Cape Town — "It was absolutely superb, everything went according to our plans."
This was the response of an elated Stormers coach John Dobson after his team secured a 32-28 victory over Harlequins in their Champions Cup knockout match in Cape Town on Saturday.
The home side scored five brilliant tries and led 32-7 in the dying minutes before three tries by the visitors made the final score a more respectable one.
"Our plan was to defend very well, and we did. We never thrashed Harlequins because they are a very good team, they never go away as we saw in the last minutes.
"But the way we defended, and our plan to put them under pressure at halfback, putting Marcus Smith under pressure, worked.
"We also slowed their ball down very well, Deon (Fourie) and Kitsie (Steven Kitshoff) were both outstanding. We made a couple of mistakes by giving away some penalties early on and lost a set piece or two. In the middle 10 minutes of the second half, things got loose as well.
"But otherwise, being up 32-7 after 74 minutes is pretty special in our first Heineken knockout match against a team of their quality."
Fourie, who scored two tries, was absolutely outstanding all over the park, while flyhalf Manie Libbok ran the show in the backline. He kicked two excellent cross-field kicks that led to brilliant tries and with ease overshadowed his Harlequins opponent, England international flyhalf Marcus Smith.
Some massive defence, just before halftime by the Stormers, kept Harlequins at bay with the score 17-7 and in that defensive period, the home side gained the confidence with which they buried the visitors in the second half.
Steven Kitshoff, Stormers captain, said the defensive performance was massive in that period.
"It's so easy to let things slip and go into halftime on the back foot and I am proud of how the boys stood up and kept them out.
"They backed our defensive structures in those moments and eventually the knock-on came. Massive credit must go to the team and how the coaches psych the guys up going into the weekend."
Dobson said the first try, of Fourie, is exactly the type of rugby the team wants to play.
Libbok dinked a cross-field kick into space that was fielded by winger Seabelo Senatla and after some meters were made, Libbok distributed the ball beautifully to the right-hand touchline that put flanker and Player of the Match Fourie into space for the first try after 53 seconds of playtime.
Another Libbok crossfield kick led to a try for fullback Damian Willemse when the Springbok did exceptionally well to score after tip-toeing on the touchline after receiving the ball from Senatla.
"We are going to be a brave team and that is how we wanted to play the game," Dobson said about the maverick tries they scored thanks to the boot of Libbok.
The Stormers now await the results of the Exeter versus Montpellier knockout match (Sunday 13:30) to see if they will host a home quarter-final.
If Exter beat the French giants, the Stormers will have to travel to Sandy Park in England. If Montpellier pulls off a victory, DHL Stadium will make history by hosting a Champions Cup top-8 match.
"I'm a die-hard French. My blood is blue and orange, or whatever colours they (Montpellier) play in," Dobson joked when asked who he'll be rooting for.
"Our cause is making the people of Cape Town smile, if we could be back here next week, it would be great."
IOL Sport