Cape Town – Despite an inspirational display from Deon Fourie, the Stormers were their own worst enemies in the second half as they wasted a 14-3 halftime lead to sink to a 24-14 Champions Cup defeat to Clermont Auvergne on Saturday night.
The Capetonians were well in control in the opening 40 minutes as they absorbed some early pressure from the French club in front of a passionate 19 000-strong crowd at the Stade Marcel Michelin.
Coach John Dobson would have been pleased with how his team varied their play on attack between holding onto the ball and finding space with the boot, with Manie Libbok pulling the strings at flyhalf, while Damian Willemse – who moved to inside centre from fullback for the ill Daniel du Plessis, with Clayton Blommetjies at No 15 – made some strong runs in midfield too.
Fourie was outstanding in winning at least five turnovers at the breakdown in the first half, while big hits in defence drove the Clermont ball-carriers backwards.
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Even a ninth-minute yellow card to Ben-Jason Dixon – who had replaced the injured Ernst van Rhyn in the seventh minute – for a high tackle on Clermont No 8 Jacobus van Tonder didn’t stop the Stormers from imposing their physicality on their opponents.
Libbok and Clermont flyhalf Jules Plisson traded a few penalties to make it 6-3 to the visitors, and then the Stormers struck from a five-metre lineout, with the ever-present Fourie going through the middle to dive over for the opening try.
🌩 @THESTORMERS have their first #HeinekenChampionsCup try 🌩
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) December 10, 2022
The lineout move works to perfection and @Deonf crosses over to make history 💪 pic.twitter.com/LLYIyBtZQZ
Blommetjies slotted a three-pointer before the break, and that man Fourie saved the Stormers close to their own line again with yet another breakdown penalty.
But then came an almost unbelievable turnaround in the game in the second half. Libbok dropped an early up-and-under and went on to have a nightmare 40 minutes, the Stormers started to miss straight-forward tackles and Clermont increased their intensity with every minute.
It was almost inevitable that the home side scored first after the break, with Australian fullback Alex Newsome evading a few flimsy tackles to dot down.
Clermont mixed up their attacking play cleverly, sucking in the defenders at close quarters with pick-and-go carries, and then swinging it wide for wings Damian Penaud and Alivereti Raka to roam into space.
The Stormers were clearly rattled and there was a comedy of errors involving Blommetjies at one stage, and it was no surprise Raka powered through the Cape No 15 to give Clermont an 18-14 lead.
💪 Great strength from Alivereti Raka and @ASMOfficiel lead The Stormers for the first time in this #HeinekenChampionsCup clash! pic.twitter.com/SRQjmbn9Xm
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) December 10, 2022
Even Willemse delivered a poor forward pass on attack with less than 15 minutes to go as the Stormers battled to put any phases together with ball-in-hand and gave away too many unnecessary penalties.
Plisson showed his class and experience by slotting a drop goal and penalty to stretch the lead to 10 points, and the Stormers were unable to mount a late fightback.
Points-Scorers
Clermont 24 – Tries: Alex Newsome, Alivereti Raka. Conversion: Jules Plisson (1). Penalties: Plisson (3). Drop goal: Plisson (1).
Stormers 14 – Try: Deon Fourie. Penalties: Libbok (2), Clayton Blommetjies (1).
IOL Sport