The Stormers had an ideal hit-out against a game Kings side who went down 52-24 in the final regular-season Super Rugby match at Newlands on Saturday evening.
Next week the Stormers host the visiting New Zealand outfit, the Chiefs, in one of the 2016 Super Rugby play-offs and the Port Elizabeth-based Kings would have provided an opportunity for the Stormers’ brainstrust to try out strategies and combinations.
At the start, the roar of the crowd who gave the Stormers a rousing welcome when they ran onto field had hardly abated when centre Huw Jones scored under the posts after he gathered his own deft chip ahead, just 47 seconds into the match. Flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis added the extra two points from the kicking tee (7-0).
The next 14 minutes of the match was played in the Kings’ 22m area and given the Stormers obvious set-piece strength it was inevitable that a score was imminent. The Stormers chose a five-metre scrum instead of a penalty under the posts and Jones was over three passes later for his second try.
Du Plessis’s conversion made it 14-0 and at this rate, the Stormers were scoring a point a minute.
Kings flyhalf Dewald Human ensured his side wasn’t leaving Newlands with a bagel and goaled a 20th-minute penalty (14-3).
Straight from the restart, the Kings were forced back on defence and after they held up the Stormers thrice on the tryline in quick succession a backline variation saw leftwing Leolin Zas streak through a yawning gap for his side’s third converted try (21-3).
Just ahead of the halftime break, the 14-man Stormers (scrumhalf Louis Schreuder had been yellow-carded in the 32nd minute) took their foot off the pedal and allowed the Kings to make several sorties into their 22-m area and one of these came good when Kings fullback Malcolm Jaer pounced on a kick-ahead in the in-goal area.
Human converted and the teams changed ends at 21-10 in the Stormers’ favour.
Shortly before the halftime whistle sounded, substitute Brandon Thomson came on for injured flyhalf Du Plessis, who suffered an ankle injury and the early prognosis is that he looks set to miss next week’s play-off.
The Stormers needed just five minutes of play to keep the scoreboard ticking over. The score came from Jones with his third try of the match after a training-ground move was smartly executed by forwards and backs. Thomson’s conversion attempt failed (26-10).
On the hour mark, the Kings lost the ball from a 10m scrum and once the Stormers pounced on the stray ball it was smartly relayed along the backline before Zas dived over for his second try. Thomson’s conversion attempt from the touchline failed (31-10).
The rout gained momentum gained momentum when the Stormers scored twice in the space of three minutes. First Zas ran in for his third try from some 70m after and an interception and then Thomson scored after the Kings defence were out on their feet. Thomson was on target with both conversions as the Stormers closed in on the half-century mark (45-10).
Kings leftwing Wandie Mjekevu and centre Stefan Watermeyer snatched converted tries for the Kings in the final three minutes of the match.
In between these two touchdowns, Huw bagged his fourth and Thomson goaled again.
Scorers: Stormers 52 (21): Tries: Huw Jones (4), Leolin Zas (3), Brandon Thomson. Conversions: Jean-Luc du Plessis (3), Thomson (3).
Southern Kings 24 (10): Tries: Malcolm Jaer, Wandie Mjekevu, Stefan Watermeyer Conversions: Dewald Human, Elgar Watts (2). Penalty: Human
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