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It took them a while to get going, but the Stormers grew stronger as the match progressed and finally secured a solid enough 23-17 Super Rugby Unlocked wins against him Lions in Newlands on Saturday night.
For most of the game, it looked like the Lions would have enough to get the job done and clinch their first win of the competition.
Instead, they lost their intensity and focus during a crucial 10-minute period in the second half where the Stormers capitalized and ultimately took the win.
Comfortably outmatched when the teams met three weekends ago in the preseason Super Fan Saturday event, this time it was the Lions who started off brighter.
From the first bars and then for most of the time, it was the Johannesburgs who were the most precise in their execution with evident intensity in defense and attack.
Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies gave the visitors the lead with a penalty in the seventh minute, but Jaco Kriel’s infraction on the ground directly after the restart allowed Stormers pivot Damian Willemse to level things out at 3-3.
The big moment in the opening period came with the Lions on the back foot after Jantjies was hit hard by a flying Sergeal Petersen.
However, seemingly with nothing on, the Lions launched a counterattack from deep within their own territory with the once again influential Jantjies teaming up with Kriel before throwing the perfect inside pass to Rabz Maxwane, who finished off a superb break down the left.
Jantjies converted and the Lions had a well-deserved 10-3 lead.
Then Willemse missed a relatively routine shot on goal, but the Stormers would receive a massive injection of fortune shortly after that finally kept them in the game.
The Lions, on the front foot, made another enterprising break and appeared to have scored their second when Kriel threw Burger Odendaal down the right flank, which splashed under the posts.
The replays revealed, however, that Kriel’s pass had been advanced and the Stormers survived.
A penalty from Willemse narrowed the gap to 10-6 at halftime when it was revealed that Petersen had suffered a serious quadriceps injury and would not be returning for the second period.
His retirement saw Tim Swiel join the fray on the flyhalf, Willemse moved to fullback and Warrick Gelant moved to Petersen’s wing.
Meanwhile, Jantjies was exactly the general the Lions needed him to be, testing the Stormers with a varied display of cross, up and down kicks and small chips.
Lions scrum-half Morne van der Burg was also impressive, as he cleaned quickly and kicked accurately from the base of the Lions ruck.
Willemse then took a 40-meter penalty to put the visitors 10-9 in the final half hour, and despite their dominance for long stretches, the Lions had little to show for their efforts.
Then, out of nowhere, Stormers No. 12 Rikus Pretorius swooped in to intercept a pass from Jantjies and charge toward the line for the Stormers’ first try of the game.
Willemse kicked the extras and the hosts took the lead for the first time against: 16-10.
The Stormers had their second shortly after when, after a prolonged period of attack and an ambitious quick bunt of a penalty from hooker Scarra Ntubeni, outside center Dan du Plessis crashed.
That gave the Stormers a 23-10 lead and with the Lions running out of puffs and mistakes creeping into their game, the competition is over.
That was until the 74th minute when an Odendaal break saw Jantjies score under the posts again, reducing the score to 23-17 and giving his team a nose to snatch a late victory.
The Lions came agonizingly close to scoring in the dying moments, but the Stormers’ defense held firm.
Scorers:
Storms 23 (6)
Attempts: Rikus Pretorius, Dan du Plessis
Conversions: Damian Willemse (2)
Penalties: Willemse (3)
Lions 17 (10)
Attempts: Rabz Maxwane, Elton Jantjies
Conversions: Jantjies (2)
Penalty: Jantjies
Teams:
Stormers
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Michal Haznar, 23 Tim Swiel
Lions
15 EW Viljoen, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Elton Jantjies (captain), 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Len Massyn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole
Substitutes (from): 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 MJ Pelser, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Ross Cronje, 23 Gianni Lombard
