Cape Town, – The Stormers won the South African Conference for the third time in Super Rugby history after drawing with the Lions 19-all at Newlands on Saturday evening.
The result also ensures that the Stormers will move into overall third place on the latest standings, ahead of next week’s final round of matches.
Once again the Stormers won a match without collecting a bonus point and it may come to haunt them when the regular season ends week and they were unable to cement a second-place finish, which would ensure them of a home semifinal.
Just under 34 000 fans braved the chilly Newlands weather but they would have been delighted with the efforts of the teams, who collectively scored five tries.
The Stormers enjoyed the most possession in the opening stages and they showed a keenness to run the ball. It was much the same with the Lions gained possession but the efforts of both sides were punctuated by handling errors.
Against this background, it was inevitable that defences would be breached and it happened twice in the space of 10 minutes. First Stormers scrumhalf Nic Groom wormed his way over the tryline from close-in breakdown play in the seventh minute.
Next, his Lions counterpart Faf de Klerk ran blindside also from breakdown play and dotted down in the corner in the 17th minutdes. The flyhalves, Demetri Catrakilis (Stormers) and Elton Jantjies were on target with the conversions which made the scoreline 7-all.
Midway through the first half, the Stormers lost Catrakilis who left the field after taking a heavy knock to the head. He subsequently did not return and replacement Kurt stood in for the rest of the match.
The Stormers regained the lead through rightwing Dillon Leydts but the Lions bounced back with a try by prop Schalk van der Merwe. Both tries went unconverted and just before the interval break Coleman missed a sitter which meant the teams returned to the change-rooms at 12-all.
The Stormers sprung a counter-attack after their fullback Cheslin Kolbe decided to run after collecting a Jantjies upfield kick. On his way upfield he gathered his chip kick behind the Lions three-quarters and then sent No 8 Nizaam Carr away for the home side’s third try. Coleman goaled splendidly from the touchline to open up a seven-point lead (19-12).
The Lions produced a storming finish as the match wound to a close and for some time it looked like the Stormers defence would hold out but replacement Malcom Marx barged over near the corner flag. Replacement flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff goaled splendidly to level scores at 19-all.
Scorers: Stormers: Tries: Nic Groom, Dillon Leyds, Nizaam Carr. Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis, Kurt Coleman
Lions: Tries: Faf de Klerk, Schalk van der Merwe, Malcom Marx. Conversions: Elton Jantjies, Marnitz Boshoff - ANA