NEWLANDS — The DHL Stormers maintained their dominance over the Sharks in Vodacom Super Rugby derbies when a Peter Grant penalty two minutes from time earned them a hard-fought 15-12 win at Newlands on Saturday.
The Sharks arrived in Cape Town severely depleted and some sections of the Cape media were predicting an easy win for the Stormers, but it was anything but that. Indeed, the Sharks will be flying back to Durban on Sunday lamenting the indiscipline that cost them the momentum they were building before halftime, when they led 9-6. Certainly the statistics at the halfway point suggested the Sharks should have been more than just three points ahead. They were always the more innovative team on attack and it has to be said that the Stormers appear to be persisting with last season’s tendency of being way too lateral when they attack through the backs.
The most telling statistic at the break was the one that said that the Stormers had been forced to make 80 tackles against the less than 30 by the Sharks.
The visitors missed just six of their tackles while the Stormers missed 18, and it was the second week in succession that the normally frugal Stormers fell off tackles.
The most crucial statistic of all when it comes to defence though is the try count, and the Stormers were good enough with their scramble defence to prevent the Sharks from crossing their line, and ultimately the Sharks’ inability to make their period of dominance count on the scoreboard is what cost them the match.
That and a nightmare third quarter where they conceded six penalties without having any of their own. They conceded another three after that and their only penalty of the half came as late as the 34th minute, with Patrick Lambie kicking from near halfway to bring the scores level after the Stormers had been leading 12-9. The Stormers had missed three kicks at goal in the third quarter, with Joe Pietersen succeeding just once to bring the scores level at 9-all before Grant put his team into the lead after coming on as a replacement with 20 minutes to go.
When Lambie drew the scores level with just six minutes left a draw looked the likely result in this low scoring and not particularly memorable match, and it would probably have been a fair reflection at that point. — Supersport
