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The Stormers opened their post-lockout rugby account with a thrilling 34-21 win over the Lions in their preseason friendly at Loftus on Saturday.
While it wasn’t a landslide victory like the Bulls’ win over the Sharks earlier in the day, this performance by the Stormers was just as impressive, if not more so considering the overall dominance of the Cape-side forwards on set pieces. .
The main story was the actual game and how the teams would hold up on their first hit out since the game hiatus in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But this particular story was also full of subplots. There was a half-baked battle between Elton Jantjies and Damian Willemse, who are auditioning for the role of No. 10 Bok in the forced absence of Handre Pollard. Then there was the midfield clash between the Stormers’ center pair Dan du Plessis and Rikus Pretorius and the Lions duo Wandisile Simelane and Burger Odendaal, as well as the spicy battle of loose trios.
However, in the end, the Lions ‘effort was not enough in the face of the Stormers’ fierce attack. The Stormers forward arsenal class was on full display from start to finish as they intimidated the Lions into submitting at the scrum, at the lineout, at the breakdown and even in open play.
Be that as it may, Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen and even Springbok boss Jacques Nienaber will be happy with Jantjies’ solid performance despite playing behind a struggling group.
The Lions opened the scoring from the fifth minute when they managed to secure possession of the ball in the scrum despite retiring on the set piece. Standing on the first receiver, Jantjies executed the perfect pass for wing Courtnall Skosan, who tossed the ball into the air to expertly finish off the corner.
But with the dominant piece from set pieces as the cornerstone, the Stormers easily took control of the contest. John Dobson’s men scored 27 unanswered points. After Willemse put the Stormers on the scoreboard with a penalty, Dan du Plessis scored from a rehearsed move at the lineout. As if giving up his lead wasn’t bad enough, the Lions were down to 14 men when Marvin Orie was thrown in the trash for an illegal infraction. While blocking was out of action, the Stormers were piled up in misery on attempts by Scarra Ntubeni and Siya Kolisi, with the latter’s touchdown coming well in first-half injury time.
And they started the second part as they finished the first, with a brilliant attempt. This time it came from Gelant, who saw two Lions forward rowers on defense and danced through them for an impressive solo effort.
There was a late surge to mount a mini-comeback for the Lions, who scored two attempts to make it a six-point game, but the Stormers closed the door on any hope of a return from the Lions when scrum-half Paul de Wet lunged for score and seal the victory.
Lions – Attempts: Courtnall Skosan, Jamba Ulengo, MJ Pelser. Conversions: Elton Jantjies, Gianni Lombard (2).
Stormers – Attempts: Dan du Plessis, Scarra Ntubeni, Siya Kolisi, Warrick Gelant, Paul de Wet. Conversions: Damian Willemse (3). Penalty: Willemse.
Lions – 15 Divan Rossouw, 14 Sibahle Maxwane, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies (c), 9 Andre Warner, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben Schoeman , 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Dylan Smith.
Subs: 16 Sti Sithole, 17 Jan-Henning Campher, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 Reinhard Nothnagel, 21 MJ Pelser, 22 Francke Horn, 23 Len Massyn, 24 Dillon Smit, 25 Gianni Lombard, 26 Stean Pienaar, 27 Daniel Kriel, 28 Manuel Rass, 29 Jamba Ulengo, 30 EW Viljoen.
Stormers – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Leolin Zas, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Hannes Gouws, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Tim Swiel, 24 Michal Hazner, 25 Angelo Davids, 26 Tristan Leyds.
Photo: Gallo Images
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