The Stormers ground out a 39-26 win over the Leicester Tigers in Cape Town to book their place in the knockout-stage of the Champions Cup.
Coming into this encounter, the Stormers knew they needed at least one log point to secure a spot in the Round of 16. But while they were favourites to win, last week’s harrowing performance and ultimately result would have played heavily on their minds, not to mention diminished their confidence.
That said, the Cape side did well to see off what proved to be a valiant challenge from the Tigers to get the desired outcome on the day. The Stormers now join pool rivals Leinster and Harlequins; as well as Bath, the Sale Sharks, Glasgow Warriors, Bordeaux, Bristol Bears, and Northampton Saints as the teams to have qualified for the playoffs.
FIRST-HALF RECAP: STORMERS SHINE BRIGHT AND THEN FADE
Despite an early injury setback, a head knock to prop Ntuthuko Mchunu, the Stormers dominated the opening quarter. With Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu pulling the strings from flyhalf, they played a free-flowing game, one the Leicester Tigers struggled to contain. And pretty soon the hosts were 12 points to the good, with Evan Roos and Andre Hugo-Venter accounting for the two tries.
Roos’ effort in particular was a result of the Stormers’ brand of rugby. Centre Johnathan Roche made a superb solo break in midfield and two offloads later, Roos was for the five-pointer.
But it the first 20 minutes belonged to the Stormers, the second 20 of the first-half were all Leicester’s. And the man at the heart of the visitors fightback was George Pearson. It was the live-wire fullback who sparked an attack from deep and a couple of phases later, he was on hand to finish off what he had started with a try under the sticks. op[
The Stormers’ defensive lull didn’t end there. They conceded another converted try soon after as the Tigers hit the front for the first time. And the damaged on the scoreboard would have been worse, had Billy Searle knocked an easy penalty attempt. But as it were, he missed the sitter, much to the delight of the partisan home crowd.
On the other end of the field, his opposite number Feinberg-Mngomezulu had no such qualms. The playmaker slotted a penalty on the stroke of half-time to give the hosts a slender one-point advantage at the midway mark.
SECOND-HALF: TWO HEAVYWEIGHTS GO BLOW-FOR-BLOW
The second-half was like a boxing bout between two heavyweights, with neither side allowing the other to get the upper hand.
Leicester landed the first punch when hooker Jamie Blamire crashed over from a lineout drive. But the Stormers responded with a converted try of their own when Leolin Zas latched onto a pop from Paul de Villiers, who first drew in three defenders and took the contact before offloading. Apart from That try-assist was De Villiers’ second of the game.
With the score at 22-21, the clock well past the hour mark and the game on a knife’s edge, Feinberg-Mngomezulu was yellow carded for leading with arm in an attempt to shrug off a Tigers defender. That could have thrown a spanner in the works for the hosts, but it didn’t. Instead, it spurred them on to up the ante. Even with a man down, the Stormers managed to carve up Leicester’s defence with a scathing attack down the right flank.
Lock JD Schickerling found himself in acres of space and with Zas running a superb support line, he looked for all money to swing the ball to the outside. But the No 4 flummoxed Tigers’ last line of defence with a well-thought out show-and-go and then showed clean pair of heels to score a crucial try, which took the Stormers’ lead beyond the one-score margin.
The Stormers would add another three-pointer to their tally, but the visitors would score again to set up a grandstand finish with the score at 32-26.
Ultimately, the Stormers – in large part thanks to their dominant scrum – controlled the territory and possession at the end to keep the Tigers at bay. And their reward for that territorial dominance was another try which put the finishing touches on a deserved result.
