SAD faces for Stormers’ players as Joel Sclavi celebrates La Rochelle’s win at the DHL Stadium yesterday. | Shutterstock
STORMERS flyhalf Manie Libbok could not repeat his December heroics of slotting a difficult conversion kick after a final-hooter try that almost sealed a comeback victory for the Cape side in their Champions Cup knockout against La Rochelle yesterday evening.
The defending champions produced a powerful spell in the second half to score three tries for a 22-21 victory, ending the home side’s quest for European glory.
A horror spell of injuries late in the first 40 minutes and during the second half, and a yellow card depleted the Stormers to the point where they could no longer contain La Rochelle, which led to second-half tries for prop Louis Penverne, eighthman Gregory Alldritt and replacement front row Joel Sclavi.
The defending champions showed their credentials after trailing 13-0 at half-time to come from behind and eliminate the home team with a victory in the DHL Stadium.
As much as they struggled in the second half, with the swirling, the Stormers were full value for their effort against the double winners and had the rugby gods been on their side a bit more with the injuries, things could have turned out otherwise.
First, flanker Ben-Jason Dixon went off with a concussion and he subsequently failed the ding-dong test. He was in red-hot form before the head knock and his absence was felt with the carries and on the defence.
Then, shortly before half-time, the other flanker, Deon Fourie, hobbled off with a knee injury, and winger Leolin Zas joined him during the break.
In the second half, it was the turn of Dayimani (concussion) and captain Salmaan Moerat who also got a whack to the head when he attempted to tackle the big Will Skelton.
They were all critical injuries that took the wind out of the sails of the home side. For instance, hooker Andre-Hugo Venter had to shift to flank, lock Ruben van Heerden played eighthman briefly before Moerat left. They had to juggle but did so well.
It was a good first half that produced the intensity and speed the Cape side hoped to start with. Although they shared possession stats with their visitors, the Stormers did most of the attacking and got some reward with penalties for their penetration.
That allowed Libbok to keep the scoreboard rolling as they slowly but surely broke down the defence of their opponents.
Eventually, just over halfway through the first half, Libbok hit a gap that set off a brilliant counter-attack from his backline. It was a Dixon tackle and turnover on La Rochelle scrumhalf TJ Perenara that won the ball which set Libbok in motion in the midfield. Up the field, inside centre Damian Willemse threw a chicken wing to Moerat, who offloaded to scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, who rounded off.
The Stormers defended valiantly in the second half, but the injuries and break in tempo started costing them by the second. La Rochelle were happy to keep the ball among their forwards, although the backs found some space out wide too when the home team were down to 14 players.
It was a top effort under the circumstances, but a second consecutive berth in the quarter-finals was just out of the Stormers’ reach.
This loss could also be a blessing in disguise.
Owing to the injuries, they will be depleted and a clash next weekend and then returning to the United Rugby Championship (URC) could have taken its toll on their URC campaign.
Nevertheless, they can now assess the damage over the week break and prepare for a crunch couple of weekends of league rugby later in April. The good news was that all the injured players were on their feet after the final whistle.
Points-scorers:
Stormers 21 (13): Tries: Herschel Jantjies, Suleiman Hartzenberg. Conversion: Manie Libbok. Penalties: Libbok (3).
La Rochelle 22 (0): Tries: Louis Penverne, Gregory Alldritt, Joel Sclavi. Conversions: Antoine Hastoy (2). Conversion: Hastoy.