Stormers finish on high note

The Stormers found their rhythm in the second half to romp to a 57-0 victory over neighbours Boland at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

The Stormers were given the go-ahead by coach Allister Coetzee to play an expansive brand of rugby and the Cape side took full advantage.

It took them just two minutes to grab the opening try, quick hands affording Bryan Habana space down the left flank.

Habana threw a good inside ball for Springbok team mate Jaco Taute, who handed off the final defender and raced clear. Kurt Coleman kicked the conversion to give the Stormers a 7-0 lead.      

A beautiful cross-kick by Coleman was then plucked out of the air by Gio Aplon who proceeded to step a flat-footed Garth April to make it 12-0, Coleman missing from right in front.

After this strong start, the Stormers were guilty of conceding a number of penalties – both on attack and defence – but Boland flyhalf Ricardo Croy was unable to make them pay.

Jean de Villiers scored his first try of 2013 when he ran onto a pass from Taute on 24 minutes. Dewaldt Duvenage sparked the five-pointer with a snipe on the blindside and despite their being some dispute over Taute’s pass, the try was awarded to the returning Stormers skipper.

The score remained 17-0 heading into half-time as the accuracy Coetzee had been seeking from his charges had come infrequently, handling errors, wayward passes and isolated ball carriers hampering their momentum.    

Thor Halvorsen did Boland no favours when he was yellow-carded for playing the ball off his feet on the stroke of half-time.

That was the catalyst the Stormers needed as Andries Bekker beat two defenders and stretched over in the tackle for his team’s fourth try, which replacement Joe Pietersen’s converted to make it 24-0.

The floodgates opened from there with greater fluency by the Stormers being rewarded with a hat-trick of tries by Siya Kolisi, a second to Aplon and a final touch down by Pietersen.  

Whilst Coetzee would be pleased by his team's second half showing, he will be sweating over Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth, who suffered an ankle injury.

The scorers:

Tries: Taute, Aplon 2, de Villiers, Bekker, Kolisi 3, Pietersen

Cons: Coleman, Pietersen 4

Yellow card: Thor Halvorsen (Boland, 40)

Teams:

Boland: 15 Garth April, 14 Brendon April, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Albert Trytsman, 11 Tythan Adams, 10 Ricardo Croy, 9 Ntando Kebe, 8 Zandré Jordaan, 7 Thor Halvorsen, 6 Franzel September, 5 Nolan Clark, 4 PJ van Zyl, 3 Francois Hanekom, 2 Chris Buckle, 1 Ashton Constant (captain).

Replacements - from: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Yagia Cook, 18 Rossouw Kruger, 19 Hanno Kitshoff, 20 Bradley Fortuin, 21 Junior Bester, 22 Dual Erasmus, 23 William van Wyk, 24 Llewellyn Adonis, 25 Cheswin Williams, 26 Cheslin Roberts, 27 Jonathan Francke.

Stormers: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements - from: Martin Bezuidenhout, Frans Malherbe, Brok Harris, De Kock Steenkamp, Don Armand, Nizaam Carr, Nic Groom, Louis Schreuder, Pat Howard, Gerhard van den Heever, Joe Pietersen.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan

By Quintin van Jaarsveld