Stormers crumble in URC quarterfinal against Glasgow

REPORT: The Stormers’ first United Rugby Championship play-off game away from home has ended in defeat.

The Capetonians suffered a 10-27 defeat to Glasgow Warriors in their quarterfinal at Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday.

The Warriors outscored their opponents by three tries to two in the match, but the Stormers’ poor goal-kicking proved to be costly.

Manie Libbok missed all his kicks (two conversions and two penalties) at poles which meant that his team missed out on 10 crucial points.

The home side dominated possession in the early stages and butchered a try-scoring opportunity in the 11th minute when scrumhalf George Horne failed to gather the ball from a pass with the tryline wide open in front of him.

Glasgow eventually took the lead in the 20th minute with a Horne penalty after Libbok pulled his opportunity wide moments earlier.

In tricky conditions, Libbok pulled another penalty kick wide in the 23rd minute.

Instead, Glasgow increased their lead in the 30th minute with another three-pointer from Horne after a scrum penalty.

At half-time, it was 6-0 to Glasgow.

With the wind at the backs in the second half the Stormers had some more momentum with ball in hand.

However, they suffered a blow in the 54th minute when their captain Salmaan Moerat was sent to the sinbin for a head-on-head collision.

That didn’t stop the visiting team from showing some enterprise on attack which resulted in a try for wing Ben Loader in the 59th minute.

Libbok had the chance to put his team in front with a conversion, but his kick went wide again.

The Capetonians then failed to deal with the restart and after a knock-on and a strong run from Sione Tuipulotu, the ball found its way to Sebastian Cancelliere who ran in for a try.

Horne added the extra two points to make it an eight-point lead for the home side.

After that score, it was Glasgow’s turn to gift the Stormers a try-scoring opportunity after they blundered a line-out in their own half.

And the visitors took full advantage with scrumhalf Paul de Wet going over for a try after several phases in Glasgow’s 22.

With an easier kick to poles, Libbok managed to hit the upright and it was a three-point lead to Glasgow with 14 minutes left on the clock.

After a series of penalties, Glasgow were camped inside the Stormers’ 22 and the pressure eventually took its toll with Henco Venter going over for the home side in the 75th minute.

Horne made it a 10-point lead with his conversion.

Glasgow rubbed salt in the Stormers’ wounds after the full-time hooter sounded when Ross Thompson pounced on a loose ball in the Stormers’ in-goal area to score his team’s third try.

The scorers:

For Glasgow:
Tries: Cancelliere, Venter, Thompson
Cons: Horne 3
Pens: Horne 2

For Stormers:
Tries: Loader, De Wet

Yellow card: Salmaan Moerat) Stormers, 54′ – foul play, illegal clear-out)

Teams:

Glasgow: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Steyn (captain), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Ross Thompson.

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Connor Evans, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.

Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland) and Peter Martin (Ireland)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)