Roos gets a double as Stormers blow hot and cold against Edinburgh
MATCH REPORT: The Stormers stayed within touching distance of Glasgow at the top of the United Rugby Championship standings after a 33-14 win over Edinburgh in their Round 14 clash in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Capetonians were 12-14 behind after 57 minutes before they scored three tries in a dominant final quarter to pull away from the visitors.
Evan Roos scored two of his team’s five tries, while Springbok prop Boan Venter was one of Edinburgh’s scorers.
While the Stormers will be happy with the result, there will still be question marks around their overall performance.
They lacked patience on attack in key areas, and some of the decision-making by key players is a concern.
It wasn’t the best start for the hosts, and they were reduced to 14 men after five minutes when prop Ntuthuko Mchunu was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on at a maul.
Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu also pushed his penalty goal attempt in the 11th minute horribly wide. He also failed with another attempt a few minutes later.
However, some quick offloading in the Edinburgh half resulted in a try for Roos in the 25th minute, which Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted.
Just when the Stormers thought they were about to score again in the 35th minute, James Lang intercepted a Stefan Ungerer pass before racing down the length of the field to put Edinburgh on the board.
At half-time it was 7-7.
There was some more scrappy play at the beginning of the second half. However, the Stormers caught their opponents off guard with a quick line-out throw-in in the 49th minute, and after a couple of passes, Leolin Zas was in for his team’s second try.
Edinburgh thought they got a score a few minutes later when Liam McConnell chased and gathered the ball after a Lang kick before dotting down over the Stormers’ tryline. However, the loose forward was in front of the kicker in the build-up.
The visitors eventually got their second try a few minutes later when Springbok prop Boan Venter crashed over from close range after sustained pressure. Thompson converted the score to give his team a two-point lead.
The home side needed a spark, and it came in the form of Mchunu, who ran onto a no-look inside pass from Warrick Gelant before showing his speed to race away for a try.
After missing his previous conversion attempt, Feinberg-Mngomezulu nailed his third attempt to give the Capetonians a five-point lead.
There was more breathing space for the Stormers a few minutes later when Gelant delivered the final pass for Roos to sprint away for his second try of the game.
The game ended on a high note for the hosts with Deon Fourie scoring his team’s fifth try after a powerful scrum near Edinburgh’s tryline.
Man of the match: The award goes to Evan Roos, who produced several strong carries in the match, and he scored two tries as well.
The scorers:
For Stormers:
Tries: Roos 2, Zas, Mchunu, Fourie
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 4
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Lang, Venter
Cons: Thompson 2
Yellow card: Ntuthuko Mchunu (Stormers, 5′ – cynical play, deliberate knock-on)
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Damian Willemse, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Deon Fourie, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Dewaldt Duvenage, 23 Jurie Matthee.
Edinburgh: 15 Piers O’Connor, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Malelili Satala, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Dylan Richardson, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Glen Young, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mosese Tuipulotu, 23 Jack Brown.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa), Sean Muller (South Africa)
TMO: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
