Stormers sink bruised Brumbies
Maybe kicking is best after all. Last week the Stormers passed and ran and lost. This week they kicked and won. It may seem that a lot of the kicking was pointless but the truth is that it certainly was not. The Brumbies had , not by much, the majority of possession but the Stormers had 70% of the territory. Having territory proved better than having possession, it seemed, even if it was the boot that kept the Brumbies a long way from the Stormers' goal line. The upshot was a first defeat in Super Rugby 2016.
The Brumbies also had two silly incidents that damaged their cause. First Joe Tomane, who otherwise had a really good game, banged into Dillyn Leyds after the whistle and then slapped him in the face, giving the Stormers a sitter of a penalty. Then Josh Mann-Rea punched Oliver Kebble in the face more than once and was redcarded, leaving his side to play with 14 players for the last 16 minutes of the match. When he left the score was 16-11. It grew after that.
There was more to talk about in the try that Leyds scored in Tomane's tackle in the right corner. Leyds had an overlap but decided that the best dive was a high arch. Tomane's tackle dislodged the ball as Leyds reached down to ground it. The referee referred to the TMO and eventually awarded the try on the grounds that there was no evidence that the ball had broken contact with Leyds's hands. Leyds himself did not think that he had scored! That happened four minutes from time when the score was 19-11.
After the match Stephen Moore, the Brumbies' captain, said that he thought the Stormers had deserved to win the match.
There were just under 30 000 people at Newlands on a balmy Saturday evening. They, of course, enjoyed their side's big win.
In the first two minutes of the match each of the Brumbies' wings, Tomane and Henry Speight had received passes from backline movement. That did not happen to Stormers' wings till a long time later, but the Brumbies' duo got the possession in their own territory and nothing came of it.
In Brumbies' territory the Stormers goaled their first two penalties in a match of few (12) penalties. The first was for offside, the second against Moore at a tackle. 6-0 after 16 minutes.
The next score was the sweetest try of the match. The Brumbies threw into a line-out on their left and won the ball. They went right and outside of Christian Leali'ifano there was a bunch of three backs. The flyhalf chose to pass to Tevita Kuridrani and he burst past Juan de Jongh and then Kurt Coleman before throwing, left-handed, a long (20 metres or so) pass to unmarked Speight on the right wing and he scored far out. 6-5 after 30 minutes.
The Stormers attacked with a maul from a line-out. The referee played advantage, Coleman chipped and Tomane was cross with Leyds. That gave the Stormers a penalty under the Brumbies' posts. 9-5 after 30 minutes.
Just before half-time Eben Etzebeth was penalised for tackling a player who did not have the ball but Leali'ifano missed the kick at goal.
At the break the Stormers thus led 9-5.
That became 9-8 early in the second half when Leali'ifano goaled a penalty from a scrum.
That is how the score stayed for 12 minutes, till Leali'ifano kicked to his right from deep in his 22. Leyds jumped and, as two Brumbies also jumped, caught the high ball. The Stormers went far right to Kobus van Wyk and then came back left where Nizaam Carr broke off a pass from Siya Kolisi. Suddenly Pieter-Steph du Toit was surging towards the line and the next thing Kolisi had dived over for a try. 16-8 after 57 minutes.
The Stormers made a mess of the kick-off and were penalised. Leali'ifano goaled. 16-11.
Five minutes later Mann-Rae was silly and sent off. Coleman goaled the subsequent penalty and from then on the Brumbies had no hope of winning. The Stormers shoved them off the ball and attacked from the tight head, Cheslin Kolbe sending Leyds to the corner on an overlap. He thought his silly dive and Tomane's intervention had cost him a try, but it did not do so in the end. 24-11 with 4 minutes to go.
From a scrum the Stormers went left to Leolin Zas and then along to the right where Schalk Burger nonchalantly lobbed a diagonal kick out to the wing. Sikhumbuzo Notshe caught the ball and headed for the line. He was flattened but Vincent Koch gathered., plunged and scored. Jean-Luc du Plessis, son of Carel and nephew of Willie and Michael, converted. 31-11.
Man of the Match: The front row and the locks are obvious candidates but our individual choice is that man of nonstop action and brave and skilled input, Siya Kolisi.
Scorers:
For the Stormers:
Tries: Kolisi, Leyds, Koch
Cons: Coleman, du Plessis
Pens: Coleman 4
For the Brumbies:
Try: Speight
Pens: Lealiifano 2
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Juan de Jongh (co-captain), 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Siyamthanda Kolisi, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe (co-captain), 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Oliver Kebble, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Leolin Zas.
Brumbies: 15 Aidan Toua, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Leslie Leulua'iali'i-Makin, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Jordan Smiler, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Robbie Coleman, 23 Nigel Ah Wong.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
