Stormers survive Griquas fightback

MATCH REPORT: The Stormers held off a late fightback from Griquas to secure a thrilling 38-32 win in Kimberley on Tuesday.

The Capetonians outscored their hosts by five tries to four, with the Stormers’ young flyhalf Kade Wolhuter contributing 18 points in total in an entertaining match that went down to the wire.

Griquas looked full of running, managed to get into the right areas on the field and they really tested the Capetonians’ defence, but untimely mistakes crept into their game – such as a technical offence while on attack, near the Stormers’ tryline, in injury time, when a converted try could have clinched the victory.

With their pack on fire, the Stormers slowly gained the upper hand and although their backs failed to capitalise with the good possession, they looked dangerous in broken play, especially when the big men got involved in taking the ball up.

After 40 minutes, two converted tries by Godlen Masimla (scrumhalf) – the second with his direct opponent, Stefan Ungerer in the sin-bin – and a third by Sergeal Petersen (fullback), moments before the break, ensured the visitors were in the lead by 24-13.

Earlier, veteran wing Ederies Arendse dotted down for the men from the Northern Cape after a great move from an attacking line-out, with some hard and straight running causing the Stormers problems on defence.

Two quick tries in the second half, by Marcel Theunissen (flank) and Wolhuter, all but sealed the deal for the Stormers, although the home team refused to give up as the game started losing structure.

HJ Luus (replacement hooker), Daniel Kasende (replacement wing) and Tinus de Beer (replacement flyhalf) scored tries in the final quarter for Griquas, but the gap on the scoreboard was too big as they ran out of time.

Man of the match: The award goes to Stormers flank Marcel Theunissen. He was aggressive on defence and made his presence felt at the breakdowns. He also impressed with ball in hand and he scored one of his team’s five tries.

For Griquas:
Tries: Arendse, Luus, Kasende, De Beer
Cons: Whitehead, De Beer, Davids
Pens: Whitehead 2

For Stormers:
Tries: Masimla 2, Petersen, Theunissen, Wolhuter
Cons: Wolhuter 5
Pen: Wolhuter

Yellow card: Stefan Ungerer (Griquas, 21 – deliberate knockdown)

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Michal Haznar, 12 Andre Swarts, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 George Whitehead (captain), 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Siba Qoma, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Carl Els, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Mzwanele Zito, 3 John-Roy Jenkinson, 2 Alandre van Rooyen, 1 Nqobisizwe Mxoli.
Replacements: 16 Hendrick Luus, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Tijde Visser, 19 Ewan Coetzee, 20 Jo-Hanko de Villiers, 21 Ashlon Davids, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Daniel Kasende.

Stormers: 15 Sergeal Petersen, 14 Sihle Njezula, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 4 David Meihuizen, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Evan Roos, 20 Salmaan Moerat, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Chris Schreuder, 23 Edwill van der Merwe.

Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Mpho Matsaung
TMO: JJ Wagner

Additional source: SA Rugby