Stormers: Dazzling in distress
SEASON REVIEW: A team full of brilliant, talented individuals failed to deliver yet again for a second consecutive season despite showing all the promise in the world.
There was a sense of deja vu when the Stormers bowed out of the United Rugby Championship race against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium for the second consecutive season in the quarterfinals.
It was a picture that occurred the year before, but this time the Stormers had more time to prepare, having flown out earlier than they did in 2024.
The difference between the two quarterfinals a year apart was how easily the Stormers were beaten the second time around.
This indicated a problem the Capetonians had since the inception of the URC – their inability to win matches overseas.
At the Cape Town Stadium, the Stormers are almost unbeatable.
Their only blemish at their fortress was a one-point loss to the Bulls. A match which they should’ve won had Clayton Blommetjies not fumbled a conversion attempt in front of the posts.
Their other ‘home’ losses occurred against Glasgow Warriors in Stellenbosch and Toulon in Gqeberha (Champions Cup).
On overseas soil, however, the Stormers won merely two matches from eight attempts during the URC and Champions Cup combined and that tells the story.
The Stormers’ record against their South African counterparts reads as one win and one loss against the Bulls, Sharks and Lions respectively after dominating the local derbies for over two years.
Injuries played a big part, and that is understandable.
The retirement of Steven Kitshoff was the blow of the season and they also lost veteran Brok Harris ahead of the play-offs who was going to retire in any event.
Their tighthead roster was cleaned out to the point where former Junior Springbok captain Zachary Porthen made his debut late in the season against the Dragons.
Injuries at various stages of the competition to Boks like Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ben-Jason Dixon, Deon Fourie, Salmaan Moerat and Frans Malherbe didn’t help their cause any further.
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Still, they had the majority of their best players available at the back end of the competition and could’ve fired more shots.
What the Stormers need to address is identifying the reasons why they struggle to perform overseas.
They also need to realise all that razzle-dazzle play looks good on the eye until you meet a team with a solid defensive system that will stop you in your tracks, as they have experienced on a couple of occasions this season.
The Stormers have all the talent to be a championship team again, but it will require subtle tweaks and changes for it to happen.
Overall the Cape Town-bases side had a rollercoaster season.
They used their four-match home run to make the play-offs to full advantage and managed to make the quarterfinals after it seemed at one stage to be out of reach.
Considering all those factors @rugby365com rates their season a 5/10.
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