THERE is plenty of fight left in the Stormers and they won’t stop fighting until they’ve secured a United Rugby Championship (URC) playoff spot.
A commanding first-half performance, along with some needed oomph injected by the replacements when they almost lost their way late in the second half, secured a comprehensive 42-12 drubbing of Leinster in Cape Town on Saturday evening.
It moved them up to fifth place in the tournament with three matches left to play.
For almost 50 minutes the DHL Stadium and its healthy 23630 crowd watched one-way traffic as the host team ran out to a 30-0 lead, and the Irishmen looked like they had no answer for the attacking rugby that was dished up against them.
It was a way better display than the loose rugby they played last weekend against the Ospreys and was it not for a couple of opportunities that went astray, the score would’ve been much bigger. That and the five minutes they fell asleep on defence allowing Leinster to score two quickfire tries to give them hope at 30-12.
But the damage was done in the first half thanks to a dominating scrum of the hosts, their silky-smooth handling, flyhalf Manie Libbok slotting the penalties that came his way, and a defensive system that gave their opponents no breathing space.
Props Brok Harris, playing in his 150th Stormers game, tighthead Neethling Fouche and hooker Joseph Dweba were brilliant in the scrum contests alongside the rest of the pack. From the first scrum, they marched forward and had Leinster in reverse gear pretty much throughout the contest.
Then there were the heavy carries by loose forwards Ben-Jason Dixon, Marcel Theunissen and eighth men Evan Roos that provided the front foot possession the backline longed for and missed last weekend.
And with the space created by the route one runs up the field, the Stormers backline had a field day against an almost hapless Leinster defence.
The final five-pointer by fullback Warrick Gelant, where he sold a dummy down the touchline and two Leinster defenders bought it, summed up the visitors’ struggles on defence.
Midfielders Dan du Plessis and Damian Willemse were sublime on attack and defense.
Wingers Ben Loader and Suleiman Hartzenberg had a field day stretching their legs on runs with Loader scoring a great try and scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies looks to be back in the form that made him a Springbok.
It wasn’t the complete performance just yet, but playing like this will get the Stormers back into a final.
Defensively they were sound, and they managed to score a bonus point victory over a side coached defensively by former Bok guru Jacques Nienaber.
Now, a break awaits before a crucial two-match tour to Ireland and Wales awaits the Cape side. They can celebrate the victory but will know that more hard work lies ahead to reach a possible home playoff in the URC.
Points scorers: Stormers: 42 (23): Tries: Ben Loader, Salmaan Moerat, Herschel Jantjies, Willie Engelbrecht, Warrick Gelant. Conversions: Manie Libbok (4). Penalties: Libbok (3). Leinster 12 (0): Tries: Max Deegan, Rob Russell. Conversion: Sam Prendergast.