Unlucky Stormers fall short in Galway
URC REPORT: A late try from wing Peter Sullivan helped Connacht edge the Stormers 19-17 in a United Rugby Championship Round 10 clash in Galway on Saturday.
The Irish side were 10 points behind with 20 minutes remaining but ill-discipline by their South African opponents proved costly with Connacht scoring twice when the Stormers were down a man on each occasion.
Connacht dominated the opening quarter but it was the Stormers who struck the first blow.
A scrum penalty after 15 minutes put the South African side in Connacht territory for the first time and a powerful 20-metre lineout maul saw them rumble into the 22.
Deon Fourie and Evan Roos brought the Stormers even closer to the line before Herschel Jantjies fed his backline with Damian Willemse’s pass seeing Sergeal Petersen over for their first try.
Connacht were soon back into the game with Peter Sullivan and then Tom Daly nearly crossing but it took Paul Boyle’s power after a couple of tap penalties to level the game, with Conor Fitzgerald’s straight-forward conversion seeing the hosts into a 7-5 lead.
That advantage was short-lived with Petersen taking advantage of hesitancy in the Connacht defence. Roos then carried with power before Willemse burrowed his way over to put his side 10-7 ahead at the break.
Things got even better for the Stormers early in the second half when a Kieran Marmion knock-on was seized upon by Manie Libbok and he ran all of 65 metres to score their third try which was also converted to stretch the lead to 10 points.
Daly got Connacht back into the game with the Stormers down to 14 after Petersen’s sin-binning for a deliberate knock-on.
Substitute scrumhalf Caolin Blade sniped down the blindside for the initial break and fellow replacement Conor Oliver and Fitzgerald produced stunning offloads which saw Daly in under the posts. Fitzgerald added the extras to cut the Stormers lead to three.
With the Stormers down to 14 again after Ruhan Nel’s sin-bin for a high shot on Fitzgerald, the home side were clinical in attack after Alex Wootton’s offload to Sullivan secured their third try that sealed a stunning victory.
Player of the match
Connacht lock Leva Fifita got the nod for the URC player of the game and it was well deserved.
He was exceptional in the loose and made the hard yards when his side really needed it.
Teammate Daly also excelled while Stormers had solid performances from Willemse and Roos.
Play of the match
It was the score that brought the home side back into the game as Daly’s try for Connacht on the hour lit up the Sportsground.
Blade’s sniping break was sensational but the offloads from Oliver and Fitzgerald were equally as good and typical of what Connacht can produce. Daly had the easy task to finish.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: Boyle, Daly, Sullivan
Cons: Fitzgerald 2
For Stormers:
Tries: Petersen, Willemse, Libbok
Con: Libbok
Yellow cards: Sergeal Petersen (Stormers, 57 - cynical play, deliberate knockdown); Ruhan Nel (Stormers, 68 - dangerous play, high tackle)
Teams:
Connacht: 15 John Porch, 14 Peter Sullivan, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler (captain), 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Leva Fifita, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Tietie Tuimauga, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Jonny Murphy, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Oisin Dowling, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Abraham Papali’i.
Stormers: 15 Sergeal Petersen, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 David Meihuizen, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Cornel Smit.
Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Dermot Blake (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Source: @URCOfficial