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Seabelo Senatla (Photo by Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)
The Stormers closed their prep series in the most emphatic way possible when they crushed the Lions 44-12 at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.
It was a perfect one-inch performance of the Dawie Snyman charges where almost everything they touched turned to gold.
There were mistakes here and there, but the synergy between running backs and forwards was wonderful, as was Abner van Reenen’s match management and kicks off the tee.
Van Reenen spoiled his excellent play when he received a yellow card in the 76th minute for preventing a try.
Other than that, the Stormers will enter the Rainbow Cup with a bit of form behind them and a formula that can work very well for their backs.
They got off to a dream start when they scored 30 seconds after kickoff, taking advantage of the Lions’ laid-back attitude at the start.
After retaining possession, the ball was deflected very quickly and after a clever run from Seabelo Senatla, Herschel Jantjies crossed.
The Lions responded vigorously and should have scored at least one try in the 11th and 13th minutes.
The desperate defense of the Stormers caused the ball to stop in the first instance and an unfortunate knock-on in the second.
The Stormers, who played with a freedom in the back that had not been seen in a long time, again capitalized on the fact that the Lions were too slow and too tight on defense in the 16th minute, where another movement from the back line cut and sliced the defense of the Lions. .
This time, the Senatla was on the receiving end of the hard work, as the Stormers led 14-0.
Then it looked like the Stormers wanted to score a point a minute when they went up 21-0 in the 20th minute after Jantjies’ second attempt.
They should have had a quarter in the 29th minute, but Sergeal Petersen hit Dan du Plessis’s pass with the Lions defense at six-seven.
That the Stormers won 24-0 at halftime, an advantage extended by a Van Reenen penalty in the 25th minute, was no accident.
It was demonstrated in the 49th minute when Bongi Mbonambi, part of the Stormers’ Springbok front row who entered the second half, crashed from a rolling maul.
With the match practically finished at 31-0, Van Reenen, who had a very good start in the air, showed his kicks with an additional penalty and drop goal to stretch the lead to 37-0.
It took the Lions until the 70th minute to cross the mark through MJ Pelser, but the Stormers responded with another attempt through Ruhan Nel in the 73rd minute to extend the win.
Following Van Reenen’s yellow card leading to a penalty trial, Jantjies was denied a hattrick for a desperate tackle that saw his boot button skim the touchline at
Scorers:
Stormers
Attempts: Herschel Jantjies (2), Seabelo Senatla, Bongi Mbonambi, Ruhan Nel
Conversions: Abner van Reenen (5)
Penalties: Van Reenen (2)
Drop goal: Van Reenen
Lions
Attempts: MJ Pelser, penalty trial
