Heartbreak Hotel for wasteful Stormers
Sharks take their chances and survive late scare thanks to the TMO
A star-studded Sharks side recorded their first win over the Stormers in the URC on Saturday in a game low on quality but high on late drama.
Any game reffed by Marius van der Westhuizen descends into a farce and this was no exception. He is inept and seems to love the sight of himself on the Big Screen at the stadium - his loss of control of games is clear as players seem happy to challenge him constantly. He was not helped by two equally appalling ARs who have no business officiating at this level - they could have pulled two people out of the stands and got more insight. It was instructive that Sharks Defence Coach Joey Mongalo was censured for having a go at one of them by van der Westhuizen, can hardly blame Mongalo. #circus
This was a game decided by one side taking their opportunities, and one side spurning them in ever more creative ways.
This will be a hard review for the Stormers, who despite the loss will be encouraged by how many chances they created against what is becoming a formidable team, especially at home - I wish the Sharks PR team weren’t so intent on imitating a nightclub at Kings Park on a match day.
Stormers wastefulness punished in first half
The Stormers nearly scored from their first possession. Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, starting at 10, made a good break and when Gelant’s banana kick bounced kindly for Herschel Jantjies he looked certain to score. Only a brilliant try-saving tackle from Vincent Tshituka denied the Stormers. The Stormers remained in the Sharks 22m for the next five minutes but good work at the breakdown by James Venter and Siya halted their progress, not to mention a wayward lineout throw on the Sharks 5m line.
The Sharks then capitalised on a succession of Stormers penalties to score two quick-fire tries to take a 14 - 0 lead. Their first try came from a great finish by the burly Ethan Hooker. He had a lot of work to do when he received the ball on the right wing but a good step and pure strength saw him beat the cross cover. The Sharks second try was down to patience in the red zone. After a number of phases off 9, Siya ran a great arc and ran through Dan du Plessis and a weak jersey grab by Gelant for the perfect opening for the Sharks. At this stage it looked like a massacre was on the cards.
Sasha got three points back for the Stormers via a long range drop goal, but then missed a relatively easy penalty shortly thereafter as the Stormers built some pressure. Sasha wouldn’t last much longer. In the next passage of play he got smoked by Trevor Nyakane in a shot that looked like head contact but after TMO intervention it was ruled to be on the shoulder. Pretty interesting considering he failed an HIA!
Manie came on and despite a penalty being handy to the touchline, the Stormers elected to go for goal and Manie missed with his first action. The Stormers then had a golden chance to score when the ball was worked to Gelant after a maul. Incredibly, he contrived to drop the ball when a simple pass to the right would have seen Suleiman Hartzenberg score in the corner.
There was no more scoring in the half and the Sharks led 14 - 3, despite creating very little in a stop-start first period.
Stormers fight back and Sharks respond
In a carbon copy of the start of the first half, from a great run by Suleiman (through Lukhanyo Am) his offload found Jantjies with space in front of him and he dropped a second try of the day.
But the Stormers finally finished a chance shortly thereafter from one of Gelant’s ubiquitous grubbers. Zas ran onto the ball and his pure pace saw him score in the corner as he outstripped Hooker. Amazingly, van der Westhuizen was adamant that the try needed to go upstairs. Marius Jonker put him in his box and informed him that there was no conclusive proof that #ZASISJAS was in front of the kicker. Manie missed his second kick of the day but the Stormers were now within range, at 14 - 8.
In the 52nd minute the Sharks were denied what would have been an excellent try for the equally impressive Hooker, owing to another TMO intervention. Even as a Stormers supporter I thought the ruling of obstruction in the build up was harsh - as if Andre-Hugo Venter would have tackled Andre Esterhuizen haha!
In a mind-blowing period of play that saw the Stormers determined to turn the ball over, Esterhuizen received the ball off 9 and he ran through Venter as if he wasn’t there to make it 21 - 8, heading into the final quarter.
Grandstand finish
The game seemed to meander to its conclusion until the Stormers played with some urgency and accuracy at last. With the forwards bashing away at the line and getting close, the ball went wide and Fassi couldn’t resist in throwing a hand out for a deliberate knock on. With three Stormers to none outside him it was an easy decision to award the yellow card and penalty try. The Stormers somehow had a remote chance to win a game they tried so hard to lose with the score at 21 - 15 with time up on the clock, pending the restart.
After hacking their way out of the 22m - at one stage Brok Harris was carrying the ball in midfield - Manie looked up to see Jantjies (now playing on the right wing). His kick pass was expertly weighted and Jantjies caught it believe it or not! He nearly beat the cover defence but was halted and regained momentum before offloading to Suleiman who was stopped in a brilliant last-ditch tackle. The Stormers showed composure to recycle the ball a few times before it came to the left and Manie found space and he went over to score under the poles. Even he couldn’t miss the conversion surely?!
Just as I was deciding whether to go to Forries or town to celebrate, the dreaded voice of Jonker came over the ref mic. He had found a little knock from Manie in the build up to cruelly deny the Stormers the most improbable win.
Stormers set piece remains a thing of beauty
Despite the alarming run of losses the Stormers are on, their set piece is surely the best in the competition. We have won the most scrum penalties (18), having played a game less than the non-SA sides and we are second in the stats charts in terms of Lineout success (92%) and Lineout steals (14).
Neethling Fouche was outstanding in a real Bok trial against Ox and showed that he would be an asset to the Bok machine at scrum time. The way Sazi Sandi humiliated Ntuthuko Mchunu at every scrum only confirmed how overrated Mchunu is - his evident imminent arrival in Cape Town keeps me up at night.
Bad day in the office (AGAIN!) for Jantjies, Libbok and Gelant
Jantjies
I would argue that since his brace on debut against Australia in The Rugby Championship IN 2019 he has hardly warranted selection in the Stormers group, let alone staying in the Bok mix until last year. He is lucky that apart from Paul de Wet the depth at 9 has not been there.
His handling errors and lack of pace denied us a couple tries on the weekend. His dithering at the breakdown also led to the turnover for Esterhuizen’s try that effectively won the game for the Sharks.
He can go to Bayonne now, why wait til July?
Libbok
Manie came on and immediately missed a penalty when we should have used his super strength - line kicking to go for the corner to ease him into the rhythm of the game. Although even on Saturday his line kicking let him down - his shank in the 76th minute must have missed his target by 30m and nearly gave me a stroke. His pack bailed him out at the ensuing scrum. In the final passage of play he showed the best and worst of his game. A beautiful cross kick and an excellent finish, but all in vain as he knocks on at the base.
I wouldn’t be bereft if I saw him at the local Alliance Francaise.
Gelant
His obsession with grubbers in behind led to Zas’s try just after half-time and nearly another for #ZASISJAS but for an unlucky bounce - a manifestation of the saying “even a broken clock is right twice a day.” He kicks more than Bruce Lee and has become incredibly predictable. His dropped ball with no one within 10m of him was unforgivable. You can seemingly always count on him to throw a hospital pass or two as well.