness…in that if the game plan is not working-what do we do…stick to the gameplan of course…
14 Feb 2010, 21:49 pm
@Storm outta hell: We won FFS!!! First game of the season and an away win – 4 log points. They will get better – Relax!
14 Feb 2010, 21:58 pm
@RedLion: For a team that just got THUMPED at home by a side playing “poorly” you have a lot to say for yourself.
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