By Gavin Rich.
DHL Stormers coach John Dobson promised in his pre-match press conference that his team would aim to dazzle the Eastern Cape crowd in their first game at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and they certainly did that in the first half en route to a 34-26 victory.
The Stormers really did dazzle in the first half, running up a 28-0 lead playing the typically entertaining rugby that they have become known for. However, an intercept try after the hooter from the Dragons was the cue for a much improved Dragons showing in the second half, when they actually outscored the Stormers 19-6 as they staged a gutsy fightback that earned them a try scoring bonus point.
So ultimately the Gqeberha crowd would have felt royally entertained by their first taste of Vodacom United Championship rugby under it’s current masthead – they did of course see the Southern Kings play there in what was previously known as the PRO14 – as they left the stadium having seen eight tries scored, and some of them were quite spectacular.
The Stormers made their intentions known from the outset, with some of their switching, passing and offloading as they put together their attacking plays being quite sublime. It was though their impressive mauling that netted them their first two tries, with Junior Pokomela breaking off a powerful driving maul to dot down for the first try in a city he used to call home.
Pokomela was playing due to Nama Xaba, who was initially down to start, being withdrawn from the team on the morning of the game due to a slight tweak suffered at the captain’s run on Friday afternoon. Deon Fourie remained on the bench, from where he played an important role in forcing a few breakdown turnovers when the Dragons were coming back into it in the second half.
That was in the ninth minute, and the second try was dotted down by Joseph Dweba seven minutes later, thus propelling the Stormers into a 14-0 lead after 16 minutes, with Manie Libbok landing both angled conversions.
AN EXTRAORDINARY TRY
The next try was the try of the game and possibly the try of the season, with Supersport commentator Matthew Pearce probably summing it up best by just describing it as “an extraordinary try”.
It came in the 19th minute and was indeed an extraordinary tries, though when the Stormers score them they are becoming less extraordinary by the week, but almost what you expect.
It was started by a brilliant one armed win of the ball in the aerial battle deep inside his own half by Stormers wing Tristan Leyds, and then came some deft passing and handling, with No 8 Hacjivah Dayimani perhaps the key to it with his contribution as Leolin Zas was set free down the left flank.
Zas transferred inside to Clayton Blommetjies who drew the defenders and put Ruhan Nel in for the try to cap a solid comeback match for the former Blitzbok after missing the early part of this season due to injury. Libbok converted and it was 21-0 after fewer minutes and the Stormers were threatening a really big score.
LIBBOK SHOWS HIS ALLROUND BRILLIANCE
That trend continued with the next try, which was no less extraordinary than the previous one, only it was more individualistic than a team try. That individual was Libbok, who broke after receiving the ball from a scrum, with the Stormers being on penalty advantage, and swerved inside the Dragons’ high lining defence to set himself into space down the right.
His pace is one of Libbok’s many strong suits, and he used that to beat the Dragons cover defenders to dot down and then acknowledge the adulation of an appreciative 14 000 strong Gqeberha try.
Libbok must have found himself out of breath after that run – let’s not forget he was on an overnight flight from London with the rest of the Springboks earlier this week – for he passed the duties of kicking the angled conversion over to fullback Clayton Blommetjies. Blommetjies made no mistake.
At that point the Stormers scrum was completely dominant, as was their driving maul when they elected to drive. But a loose pass let the Dragons reach halftime with an unexpected seven points on the board, and it proved a bit of a turning point for both teams.
TOO LOOSE AFTER HALFTIME
The Stormers were loose and sloppy in the second half and perhaps the way the Dragons came back at them will be a timely wakeup call for them before they go into the Champions Cup on French soil next weekend. At the same time, credit should also be given to the Dragons, who impressed for long stages of their game against the Emirates Lions the previous week and did so again in the second half of this game.
The Dragons scored a driving maul try seven minutes into the half and the wariness of the Stormers to their ability to come back was summed up by the decision to kick for posts with two penalties. And it was a good thing they did, for if it was not for those six points it might have been mighty tight at the end.
Flyhalf JJ Hanrahan dotted down a great try with nine minutes to go and hooker Josh Reynolds was over for the bonus point try five minutes from the end. There was never any danger of the Stormers losing, the Dragons were playing for two bonus points – one for the four tries, which they achieved, and one for losing by less than seven, which they fell just short of. But still, the Stormers should feel they have been warned about what happens when you think you have a game won and lose focus. Sometimes when momentum swings it is hard to regather it.
Scores
DHL Stormers 34 – Tries: Junior Pokomela, Joseph Dweba, Ruhan Nel and Manie Libbok;Conversions: Manie Libbok 3 and Clayton Blommetjies; Penalties: Clayton Blommetjies 2. Dragons 26 – Tries: Jordan Williams, Aki Seuili, JJ Hanrahan and Josh Reynolds; Conversions: JJ Hanrahan 2 and Will Reid.