Stormers win crowd support
by Paki's Corner | 15 March 2010 (23:04)
The Super 14 competition continues to deliver in the early stages, with an impressive move by the Stormers to second position on the log. The Cape Town fans (an impressive 44,350 at Newlands) have had to wait a very long time for their star-studded team to produce the results on the field.
Labeled the ‘pretty boys’ by fellow South African franchises the coastal side lured two Springboks in the form of Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie to the Western Cape on fat paychecks this season. It has definitely helped matters, however, the performance of the pack deserves special attention this season. The Stormers have always had excellent backline players (Robbie Fleck, Percy Montgomery, Breyton Paulse, Bob Skinstad come to mind right away), but the forwards haven’t been able hold their own against the better sides.
I very much enjoyed their clinical performance against the high-riding Wellington Hurricanes this weekend. The Stormers pack provided excellent go forward ball for speedsters Joe Pietersen and Sireli Naqelevuki, who combined brilliantly for two tries. This season is the first time I have seen the Fijian winger (Naqelevuki) run at full speed, with him commiting two or more defenders on each carry!
As always in this competition the away matches are the interesting ones with the Stormers set to leave in two weeks for a 4-match overseas spell.
The Queensland Reds also impressed me this weekend with centers Digby Ioane and Anthony Fainga having superb games, and against solid competition in Wallaby internationals James O’Connor and Ryan Cross. Another youngster on the scene is Reds winger Luke Morahan whom I played against on the IRB 7s series last year. The talented Australian backline player has looked excellent in his first Super 14 season. Moment of the day: Western Force fullback Dane Haylett-Petty tried to be very sneaky by gathering the ball in his try zone and dotting it down on his rugby boot – then sprinted away past defenders who were walking back for the 22-metre drop out. The plan backfired moments later as he was smashed in the tackle and spilled the ball to Scott Higginbotham who strolled in for another Reds score!
The Bulls victory over the Highlanders was due to outstanding support play (supporting behind the ball) and of course finishing by some impressive players. It seems like Bryan Habana is no loss to the side with exciting youngsters Gerhard van den Heever and Francois Hougaard bagging a brace of tries. It was van den Heever who touched down an unbelievable 70-meter solo event – a player I would love to see in the Olympic Games for the South African Sevens side!
The Highlanders fullback Israel Dagg – another player who hails from the IRB Sevens circuit – was superb for the New Zealanders exposing the Bulls defense. Dagg has great speed and phenomenal skills, scoring 19 points against the Bulls, including three tries.
There is not much to be said of the Waratahs 70-point riot of the Lions with Wallaby Drew Mitchell touching down four tries by himself. It was a delight for their fans – and of course the Aussie commentators!
The Crusaders vs. Chiefs encounter was a battlefield as expected. Scrumhalf Kahn Fotuali’I inspired the Crusaders to an excellent victory, and will be a name for the future, starting in place of the injured Andy Ellis.
The Natal Sharks were very unlucky again this weekend, with a dubious penalty against Ryan Kankowski seeing the Brumbies win 24-22. This is the fourth match the Durban side has lost within a margin of 5 points. There is a fine line between winning and losing, and one expects the side to bounce back in the second half of the competition. So far talented player Ruan Pienaar has played two matches at flyhalf and two at scrumhalf for the Sharks. I am pleased to see him move back to number 9 and hopefully with Andy Goode a permanent flyhalf option this will give Pienaar more focus on one position. I have mentioned he has been moved around as much as Springbok Brent Russell, which means the player doesn’t have enough time to be consistently brilliant at one position. Although the Springboks have the best scrumhalf in the world (Fourie du Preez) a quality backup is always handy.
IRB Sevens:
Later this week I will be previewing the exciting 5th leg of the IRB World Sevens Series tournament which takes place in Adelaide Australia from March 19-21 March.
Dallen Stanford played 54 matches for the USA 7s team throughout his career spanning from 2006 to 2009, including 13 IRB 7s tournament appearances. To read other articles by the South African visit www.ur7s.com and www.pakiscorner.com.
