Stormers secure hard-fought victory over Cardiff in final URC round-robin clash
Image: BackpagePix
A 72nd-minute try by replacement lock Connor Evans saved the Stormers from blushes against Cardiff in their final United Rugby Championship (URC) round-robin clash in Cape Town on Friday evening.
The Cape side scored five tries for a bonus point 34-24 victory in the DHL Stadium, but it wasn't the prettiest display ahead of the quarter-finals. Despite that, the Stormers will finish the league phase in fifth, but they will have to wait until Saturday evening to find out if they are traveling to Glasgow or Durban for their knockout.
While they played some enterprising Stormers rugby in patches in front of the over 19 000 supporters, the plethora of changes that director of rugby John Dobson made to the side affected their overall flow.
That and the red card they copped with just over 20 minutes left in the game.
After the visitors scored a well-worked try in the righthand corner, fullback Damian Willemse was sent off for a head-high tackle after contact with his shoulder. Cardiff also received a red card to their prop, Danny Southworth, for a tackle to the head and played for most of the game with a man down.
They did brilliantly in taking the fight to the home team and never backed down, even without a flanker on the field. He had to leave the field for a new prop to come scrum. The Cardiff attack did well to score points every time it looked like the Stormers were going to pull away with the score.
Manie Libbok, who returned from injury, had a satisfying return to the field. After he was substituted in the second half, he received a standing ovation from the supporters. He had a hand in a couple of the tries and kicked a trademark crossfield dink, which led to the second score of winger Suleiman Hartzenberg. The speedster capped off his 50th appearance for the Stormers with a Player of the Match display.
Libbok's excellent distribution also led to various attacking moves for the home side.
Before his red card, Willemse looked steady at the back, and a neat little grubber by the Stormers' centurion led to the second try of the other flyer, Leolin Zas. as had a few ball spills in the second half – one right in front of the try line – that would've closed the game earlier and handed him a hat trick of tries
Dobson warned earlier in the week that Cardiff would not go softly into the cold Cape Town night, and they showed that. If they did not receive the red card, things could've turned out tighter.
After the red cards for the head contact, which spoiled the contest in many eyes, there will likely be increasing calls for a 20-minute card to be adopted into the URC.
Points scorers
Stormers 34 (19): Tries: Leolin Zas (2), Suleiman Hartzenberg (2), Connor Evans. Conversions: Damian Willemse (2), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Penalty: Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Cardiff 24 (12): Tries: Danny Southworth, Gabe Hamer-Webb, Harri Millard, Daffyd Hughes. Conversions: Callum Sheedy (2).
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