Following the Stormers’ 34-24 victory over Cardiff, here’s our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at the DHL Stadium.
The top line
A hotly contested game to kick off the final weekend of the URC regular season as the Stormers wrapped up fifth place on the standings, dispatching Cardiff.
John Dobson’s charges ruthlessly denied the visitors a losing bonus point as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu nailed a long-range penalty, meaning they leave Cape Town with just one point instead of two.
Still, the Stormers were good value for their victory as Leolin Zas and Suleiman Hartzenberg grabbed braces, the latter doing so in his 50th appearance for the club and was voted Man of the Match for his efforts.
Connor Evans put the icing on the cake in the 70th minute with his score, but the Welsh outfit did not go down easily.
Danny Southworth grabbed the opening try for the visitors but hamstrung his side soon after with a head-high shot ending his game and reducing his side to 14 men for 65 minutes. Gabriel Hamer-Webb latched onto a brilliant kick from Callum Sheedy to close the gap to seven points before the break.
Harri Millard added another try to his catalogue of what has been a memorable season in the 57th minute before Damian Willemse’s lazy tackle meant that both teams would close out the game a man down.
Dafydd Hughes’ try with four minutes left to play gave Cardiff hope and keeps them in the running for an unlikely play-off spot but their chances got slimmer when the officials lifted their flags for Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s penalty.
Cardiff’s race run?
It’s been a really challenging season for the Welsh outfit, which entered administration just last month, but the efforts on the pitch cannot be understated.
It’s well documented that the Welsh clubs’ budgets are dwarfed by many of the teams in this competition, and Cardiff certainly punch above their weight.
Even today, once they were reduced to 14 men, they remained in touching distance of the hosts at one of the most difficult grounds to visit in the tournament.
But ultimately, they look to have fallen agonisingly short. They move up to seventh place on the standings but could well drop out of the top eight as they watch what unfolds elsewhere in the league.
Unfortunately, the clash in Cape Town was much like their season – filled with ifs, buts and maybes.
Sheedy was fuming that his conversion attempt was clocked out after Hamer-Webb made the kick all the more easier for him, and had that kick gone over, then Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s penalty would not have denied them a losing bonus point.
As for the Stormers, they wrap up fifth position with the bonus point victory and could well go to Durban to face coastal rivals the Sharks in the quarter-finals, and if not, they head to Glasgow to face the defending champions. That will only be decided on Sunday.
Red cards
But the Stormers may well be without the services of star Springboks back Willemse through suspension. The double World Cup was simply sensational at full-back and has been excellent since his return from injury, usually featuring in the centres.
However, he let himself down with his challenge on Hamer-Webb when the winger sent Millard tearing away down the touchline.
Dobson will hope that the club’s lawyers will have better success arguing his case than they had for Neethling Fouche to free him up for the knockouts. But unfortunately, a three-match ban looks to be in Willemse’s future, reduced by a week by attending tackle school.
He was always upright going into the tackle, and there was little, if any, drop in height from the Cardiff winger. The only thing that may save Willemse is if the disciplinary panel disagrees with referee Gianluca Gnecchi’s view that it was a high degree of danger. Fouche, who was skipper at the time, argued that it was a passive hit and that might be Willemse’s best argument.
Meanwhile, Southworth had little to argue as he collided with Fouche in the first half. He came from distance, had a clear line of sight, and still made a high shot on the Stormers tighthead. Many onlookers deemed it to be a harsh card, but it was to the letter of the law.
Manie’s statement performance
After four and a half weeks on the sidelines, one could excuse Manie Libbok for being a bit rusty, but again, the Springboks pivot proved doubters wrong.
Still heavily strapped, Libbok gave the kicking duties to Willemse to lighten the load, but that was the only area of his game where he did not pitch up.
The playmaker threw a stunning long ball leading to Zas’ first try and dropped an inch-perfect kick out to Hartzenberg for the wingers second try.
His trademark crossfield bombs were on point too and he kicked superbly for touch with both feet. He did spill a Salmaan Moerat offload but frankly, it was a poor pass from the second rower.
Rassie Erasmus’ stocks have been significantly boosted by Libbok’s return with the Bok boss spoilt with choice between him, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Jordan Hendrikse, Siya Masuku and even Willemse.
Much of the hype has been around Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s form but Libbok issued a timely reminder of what he is capable of.
High-flying wingers
Both of the Stormers’ wingers today profited from the excellence of Willemse and Libbok as well as the centres, but they were both lethal when the ball came their way.
Zas could have completed his hat-trick if the ball was just a half a yard closer to him, but otherwise, he was superb. His second try was a display of smart understanding of the laws and brilliant opportunism, while his work under the high ball and kick-chase in general was of the highest order. It’s worth noting that he performed so well against a classy opponent in Josh Adams.
Meanwhile, Hartzenberg showed why he has 50 caps for the Stormers at the tender age of 21. His future may well lie in the centres but he is making a good fist of his opportunities on the wing as he punches through the smallest of gaps in the defence, which he did for his opening try.
He was the only player to gain over 100 metres in the match and beat a game-high of seven defenders, some feat considering how Willemse left Cardiff players in his wake, and went search for work with 21 touches in total.
Erasmus is not short on options out wide but he could do much worse than giving these two in-form Stormers men a look into the squad.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/stormers-v-cardiff-five-takeaways-as-sacha-feinberg-mngomezulu-ruthlessly-denies-brave-visitors-while-manie-libbok-issues-springboks-reminder
