Stormers flair overcomes Connacht grit in thrilling URC semi-final
BRAVE EFFORT: Mack Hansen of Connacht scores a try. Pic Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Thinus Maritz
When Connacht finally do the game analysis from their United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final against the Stormers, anyone who had not seen the match and only read the stats would conclude they must have won.
Connacht enjoyed a whopping 71% possession, 67% territory, only made 59 tackles against the Stormers 179, conceded six penalties to the Stormers’ 10 and also scored four tries.
But they missed 26 tackles and were on the wrong side of the clean breaks column with five against the Stormers’ eight. Ultimately, the numbers said one thing but when it came to execution, the Stormers were sharper and more clinical.
“In the end the better team won, because you have to take your chances and we created more but didn’t take them,” director of rugby Andy Friend said after the match.
Connacht were soundly beaten by a Stormers side that made living off scraps into a gourmet meal. And nothing summed up the Stormers’ flair as much as their sixth and final try.
Flank Hacjivah Dayimani threw an outrageous behind-the-back pass to the supporting Ruhan Nel to put some gloss on the result. The final score perhaps didn’t do Connacht justice but in a semi-final, the margin of defeat was inconsequential. It was a defeat and it hurt because their hard work perhaps deserved more.
Stormers flyhalf Manie Libbok directed what little possession his team had with brilliance, helping himself to 23 points on the day, which included two fine tries, five conversions and a penalty.
The Stormers simply had better game breakers against Connacht’s honest toilers. The men from Galway stayed in the fight until five minutes from the end when they narrowed the deficit to six points but they were outgunned by individual brilliance.
On a bitterly cold and blustery day the conditions were similar to those in Galway and for the most part Connacht adapted well.
Scrums were messy and the lineouts for both teams struggled to fully explode while the visitors shaded the battle for the ball on the ground. The Stormers missed Deon Fourie massively in that area.
They made a bright start with the Stormers’ being uncharacteristically flat in the opening 10 minutes. The visitors didn’t need to be invited twice to take advantage.
An early penalty from Jack Carty settled nerves and when Mack Hansen scored in the corner after a scrum close to the Stormers’ line and several phases, an upset was on the cards.
Hansen was a constant, buzzing presence, always threatening to break the line when he had the ball, but for the most part the Stormers’ solid defence just about kept him in check.
Connacht's strong start seemed to rouse the home team and the 47,200 fans who had initially been stunned into silence.
Soon after Hansen’s try the Stormers delivered 16 minutes of champagne rugby that yielded 24 unanswered points and left Connacht with too much to do.
Impressive Stormers fullback Damian Willemse sparked the comeback when he pierced the green line in midfield and started a raid into Connacht’s 22.
From the recycled ball, Libbok stabbed an inch-perfect cross-field kick/pass for wing Angelo davids to score in the corner. Libbok then landed the touchline conversion in the difficult conditions.
The Stormers’ second try perhaps best summed up their ability to create from nothing.
Libbok tidied up an awkwardly bouncing ball inside his 22, and calmly sliced through the rapidly closing defence. The little break bought him enough time to send a spiralling kick down field.
Connacht returned fire with the boot and the quick-thinking of centre Daniel du Plessis, inside to Willemse sparked a marauding counter down the touchline with Connacht’s defence yet to reset. Libbok was on hand to score.
Davids then turned provider for Libbok minutes later when he burst through some weak shoulders from a Stormers lineout and fed Libbok for the score.
From the bright start, 15 minutes of mayhem ended Connacht’s realistic chances of winning, but they never stopped trying.
Just before the break Conor Oliver crashed over for a try and after dominating the third quarter, Connacht scored again from close range when flank Shamus Hurley-Langton muscled over the line.
The game was back in the balance but in response, the Stormers produced another sweeping move, this time ending in a try for replacement halfback Paul de Wet that extended the lead back into double digits.
Undeterred Connacht kept bashing away and finally they fashioned enough space for replacement wing Byron Ralston to score in the corner. Cue anxiety around the stadium again.
But Dayimani, an exceptionally skillful and quick looseforward, sparked a break that led to a try for back rower Marcel Theunissen before delivering the coup de grace with his pass to Nel.
Tries: Angelo Davids, Manie Libbok (2), Paul de Wet, Marcel Theunissen. Conversions: Manie Libbok (4). Penalty: Libbok.
Tries: Mack Hansen, Conor Oliver, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Byron Ralston. Conversion: Jack Carty. Penalty: Jack Carty.
D Willemse; A Davids, R Nel, D du Plessis, L Zas; M Libbok, H Jantjies (P de Wet 62); S Kitshoff, J Dweba (A Vermaak 60), F Malherbe (N Fouche 60); BJ Dixon, R van Heerden; W Engelbrecht (M Theunissen 76), H Dayimani, E Roos (C Evans 74).
T O’Halloran (B Ralston 36); J Porch, T Farrell, B Aki, M Hansen; J Carty (T Daly 70), C Blade (K Marmion 64); D Buckley (J Duggan 64), D Heffernan (D Tierney-Martin 64), F Bealham (J Aungier 64); J Murphy, N Murray (O Dowling 47); S Hurley-Langton, C Oliver (J Butler 64), C Prendergast.
Mike Adamson (Scotland).
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