Cape Town — It wasn’t easy, but they did it.
The Stormers had to dig deep to pull off a victory in their United Rugby Championship semi-final thriller against Ulster at the weekend to set up an all-South African final against the Bulls at Cape Town Stadium.
Ulster came out on a mission in the second half, and while the Stormers didn’t do themselves any favours at times, they did enough to pull through in front of a strong crowd.
As they prepare to host the Pretoria side, here are five takeaways from their smash and grab against Ulster.
Stormers’ struggles against Ulster perhaps just what they needed
Now, I’m not saying the it’s a good thing that the Stormers waited for this game to raise the Faithful’s blood pressure, but having had to grind it out, as opposed to a runaway triumph, does perhaps come with a small set of positives.
For one, the shortcomings they showed in the game might now be zoomed in on more than they would have had it been a comfortable win, and given how tight it was, no sane player or coach would go into next weekend’s blockbuster with an iota of complacency.
Stormers can do both
It would have been lekker if the Cape side could humiliate Ulster and to see them do it in the same way they’ve been playing this whole season (you know, that exciting, let-the-ball-do-the-work brand of rugby) would have made it even better, but they sometimes strayed from that style in the semi.
Again, it could be seen as a good thing that they can do both, but let’s hope there’s not too much of that against the Bulls.
Some refs don’t disappoint when it comes to being disappointing
Perhaps not many are still moaning about Mike Adamson’s performance, but Imagine it played a hand in determining the one of the finalists of the inaugural URC? Imagine the game had gone the other way?
It would have been a major match tainted by officiating, and it shouldn’t be swept under the carpet just because the Stormers got the win despite his efforts.
The Scot appeared set on denying the Stormers faccess to the try line while camping in Ulster’s 22 towards the end of the game, and apart from that period, there were also numerous dubious officiating moments throughout the game.
It’s about time officials are treated the same as players (and coaches) when it comes to reviewing performances and errors, and not like the untouchables they’ve become.
Manie Libbok knows how to bounce back
It was a performance he would much rather forget, but that nightmarish outing was capped with a moment of redemption when he slotted the match-winning conversion.
You can’t justify Libbok’s performance, but it does say something about his temperament that he could put what happened before aside and hold his nerve in such a high-pressure moment to connect the shot that mattered from that angle.
Damian Willemse is something special
He missed the game against Edinburgh due to a compression fracture, was given the go-ahead to play in the semi-final at the last minute, was in visible discomfort at times and STILL produced THAT performance. Not much else need be said.
IOL Sport