It was another tough night at the office for the Western Force who went down to the Stormers by 19 points in a soaked and windy night in Perth.
The Match
Jonno Lance got the Force off to a good start and continued his good form with boot as he knocked over three points in the sixth minute. The match turned on his head when Angus Cottrell and Daniel Du Plessis were both stretchered off before the 15th minute.
Cottrell had rushed up out of defence and suffered a nasty head clash, and Du Plessis was knocked out by a flying Brache who was going up for the high ball. It was the first time many rugby audiences witnessed a player being yellow carded and stretchered off at the same time.
Both teams struggled with the wet conditions and as expected the tactical kicking game was the real feature. The Force asserted their dominance through good field position and territory with excellent kicking to the corners.
The early casualties didn’t stop the big hits by both sides. The Force were physical in defence and did a great job pinning the Stormers deep in their own half. However like many games before this season, the Force struggled to reward themselves with points for all their pressure.
The close and physical encounter finally opened up in the 37th minute when Jacobus van Wyk crossed the line for the Stormers for their first try. The Stormers weren’t prepared to take their foot off as the accelerator as they did an excellent job asserting their pressure on the Force before half time, and scored their second try through Siya Kolisi in the 41st minute.
The collisions were going the way of the Stormers in the second half and so was the score, as Jacobus Van Wyk made a break down the right touchline to score a great runaway try in the corner in the 56th minute.
The Force lost the plot for the rest of match and their game became riddled with errors. The Stormers stayed physical and took the four points quite easily in the end.
The Details
Score and Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]
Western Force 3
Penalties: Lance [/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Stormers 22
Tries: Van Wyk 2, Kolisi
Conversions: JL du Plessis 2
Penalties: JL du Plessis [/one_half]
Cards and Citings
Yellow Cards: Daniel Du Plessis
Red Cards: 0
Photos courtesy of “Delphy” – thank you
