Stormers fight back to ensure play-off

The Stormers arrested an alarming slide with a character-filled win over the Blues at Newlands on Friday which snuffed out all risk of missing the play-offs.

The vagaries of the tournament structure means that the Stormers stay well on top in the Africa 1 conference, 15 points clear of the Bulls, who still had to face the Lions on yesterday.

Trailing 12-10 at the break and 19-10 five minutes into the second half, the Stormers showed resilience to fight back with second-half tries from flyhalf Dillyn Leyds and replacement No 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe.

story_article_left1

The Blues were reduced to 14 men when wing Matt Duffie was sent off for a second yellow card in the 66th minute -— a decision that proved the difference between the sides as the Blues fell away in the final quarter.

Although the Blues still scored three tries, it was a more urgent defensive display from the Stormers after weeks of losing the gain-line battle on their recent New Zealand tour.

The Stormers' defence was passive in the first half, allowing Blues tighthead Charlie Faumuina to rumble over the gain line and make two offloads that led to tries for centre George Moala and hooker James Parsons. For a time it appeared the same problems on defence were set to continue.

But after the break the Stormers' line speed improved as they shut down potentially dangerous attacks, suffocating the Blues', and Sonny Bill Williams' offloading game, while there was also better decision making at the breakdown.

"Intensity on defence was one of the things we worked on after the tour," coach Robbie Fleck said. "We experienced the line speed and intensity New Zealand sides bring, and I'm glad we were able to handle against the Blues. We have learnt.

"We still made some mistakes defensively but we put them under pressure, especially in the second half. It was good to see us knocking their big ball carriers back behind the advantage line."

The Stormers pack was immense throughout with captain Siya Kolisi and lock Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit leading from the front. Kolisi scored a crucial try on half time to pull his side back into the contest.

Etzebeth earned a rare yellow card (only his second in Super Rugby) after a bit of pushing and shoving, but otherwise it was another towering performance from the Bok lock.

They face the Sharks next week and based on the second-half display against the Blues, they can take momentum into that clash.

The play-offs loom for the Stormers, and their likely opponents will be a Kiwi side, which gives them eight weeks to continue with the lessons they've learned from five clashes against New Zealand teams this year.

SCORERS

Stormers 30 — Tries: Siya Kolisi, Dillyn Leyds, Sikhumbuzo Notshe. Conversions: SP Marais (3). Penalties: Marais (3). \

Blues 22 — Tries: George Moala, James Parsons, Blake Gibson. Conversions: Piers Francis (2). Penalty: Bryn Gatland.

Second-half tries to David Havili and Ben Funnell ensured the Crusaders remained unbeaten with a 31-24 victory over the Chiefs in Suva.

Flanker Heiden Bedwell-Curtis also scored for the Crusaders, who have won all 12 games so far this season and now opened up a handy 11-point lead over the Chiefs in the highly competitive New Zealand conference.