Stormers’ Super Rugby dream comes to an end

CAPE TOWN – There must be few things worse than being in the game for 75 minutes and losing grip in the last four minutes.

That was what happened to the Stormers on Saturday night as they went down 17-11 to the Chiefs in their Super Rugby quarter-final, in what was a tight match from start to finish.

And although there were mistakes, there were also a few positives that Robbie Fleck’s team could take out of the clash.

It was back and forth in terms of possession and territory in the first quarter, but in the second, the Chiefs made the Stormers pay for their repeated infringements as Damian McKenzie sent three penalty kicks through the posts in the first half, and one wouldn’t be unfair to say the Stormers could have shown a bit more finesse on attack.

The Stormers also lost two lineout balls in the first half, and the lineouts have been an area that has been a problem for quite a while this season.

However, the Stormers put in a much better effort on defence than what we’ve seen in the last few games, especially against the Cheetahs, Sunwolves and Bulls.

But in between, there were also individual spells that added a few exciting moments to the game.

Fullback SP Marais was solid when it came to his kicking duties to touch, while No 8 Nizaam Carr produced a few line-breaks that got the paltry Newlands crowd of 27 541 on their feet.

Flyhalf Damian Willemse had very little chance to take any of the magic he produced in the group stages into the quarter-final clash, while captain Siya Kolisi worked hard up front yet again and scored his team’s only try.

For the Chiefs, inside centre Stephen Donald made a number of threatening runs, especially in the first half, but he just couldn’t find support when he spotted gaps in the first 40, while McKenzie did his part with the boot.

Marais scored the first points of the game in the second quarter when he hit the target from the Chiefs’ 10-metre line, after the visitors were penalised for a dangerous tackle (3-0), and McKenzie got a chance to level the score a few minutes later.

Liam Messam tries to hold off Eben Etzebeth during the Super Rugby quarter-final at Newlands on Saturday. Photo: Chris Ricco, BackpagePix

The attention-grabbing back put the Chiefs ahead with eight minutes to go to halftime after Willemse knocked the ball on in midfield, and he added two more penalty kicks before the break to give his team a 9-3 lead at the break.

In the second half, Stormers skipper Kolisi ran in his try after they earned a lineout on the opposition’s five-metre line.

The Stormers shifted the direction of play to the openside from a ruck, before scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage – who was a late change to the team in place of Jano Vermaak – sent the ball to the blindside to outside centre EW Viljoen, who gave a short pass to Kolisi on his outside to dive over in the corner.

In the third quarter, the Chiefs lost their skipper Sam Cane when he connected with Stormers wing Dillyn Leyds’ head in the tackle, and it would obviously have been the perfect time to capitalise on the Chiefs’ numerical disadvantage.

But the hosts only managed a penalty kick in the Chiefs skipper’s absence to trail 12-11.

With 10 minutes to go, Marais missed the penalty kick that would have given the Stormers the lead, and in the last few minutes, the Chiefs piled the pressure on the hosts with their attacking play.

And they were rewarded for it when replacement back Shaun Stevenson scored the try that ended it for the Stormers after he received the ball out wide and exploited the overlap on the outside to score.