Fourie stars as Stormers book spot in Champions Cup last eight
CHAMPIONS CUP REPORT: The Stormers booked their spot in the Champions Cup quarterfinals with a 32-28 win over Premiership side Harlequins at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The home side outscored their opponents by five tries to four in the Round of 16 clash. Deon Fourie scored two of those tries with captain Steven Kitshoff, Damian Willemse and Wille Engelbrecht also crossing the whitewash.
Willemse's try was probably the pick of the bunch as he produced a sensational finish after a great inside pass from Seabelo Senatla.
It was a comfortable win for the Stormers despite the four-point margin. Harlequins scored three converted tries in the final seven minutes and the last one came well after the final hooter sounded.
The Stormers will now wait for the Exeter Chiefs v Montpellier result on Sunday.
If Exeter win, the Stormers will have to travel to England, but a Montpellier win will ensure home-ground advantage for the Stormers.
It was a breathless start to the encounter and Cape Town Stadiumm erupted with less than a minute played when flank Fourie went over out wide after excellent work from No.8 Hacjivah Dayimani and wing Suleiman Hartzenberg.
Flyhalf Manie Libbok converted but Quins found any immediate response when No.8 Alex Dombrandt peeled round the front of a line-out and crashed over in the corner, flyhalf Smith adding the extras to level the scores.
The Stormers were back in front as they crossed for a third try inside nine minutes, prop Kitshoff profiting from another well-worked line-out move, though Libbok was off target with the conversion.
The intensity remained high, but the next points wouldn’t come until 28 minutes when Fourie spun out a driving line-out maul and splashed over for his second of the afternoon, Quins paying the price for conceding two penalties in quick succession.
Libbok’s conversion went wide again, and Quins were just 10 points adrift, but the visitors were unable to chip into that lead before the break despite ending the half in the ascendancy, the Stormers’ defence holding firm despite conceding a string of penalties.
The Stormers went close to a fourth try early in the second half when Hartzenberg gathered scrum-half Herschel Jantjies’ box kick and wriggled over, but the TMO spotted a double movement and the score was chalked off.
But the hosts would get over in extraordinary fashion moments later, wing Seabelo Senatla gathering a kick through before throwing a brilliant offload inside to fullback Willemse, who planted down one-handed and mid-air to avoid touch.
Quins enjoyed long spells of possession and territory in the second half, but a combination of their inaccuracy and DHL Stormers’ robust defence saw a series of chances go begging.
Replacement lock Engelbrecht added a fifth try for Stormers to compound Quins’ misery, though three late efforts from Dombrandt, centre Andre Esterhuizen and wing Joe Marchant saw them end just four points adrift.
Man of the match: Stormers flank Ben-Jason Dixon was a colossus in the physical exchanges and he was his team's best defender in the match. His back-row partner Hacjivah Dayimani also had a lively game and he played a key role in the Stormers' first try of the game. Captain Steven Kitshoff led by example again and was one of his team's try-scorers as well. However, the award goes to Stormers No.6 Deon Fourie. The veteran had a high work rate again and he scored two tries. His first try was scored after just 55 seconds in the match. He was also a nuisance at the breakdowns.
The scorers:
For Stormers:
Tries: Fourie 2, Kitshoff, Willemse, Engelbrecht
Cons: Libbok 2
Pen: Libbok
For Harlequins:
Tries: Dombrandt 2, Esterhuizen, Marchant
Cons: Smith 4
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain)
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.
Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Joe Marchant, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care (captain), 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Irne Herbst, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Will Collier, 19 George Hammond, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Lewis Gjaltema, 22 Tommy Allan, 23 Oscar Beard.
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco Baqué (France), Flavien Hourquet (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
Additional source: @ChampionsCup
Main photo: @THESTORMERS