Leyds the stand-out in Stormers win

Dillyn Leyds of the Stormers scores a try during the 2016 Super Rugby Warm up match between the Stormers and the Jaguares at Newlands Stadium, Cape Town on 13 February 2016 ©Chris Ricco/BackpagePix

Dillyn Leyds of the Stormers scores a try during the 2016 Super Rugby Warm up match between the Stormers and the Jaguares at Newlands Stadium, Cape Town on 13 February 2016 ©Chris Ricco/BackpagePix

Published Feb 13, 2016

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Fullback Dillyn Leyds scored a try and created another in an impressive display as the Stormers ground out a hard-fought 29-14 win over the Jaguares at Newlands on Saturday.

In the Stormers’ last warm-up game before they take on the Bulls in the Super Rugby opener at Newlands on February 27, coach Robbie Fleck got some answers on some of the questionable areas in the team, while he would’ve been left with mixed feelings in others following the clash against the Test-laden Jaguares outfit from Argentina.

One man sure to have clinched a starting berth in the back-three for the Bulls game would’ve been Leyds, who made things happen whenever he had the ball in his hands. The skilful former SA Under-20 star joined the line with precise timing from the back, slotted into first receiver at times and showed good pace out wide as well.

One such incursion into the flyhalf channel after 20 minutes in the first half saw Leyds read the play brilliantly as he put through a left-footed chip over the advancing Jaguares defence, and the ball sat up for left wing Leolin Zas to grab the ball in front of the last defender for a brilliant finish under the posts.

After being the provider, Leyds was the recipient of a classy bit of skill from inside Huw Jones just before halftime. The Stormers worked the ball to the left and Jones drew the defence before popping the ball at just the right time on the Jaguares 10-metre line for Leyds to run on to, and he sped away from the cover defence to score in the left-hand corner.

But in between, there was exemplary play from the forwards, with loosehead prop Oli Kebble in particularly catching the eye with his powerful scrummaging, while lock Pieter-Steph du Toit put in a few rampaging runs with ball-in-hand and won some lineouts on his Stormers debut.

Captain Nizaam Carr opted to put a number of penalties into touch to set up driving mauls, but the strong Jaguares pack – boasting Argentine Test captain and hooker Agustin Creevy among their number – survived the onslaught numerous times.

Flyhalf Robert du Preez tried to vary his play between sending the ball down the line and putting in chips over the top, but he probably overdid the kicking and seldom found space inside the Jaguares half.

The Argentines played with much more urgency after halftime, and sparked by replacement scrumhalf Gonzalo Bertranou, they got back into the game when inside centre Santiago Gonzales Iglesias slipped through Du Preez’s attempted tackle to score near the posts in a move sparked by Bertranou’s quick tap penalty on the halfway line.

But the Stormers responded quickly after that when wing Khanyo Ngcukana got the ball off a scrum inside the Jaguares 22 and burst through three tackles to stretch the lead to 22-7 with 15 minutes to go.

There was some memorable offloads in the tackle in the last Stormers try, with the likes of Nic Groom, Brandon Thomson and Alistair Vermaak showing off their handling skills to put lock JD Schickerling over for the home side’s fourth touchdown.

Jaguares No 8 Facundo Isa got a consolation try with the last move of the match, but the Stormers had done enough to round off their pre-season with a workmanlike victory over a star-studded Jaguares team that will give Fleck and his young team some confidence for the Bulls game on February 27.

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Points-Scorers

Stormers – Tries: Leolin Zas, Dillyn Leyds, Khanyo Ngcukana, JD Schickerling. Conversions: Robert du Preez (1), Brandon Thomson (2). Penalty: Du Preez (1).

Jaguares – Tries: Santiago González Iglesias, Facundo Isa. Conversions: Martin Landajo (1), Santiago González Iglesias (1).

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