Stormers beat spiteful Blues

The Stormers got their second win of the season, a 27-16 triumph over the Blues at a sun-bathed Newlands on Saturday.

It is a win that will be both celebrated and loathed.

The celebration will be for the four points on the standings. The negative side will be because the Blues were reduced to 14 men for 55 minutes and the home team should have won by a much larger margin.

The game was turned on its head in the 25th minute, when veteran Blues lock Hayden Triggs was spotted punching Stormers captain Duane Vermeulen – not once, but twice – and red-carded, leaving his team a man down for a large chunk of the match.

It did not end there, as some of the Blues took the word 'physical' to a very ugly new low.

The Stormers, unfortunately, at times got sucked in by the Blues' unconventional approach – with a hoist of errors, both under pressure and unforced, halting their progress.

Scrum and breakdown play infringements marked the early stages of the match and Blues pivot Ihaia West goaled two penalties against one from his Stormers opposite Demetri Catrakilis – as the visiting New Zealanders opened a 6-3 lead after only seven minutes play.

The Blues' lead was short-lived, as the Stormers' pressure in the visitors' 22-metre area took its toll. After a failed driving maul, which was held up in the Blues' tryline, Stormers' scrumhalf Nic Groom streaked through a half-gap for the first touchdown in the match.

Catrakilis' conversion attempt in the strong crossfield breeze was held out by the upright (8-6).

In the ensuing stages, the teams managed to secure possession at the set-pieces, but numerous handling mistakes put paid to promising movements.

Midway through the first half, the Stormers grabbed the initiative and their efforts were worth much more than the additional 10 points they scored ahead of the half-time break, especially after the Blues were reduced to 14 players following the red-card infringement by Triggs.

The Blues produced some instances of outstanding defence, but they failed to counter a moment of brilliance by Stormers left wing Dillyn Leyds who plucked a high kick ahead out of the air before stepping his way past the defence for his side's second try. This time Catrakilis made no mistake with the conversion (15-6).

A scrum penalty against the Blues on the stroke of half-time saw Catrakilis add to the visitors' misery with his second penalty for an 18-6 lead at the break.

When play restarted, the flyhalves again featured with a penalty each and the scoreboard moved along from 18-6 to 21-9 in favour of the Stormers in the 43rd minute.

A score somewhat against the run of play after an excellent inter-play in the Blues backline saw scrumhalf Jimmy Cowan score next to the posts and West goaled the conversion to reduce the deficit to 16-21-16.

Just ahead of the hour mark, the Stormers showed signs of imposing themselves in the last quarter of the match and Catrakilis succeeded with one of two close-in penalties which were awarded against the Blues in quick succession (24-16).

In the closing stages, the Blues broke the Stormers' grip on the match and managed several attacking sorties into the Stormers' half.

However, the Stormers managed to absorb the pressure and once they transferred play to the opposition half, substitute flyhalf Kurt Coleman closed the match out with a well-struck penalty to round off his side's second consecutive win.

Man of the match: Jerome Kaino stepped up, especially after his team was reduced to 14 men. Charles Piutau was solid and Francis Saili was also a constant presence on attack and defence. Cheslin Kolbe, for most part,  did what was expected of him, Demetri Catrakilis was steady, rather than spectacular, Kurt Coleman is beginning to put pressure on the selectors when it comes to the No.10 jersey, Nic Groom had his moments and Nizaam Carr made a strong case to be a regular starter. Our award goes Stormers captain Duane Vermeulen, who was the glue in a team that could so easily have unravelled.

The scorers:

For the Stormers:

Tries: Groom, Leyds

Cons: Catrakilis

Pens: Catrakilis 4, Coleman

For the Blues:

Tries: Cowan

Cons: West

Pens: West 3

Red card: Hayden Triggs (Blues, 25 – foul play, punching)

Teams:

Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Johnny Kotze, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Oliver Kebble, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Siya Kolisi, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Huw Jones.

Blues: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Ben Lam, 13 Hamish Northcott, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Jerome Kaino (captain), 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 Angus Ta'avao, 2 James Parsons, 1 Tony Woodcock.

Replacements:  16 Matt Moulds, 17 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Luke Braid, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Dan Bowden, 23 Lolagi Visinia.

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Quinton Immelman (South Africa)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)