The Waratahs sunk the Stormers to the bottom of the Super Rugby table in front of their home crowd at Newlands, by beating them 22-11 in the the last game of Round 8 last night.
In doing so they got to within one point of the Australian Conference leaders, the Brumbies, with a game in hand.
The Stormers played well in the first half but they kicked away too much ball during the game—even the Newlands’ faithful were groaning.
It would not have been so bad if the kicks had been executed properly but they invariably found grateful Waratahs to receive the ball. Often Stormers’ kicks helped the visitors to relieve pressure from inside their half.
This was a pity for the Stormers because centres Damian Allende and Juan de Jongh looked hot to trot.
It was obvious that the Stormers were missing some class players. Fullback Aplon and centre de Villiers would have provided alternatives on attack and Steenkamp, Carizza and Etzebeth could have matched the Waratahs better in the second row. Schalk Burger was missing also.
The best feature for the Waratahs was the continuation of their physical game at the breakdown. Whatever the drawbacks of other parts of the game, here and there, it underwrote the win, as did kicking six goals out of six, including two long penalty goals from Kurtley Beale.
Their kicking game improved as the game progressed and Stormers’ fans would not have liked the contrast with what their team was doing.
But one could not help but notice the effect of the absence of Israel Folau because the Waratahs missed his ability to attract one defender too many.
First half
The Waratahs started aggressively and were soon near the Stormers line, but after they took a lineout option wide out the Stormers were able to defuse the situation. When they got into Tahs territory they got points after Dennis infringed at a lineout and Peter Grant slotted the goal.
The Tahs recovered their restart kick but dropped the ball eight metres out from the Stormers’ line. However it was a good mistake because the Stormers stuffed up at the back of the scrum and Nick Phipps was onto the ball like a drover’s dog on a dropped chop. He scored and when Bernard Foley converted the try, the Waratahs led 7-3 after 15 minutes.
Will Skelton grabs Peter Grant
It was a good start for the visitors but after Beale kicked the ball out on the full the Stormers had a lineout 35 metres out. De Jong stepped through Waratahs’ defenders and dished to Kobus van Wyk who scored out wide. Grant missed the kick but the Stormers led 8-7 in the 22nd minute.
There was another scare for the Waratahs when the Stormers recovered a chip kick after Beale slipped trying to defuse it, but the Sydney-siders turned the ball over to get out of danger.
After the Tahs picked up the tempo from a quick lineout in their own half they raided into the Stormers’ red zone and forced a penalty in front of the posts. Six minutes before the break Foley put the Tahs in front 10-8 , and that was the half-time score.
At oranges there was not much in it. de Jongh was a handful for the visitors but the Stormers were kicking away too much ball. The Waratahs had already made eight handling errors and conceded six penalties. They had also lost three lineouts including two from sloppiness after they were officially over.
Second half
The Waratahs started strongly after the break but Will Skelton was pinged a metre out from the Stormers’ line for coming into the side of the breakdown. The Tahs were on a roll and his intervention was not needed anyway.
Tagicakibau tackled by Ashley-Cooper and Lance
But the Stormers could not get out of their half and after they advanced in front of a kick Beale kicked a penalty goal from 43 metres out and on the tram tracks. Not long afterwards the Stormers scrum was penalised and Foley did the honours from 37 metres out. The Waratahs led 16-8 at 50 minutes.
After their initial blunder in the second half, the visitors were earning points on visits to Stormers’ real estate.
Then the Tahs had trouble with a couple of Stormers’ mauls and de Jongh went close to scoring. He was held up, but Grant kicked an easy penalty goal which was on advantage. When the Tahs got back into Stormers’ territory the home team was penalised at scrum time and Beale kicked a long goal as difficult as his first effort was. At 63 minutes the eight-point lead was reestablished for the Waratahs at 19-11.
Five minutes later Beale kicked through and the defender was forced into touch near the corner post. The Stormers seemed to be dying the death of a thousand cuts after they were pinged, ironically, for a maul infringement and Foley made no mistake with a tricky goal.
Down 11-22 with twelve minutes to go, the Stormers tried to play against their nature and spread the ball to get, at least, a bonus point. Through penalties they got into the visitors 22 only to see the Waratahs have their best moments of the match when they turned back the Stormers’ tide, time and time again.
Final score: Waratahs 22—Stormers 11
Nizaam Carr and Deon Fourie bother Benn Robinson
The wrap-up
The Stormers have lost too many matches to think of the finals but they have had only two home games in their seven and they can at least look forward to finishing the season better than they started.
Hopefully Jean de Villiers will be back after the bye to give them better on-field leadership than they had last night. It would help them if they could get some second-rowers back also.
And they would have figured out by now that Juan de Jongh should be a regular in the run-on side. Flyhalf Peter Grant has not impressed this year and although they have too many injuries to make many changes, Dmitri Catrakilis deserves another chance to start after the bye week.
Waratahs’ captain David Dennis was happy with the win and with the performance of Kurtley Beale:
He’s got great skills, Kurtley, great vision. Him coming in there at second receiver adds a lot more to our attack and I was really happy with his performance.
The Waratahs didn’t have their best game, and it wouldn’t have beaten the Sharks, but any win in South Africa is a plus, and this was their first victory in Cape Town since 2006.
Their scrum improved but their lineouts weren’t convincing, and their counter-mauling was patchy. Their physicality at the breakdown was still impressive but the application of it needed fine-tuning.
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The Game Changer
In hindsight, the result at the end of the match was influenced by something at the beginning.
In the 13th minute the Stormers had a scrum near their own line but they had trouble picking up the ball under pressure.
The ball was heeled back accidentally and Waratahs’ scrummie, Nick Phipps, needed no invitation to pick the ball up and plant it on the line.
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The G&GR MOTM
Juan de Jong was dynamite for the Stormers when he got his too-few chances and Adam Ashley-Cooper made inroads most times he ran the ball.
But the G&GR MOTM award goes to Kurtley Beale, who kept the Stormers honest, grubbered cleverly to put the Tahs into a scoring position near the corner, and slotted two long penalty goals that guaranteed the win.
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Wallaby Watch
Outside centre Adam Ashley-Cooper showed he wasn’t going away and scrummie Nick Phipps gave the selectors a nudge too.
After a slow start Kurtley Beale was influential and at least proved that his utility value as a nominal fullback who was first receiver more often than not. His two long goals must have got another tick on the clipboard.
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The Details
Crowd: 25,284
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]WARATAHS 22
Try: Nick Phipps
Conversion: Bernard Foley
Penalty Goals: Foley (3), Kurtley Beale (2)
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[one_half last=”yes”]STORMERS 11
Try: Kobus van Wyk
Penalty Goals: Peter Grant (2)
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Cards & Citings
Nick Phipps — Yellow card (80 mins) — Frequent team infringements
Teams
Stormers
1. Steven Kitshoff, 2. Deon Fourie, 3. Frans Malherbe, 4. Ruan Botha, 5. Michael Rhodes, 6. Nizaam Carr, 7. Siya Kolisi, 8. Duane Vermeulen (c), 9. Louis Schreuder, 10. Peter Grant, 11. Sailosi Tagicakibau, 12. Damian de Allende, 13. Juan de Jongh, 14. Kobus van Wyk, 15 Jaco Taute.
Reserves: 16. Stephan Coetzee, 17. Oliver Kebble, 18. Brok Harris, 19. Tazz Fuzani, 20. Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21. Nic Groom, 22. Demetri Catrakilis, 23. Michael van der Spuy.
Waratahs
1. Benn Robinson, 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 3. Sekope Kepu, 4. Will Skelton, 5. Kane Douglas, 6. Jacques Potgieter, 7. Michael Hooper, 8. Dave Dennis (c), 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Bernard Foley, 11. Peter Betham, 12. Jono Lance, 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14. Alofa Alofa, 15. Kurtley Beale.
Reserves: 16. Tolu Latu, 17. Jeremy Tilse, 18. Paddy Ryan, 19. Pat McCutcheon, 20. Stephen Hoiles, 21. Brendan McKibbin, 22. Matt Carraro, 23. Cam Crawford.
Officials
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand) and Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Television Match Official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
