Stormers do double over London Irish, edge towards Champions Cup last-16

Having lost their opening Heineken Champions Cup match against Clermont, the Stormers did the double over a 13-man London Irish side with a 28-14 victory at Brentford Community Stadium on Sunday.

It was a match pockmarked by ill discipline, with French referee Ludovic Cayre handing out a plethora of yellow and red cards owing to foul play.

After Juan Martin Gonzalez was yellow-carded for collapsing a driving maul in the 14th minute, which resulted in a penalty try for the Stormers, the hosts were reduced to 13 men when Ben Loader was red-carded for a high tackle on Manie Libbok.

While London Irish coach Less Kiss said mid-match he was “flabbergasted” by the decision, the injured Libbok was replaced by teenager Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at flyhalf for the game’s duration.

London Irish, who have the worst disciplinary record in the English Premiership, further entrenched themselves as a team with a patent lack of discipline.

Ahead of the match, which saw the Stormers in eighth place in Pool B and Irish in 11th, Stormers coach John Dobson spoke of having “no excuses” and his charges backed him up in their maiden match in the competition in England.

The Stormers showed off their impressive transitional play, looked lethal on attack from turnover ball and were also smart in identifying space. It was summed up when effective line speed from the Stormers saw Ruhan Nel, who returned from injury for the rematch, score an eye-catching intercept try.

The Cape-based side scored their third try when they found space and, with a well-weighted grubber from Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Suleiman Hartzenberg was on hand to dot down. The visitors had a 21-0 lead at the intermission.

The second half started in the worst possible fashion for the home team when Ciaran Parker was red-carded for a dangerous clean-out on Deon Fourie inside two minutes. It was the fifth red card of the Champions Cup weekend and underscored the zero tolerance policy match officials have implemented for foul play.

Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff joined the card-carrying club with a yellow for collapsing a London Irish maul, which resulted in a penalty try for the home side. They scored a consolation try through Danilo Fischetti but were second-best in North London.

While Kiss will point fingers at the Loader red card, based on what he believed were mitigating circumstances, his side only had themselves to blame for the poor discipline.

The Capetonians secured a bonus-point victory with a try from Angelo Davids in the 46th minute and, while Stormers backline coach Dawie Snyman bemoaned his side’s tactical naiveté at times against 13 men, they all but booked their place in the last 16.

Scorers

London Irish — Tries:  Penalty try, Danilo Fischetti. Conversion: Rory Jennings (1).

Stormers — Tries: Penalty try, Ruhan Nel, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Angelo Davids. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3).

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