Stormers feel Lions’ crunch

In a battle of inches, the Lions won more than the Stormers over 80 minutes and deservedly came away from Cape Town with their first ever Super Rugby win in their seventh attempt.

The defeat was the Stormers’ first of the season, but they remain firmly in control of the Africa 1 Conference while the Lions are now in pole position in the Africa 2 Conference, bolstered by a bonus point.

The Lions were accurate in just about everything they did — the only blemish being a late and high charge on Robert du Preez by Jaco Kriel that earned him a yellow card.

But that incident aside, the ferocity of the Lions attack in contact, coupled with brilliant angled running by ball carriers, kept the Stormers defence off balance in the first half. In the second half, it was all about uncompromising Lions defence.

Three first-half tries were a just  reward for the Lions although there was some doubt about Kriel’s score moments before halftime. It appeared Stormers centre Daniel du Plessis had positioned his arm under the ball, but TMO Shaun Veldsman believed the ball had been grounded.

It was a crucial score just before the break. Flyhalf Elton Jantjies’ tight conversion stretched the lead to nine points after the Lions had scored two earlier tries from lock Franco Mostert and replacement centre Harold Vorster.

Mostert struck from a rolling maul in the fourth minute and Vorster, on for Springbok Rohan Janse van Rensburg who suffered a knee injury when lock Eben Etzebeth cut him down, ran a gorgeous angle on to a Ross Cronje pass for a neat try.

The Stormers had their moments in the first half but their usually unflappable set piece struggled. They lost a few early lineouts and the scrum creaked while there was parity. The only time the Stormers held the upper hand in the scrum was when Kriel was cooling off in the sin bin.

Wing Dillyn Leyds, fresh off his miracle offload against the Chiefs last week, scored a fine solo try to continue his good form. He took a flat pass a metre from the touchline, chipped, collected and scored to raise the roof.

But the Lions’ pressure led to a slew of penalties against the Stormers, which stunted any momentum they attempted to build.

The hosts had their chances to come back into the game in the second half, spending most of the opening 15 minutes camped on the Lions goalline. But the visitors’ defence never cracked as the Stormers launched sortie after sortie at their line.

It was the period that won the day as the Stormers were unable to find a way back into the match when they desperately needed to.

It took until the 71st minute for the first points of the second half when Stormers fullback SP Marais landed a long-range penalty. It gave the hosts a flicker of hope with six points in it.

But the Lions doused Stormers’ hopes when replacement fullback Sylvian Mahuza scored in the corner to secure victory and a much-needed bonus point.

SCORERS

Stormers – Try: Dillyn Leyds. Conversion: Rob du Preez. Penalties: Du Preez, SP Marais (2).

Lions – Tries: Franco Mostert, Harold Vorster, Jaco Kriel, Sylvian Mahuza. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (3). Penalty: Jantjies.