Stormers, Waratahs draw in the rain
Sat, 10 May 2008 21:05
Not singing in the rain: Newlands spectators looking for shelter
The Stormers and the Waratahs played to a 13-all draw in their crucial Super 14 match at a very wet Newlands, Cape Town, on Saturday - leaving both teams vulnerable in the play-off race.
It leaves the Waratahs in third place, one point behind second-placed Hurricanes, as they chase home ground advantage in the semifinals.
The Stormers are in fourth place on 37 points - the same as their compatriots the Sharks - knowing they can still get a home semifinal if results go their way. But at the same time defeat against the resurgent Lions next week could see the Stormers fall out of the play-off race.
The better team drew, and the better team was the Waratahs. That said, that they did not win does not redound to their credit. After all they dominated possession and position in the second half as the Stormers went into their customary fade and spent the second half defending - for all but eight seconds at the start of the half and a few more seconds during the half.
The draw took a brilliant conversion by Kurtley Beale, 19 years of age, playing in pouring rain in front of 47 000 people who wanted him to miss and kicking it from the touch-line. It is a kick to stay for years and years in the memory.
The weather had a huge effect on the game. The Western Cape is a winter rainfall area and Newlands is its wettest area. The whole of winter seemed to have been pouring down onto Newlands on Saturday evening. Table Mountain and Devil's Peak vanished and 47 000 people got wet - some wetter than others. But the crowd compensated for the miserable weather by being even more cheerful than usual. The dancers danced, the mascot led the team out and the crowd cheered and laughed. Doff your sou'westers to the Newlands crowd - the best in the Super 14.
The Waratahs played with the weather in the first half, and the Stormers had the better of the half. The Stormers played with the weather in the second half and the Waratahs had much the better of the half, enjoying 73 percent of possession and ending on the Stormers' line as they searched for victory.
The Waratahs won the scrums hands down - even taking two against the head, though with the dubious help of flank Phil Waugh. They protected the ball better and they kicked far better. They were the better side, which is probably why they are further up the table than the Stormers.
After the match the Stormers' captain, Jean de Villiers, said: "For us it feels like a loss."
One can understand that.
The Stormers scored two tries to one. The first came when they were trailing 0-3 after Kurtley Beale had kicked a penalty when the Stormers' forwards were naively ahead of a kick that should have gone into touch. That was after a minute.
The first Stormers' try was excellent as Gcobani Bobo, a hugely improved player, kicked a long grubber down the right-hand touch-line. Lachlan Turner got to the ball first but François Louw won a turnover off him and the Stormers went left. De Villiers did some clever maneuvering to create an bit of an overlap for Sireli Naqelevuki. Young Rob Horne felled the big man but he carried on surfing to the line on the wet surface and was credited with the try. The conversion was missed - on target but not far enough in the weather. 5-3 to the Stormers after seven minutes.
The Stormers enjoyed territorial advantage as the Waratahs' handling was jittery. The home side were close on the left corner and did their pick-'n-drive routine effectively but then they lost two scrums in a row and went through phases. Beale who had missed a penalty then goaled one when Ricky Januarie was found guilty of being off-side. 6-5.
That was the half-time score.
Eight seconds. That is what it took the Stormers to get back the lead in the second half. Peter Grant kicked off to the left, deep into Waratah territory. Turner caught, steadied himself and kicked - into charging Wylie Human. The ball went into the Waratahs in-goal, bouncing. Human dived, grabbed the ball on the bounce and scored the try, which caused glee to his teammates and a prayer of thanks to his Maker. Again the conversion was missed. 10-6.
Then, as the rain abated for a while, the Waratahs got on top and the Stormers saw little of the ball. What ball they got they hacked downfield where there was always a Waratah waiting for it to drive them back.
On 50 minutes Tony Brown replaced Peter Grant at flyhalf.
The Waratahs had an effective maul. Schalk Britz and Brian Mujati were penalised for coming in the side. After Beale had missed a second kickable penalty, the Waratahs opted for a five-metre line-out but the Stormers repelled them. In fact their defence was excellent, as it had been against the Brumbies the week before.
When the Waratahs' hands let them down, De Villiers footed downfield where the Waratahs scrambled and then conceded a penalty which Brown goaled. 13-6 after 64 minutes.
The Stormers won the ball deep on defence but Brown, mittens and all, fumbled twice and the Waratahs had a five-metre scrum. They bashed and battered. Heavens, how they bashed and battered. And time and again, the Stormers held them back. The Stormers were penalised for being off-side and Phil Waugh tapped and charged. Again the Stormers held the battering Waratahs back. Held back, they went wide to the left where Lote Tuqiri scored on an overlap - right in the left-hand corner.
From there Beale of the calm exterior, kicked the wondrous conversion which drew the match.
At the end the Stormers went on a strong pick-'n-drive campaign till Andries Bekker was isolated and free-kicked. In their own half the Waratahs tapped and ran. Rocky Elsom had a great run and they were eventually stopped on the Stormers' line. They had a free kick and bashed some more. Then Beale tried a dropped goal and the Stormers' charged it down and won the ball back. Bolla Conradie kicked it over the dead-ball line, surrendering to the inevitably of the draw.
Man of the Match: There were fine performances from Conrad Jantjes, Gcobani Bobo, Andries Bekker and Schalk Brits of the Stormers and Phil Waugh and Luke Burgess of the Waratahs but none as outstanding as gold-shod Lote Tuqiri whose play on attack and defence was outstanding. He seemed to be everywhere but there was only one of him on the field.
Moment of the Match: It simply has to be Kurtley Beale's conversion from touch into the weather.
Villain of the Match: We are going to give this one to the weather - and yet it brought out the best in many people.
The scorers:
For the Stormers:
Tries: Naqelevuki, Human
Pen: Brown
For the
Waratahs:
Try: Tuqiri
Con: Beale
Pens: Beale 2
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Wylie Human, 13 Gcobani Bobo, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Sireli Naqelevuki, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Ricky January, 8 Robbie Diack, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Brian Mujati.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Ross Skeate, 19 Pieter Myburgh, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Tony Brown, 22 Dylan des Fountain.
Waratahs: 15 Lote Tuqiri, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Tom Carter, 11 Matt Carraro, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Will Caldwell , 19 David Lyons, 20
Brett Sheehan, 21 Sam Norton-Knight, 22 Timana Tahu.
Referee: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Brent Murray (New Zealand), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
