Cape Town – The Stormers’ first-half performance against Clermont on Saturday night was so poor that coach John Dobson wanted to apologise to the 17 000 spectators at the Cape Town Stadium.
But the fact that the hosts managed to engineer a considerable turnaround to secure a 30-16 bonus-point victory and a home Champions Cup playoff speaks volumes about the character in the team.
They will have to wait for the results of other matches on Sunday to see who their opponents will be in the round of 16.
The Stormers were met by a fierce defensive effort from the French outfit, who needed to win to stay alive in the competition and brought great intensity in defence throughout the first half – with Dobson listing a statistic of 112 tackles being made by them in the opening 40 minutes.
But that kind of physical effort eventually took its toll, and combined with a yellow card to Clermont flyhalf Anthony Belleau for a deliberate knock-down, as well as the introduction of Evan Roos, Herschel Jantjies and Jean-Luc du Plessis off the bench, the Stormers looked like their usual selves after halftime to score four tries.
“We were so flat in the first half, and where we must give credit to … I didn’t realise it at the time, as when you coach, you always look at your own team. But the way that Clermont defended… I think there’s a stat where they made 112 tackles in the first half and they only missed three. We were faced with a brick-wall the whole time,” Dobson said.
“I felt that we were flat and disjointed. After the first half, I thought … I was so anxious, disappointed. We had gone a lot on about poor crowds and there were 17 000, and with a half-past-seven kickoff – which is a terrible time for rugby traditionally in the Cape, or anywhere.
“And everybody who was paid early for Christmas and New Year haven’t been paid yet (for January), so I think to get 17 000 is extraordinary. We were so keen to reward them in that first half that I felt awful. I actually felt like saying sorry to everybody at halftime!
“When you’ve got Jean-Luc – he’s a Du Plessis, so he’s mad, JL – he will bring some spark to the game. Herschel is … we just needed more speed in that game.
“It’s nice to substitute guys on 44 minutes, and we would’ve probably done it before halftime – but that’s inhumane. They all made a difference: BJ (Dixon), Brokkie’s (Harris) hands!
“In that first half, they didn’t get one 22-metre entry. It was just those defensive penalties, which were poor. It was a team spiralling in the first half. Kitsie could see it, we could see it ourselves – you could see guys looking at each other, ‘Why didn’t you do this?’, and that sort of spiralled.
“In the second half, we reset at halftime, Kitsie spoke to them well and we just became more direct. That’s what you always have to do with this team… We saw the intercept that we gave away, which was one that we probably shouldn’t have (thrown the pass) – that was sort of the malaise we had in the first half.
“In the second half, we were direct and had some outstanding individual play.”
Captain Steven Kitshoff felt that his team had the measure of Clermont in the first half, and they were able to find their rhythm on attack in the second.
“It pretty much boiled down to, we played all the rugby in their half, and we were actually bashing at them for 90 percent of the time. So, it was literally just a couple of handling errors, being late at the breakdown that gave them the exits,” the Springbok loosehead prop said.
“So, I felt as a team, we had great momentum – even though the scoreboard didn’t say it. So, it was about reinforcing the team by saying once again that our plan is working. We are playing rugby in the right areas, and it’s all about just finishing those moments.
“After halftime, that spark came out and things just started to stick. I also think making 112 tackles in a half of rugby does take a lot out of the legs. You see it often: a team that defend most of the game tend to tire the most. We just kept bashing and kept the pressure on, and the things started to stick.”
Now the Stormers are on the road again, and were due to leave Cape Town on Sunday morning for Friday’s United Rugby Championship clash against Ulster in Belfast (9.35pm SA time kickoff).
They will do so without a few stalwarts, such as Kitshoff and Damian Willemse, who will begin their Bok rest period.
Points-Scorers
Stormers 30 – Tries: Evan Roos, Herschel Jantjies, Dan du Plessis, Deon Fourie. Conversions: Jean-Luc du Plessis (2). Penalties: Kade Wolhuter (2).
Clermont 16 – Try: Bautista Delguy. Conversion: Gabin Michet (1). Penalties: Anthony Belleau (3).
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