Stormers left counting cost of loss to La Rochelle

Leighton Koopman|Published 1 year ago

Herschel Jantjies’ try in the 28th minute against La Rochelle gave the Stormers an early 13-0 lead in thier Champions Cup clash on Saturday at the DHL Stadium. | Backpagepix

Leighton Koopman

The Stormers camp looks more like an infirmary after a host of forwards suffered injuries in their nail-biting loss to double winners La Rochelle in Cape Town on Saturday.

It brought an end to their campaign in the European Champions Cup, but there are plenty of positives to take from their 21-22 loss at the DHL Stadium.

Herschel Jantjies’ try in the 28th minute against La Rochelle gave the Stormers an early 13-0 lead in thier Champions Cup clash on Saturday at the DHL Stadium. | Backpagepix

Les Maritimes won in the dying moments after a missed conversion attempt in gusty conditions, but how the Stormers fought until the final whistle to try and clinch the game, and fronted up to arguably the best club side in the world at the moment, was special.

John Dobson, the Stormers coach, lamented the errors and penalties in the second half that gave La Rochelle the momentum to fight back from 13-0 down. Despite the injury disruptions – when loose forwards Ben-Jason Dixon, Deon Fourie, and Hacjivah Dayimani; winger Leolin Zas; and lock Salmaan Moerat left the field – the team took the game down to the wire and that brought a feeling of satisfaction.

La Rochelle’s Jonathan Danty tackles Dan du Plessis of the Stormers. | Backpagepix

“You can’t wish that away and pretend it didn’t happen, but those injuries were big,” Dobson said.

“Those injuries were tough, really tough. You can’t have a hooker at flanker and a lock playing eighth man.

“Ruben van Heerden has never played at eight in his life, (and) against a guy like (Gregory) Alldritt coming off the base, it is tough. BJ (Dixon) and Deon were going nicely.

“We had three HIA (head injury assessment) tests failed, while Deon has a pretty substantial knee injury. But luckily it is not an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.

“Zas also (has what) looks like a reasonably serious knee injury but he will be going for scans.”

The Stormers’ two tries were displays of typical Cape running rugby as flyhalf Manie Libbok played a crucial role in both. That last-gasp kick he missed was in horrid conditions, and even the most accurate of goal kickers would have struggled to secure it.

The end of their Champions Cup campaign could be seen as a blessing in disguise for their push for a home play-off in the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Louis Penverne scored La Rochelle’s first try in the 49th minute as the visitors overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the Stormers 22-21. | BackpagePix

The Stormers will be off this weekend, allowing their battered and bruised players a welcome rest before the Ospreys come to Cape Town in two weeks.

The Cape side would have likely travelled for the quarter-finals in the Champions Cup if they had beaten La Rochelle. And with a depleted pack of forwards and the top Welsh club coming to the Mother City afterwards, it could have had a knock-on effect on the URC.

Last season, the Stormers travelled to Sandy Park for an away play-off against Exeter, and the following weekend, Munster came to the DHL Stadium and broke their opponents’ long unbeaten winning run at home.

“We are feeling a bit gutted over the loss. We had the game in our hands at the start of the second half when we let them in. But it was quite clever for us to try and score under the poles (to make the last-minute kick by Libbok easier),” Dobson said.

“If Gaza (Damian Willemse) passed to Paul (de Wet) on the inside, we would’ve been under the sticks. But looking at the travel schedule, if we had to play Leinster, with five guys already out and possibly two more after the medicals, I agree (that the loss is probably a blessing in disguise). We will probably realise it.”