Following the Stormers’ 34-29 victory over Connacht, here’s how we rated John Dobson’s men in the United Rugby Championship clash.
Stormers player ratings v Connacht
15 Warrick Gelant: Sent to the sin bin when he failed to regather an attempted intercept. He was outshone by the brilliance of the other backs but was reasonably solid. 5
14 Suleiman Hartzenberg: A beautiful pop from the deck set up the opening score while he was brave under the high ball. Grabbed a try in the second half too. A few defensive lapses gave Shane Jennings easy run-ins though. 7
13 Dan du Plessis: One of the quieter backline players but that does not mean he was poor. Sure he did have a lapse or two on defence but on the whole, he was a great glue player for the men in blue. 6
12 Damian Willemse: His number ten will steal the headlines but Willemse played a stunning supporting act in the midfield with another superb showing. He has been sorely missed by the Stormers this season. 8
11 Seabelo Senatla: A few bright moments with ball in hand but it did not come his way too often with the Stormers making inroads through the middle of the defence. Saved Gelant in the first half. 6
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu: The Springboks youngster has wasted no time in rediscovering his form after a spell on the sidelines. Earlier this week he expressed the need to cut out silly mistakes from his game and while he had a few errors, they were well and truly overshadowed by his brilliance scoring a hat-trick in the opening 26 minutes. It was a wonderful showing from the playmaker who produced a simply outrageous performance. He is a freakish talent. 9
9 Stefan Ungerer: A handful of loose passes but, overall, a solid shift providing adequate service for Feinberg-Mngomezulu to shine. 6
Loose trio
8 Evan Roos: With Jasper Wiese in doubt for the Springboks, Roos is staking his claim for the Green and Gold number eight jersey and doing so brilliantly. He grabbed a try in the first half and while he was great on both sides of the ball, he crucially made some big clear-outs at the breakdown too. 8
7 Marcel Theunissen: A safe pair of hands at lineout time and had a real influence on defence and in attack. A great all-round performance from the unheralded flanker. 6
6 Paul de Villiers: A first start for the Stormers and boy did he make the most of it. He sent Feinberg-Mngomezulu cantering away with great hands after breaking through the Connacht defence. His exploits extended to defence where he was brave and energetic both in the tackle and at the breakdown. Another bright rising star in the Stormers ranks. 7
Tight five
5 Ruben van Heerden: Celebrated his 50th Stormers cap today and put in yet another tidy shift with great handling with ball in hand and threw his weight around well on defence. Ran the lineout respectably. 6
4 Salmaan Moerat: Often criticised for his physicality but laid down a statement of intent with a powerhouse carry in the build-up to Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s first try and showed off his softer skills for his third. 7
3 Sazi Sandi: With Frans Malherbe and Neethling Fouche both missing the match through injury and suspension respectively, Sandi rose to the challenge and put in a tidy shift locking down the scrum. 6
2 André-Hugo Venter: A wilful ball carrier and did his job in that regard well while his lineout throws were accurate. A solid hour of work. 6
1 Ali Vermaak: The scrums were quite messy, mostly due to his dominance over Finlay Bealham who struggled to hold up his side of the set-piece. 6
Replacements: Unfortunately for Dobson, he lost Deon Fourie just moments after he had sent the veteran on meaning that a backline player had to fill in the back-row. The Stormers’ replacements were pretty much all thrown on at one, except for scrum-half Paul de Wet, and it did not quite have the desired effect. They were ultimately saved by an obstruction call as errors on top of errors gave Connacht a clear route to the comeback. 3
READ MORE: Stormers break silence on Springboks’ star Damian Willemse rumours admitting ‘worldwide’ interest
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/stormers-player-ratings-freakish-sacha-feinberg-mngomezulu-scores-a-marvellous-hat-trick-as-evan-roos-presses-for-springboks-recall
