Late Stormers mistake proves costly

Josh Valentine © Gallo Images

The Brumbies snatched a 19-17 Super 14 win from under the noses of the Stormers after a hard fought game of patience at Newlands on Friday night.

Blow-by-blow scoring

Going into the final 10 minutes it looked as though the match would end in a stalemate, with the two teams locked together on 12-all after a game dominated by two outstanding defensive systems.

However, it did seem that the Stormers were chasing the game more than the Brumbies were, or was it just that the Brumbies were clever? The game was always going to be decided on a mistake, and it was the Stormers who made the cardinal error of trying to run the ball back from deep inside their own half with two minutes to go.

What was required was for the ball to be kicked back into the Brumbies territory. There it was far less likely that the Stormers would be in position to lose the game, and the Stormers could well have profited from a late penalty as they applied the pressure.

The penalty did eventually come, and from it the Stormers set up a lineout from which Pieter Louw streaked over in the left corner to set up a difficult match-saving conversion for Joe Pietersen. The fullback missed the kick, but it should not have come to that, for the Stormers would not have been behind were it not for the mind-blowing decision earlier to run from their own half.

It resulted in Brumbies skipper George Smith pouncing on a wild long pass from prop Brok Harris, and the Brumbies loose-forward put the ball close enough to the posts for Matt Giteau not to miss it. That successful kick was ultimately the difference between the teams.

That and missed opportunities for the Stormers, some in the first half, and some in the second. The Stormers started the game applying all the pressure, and that they weren’t ahead at the break was down to a combination of their own clumsiness, with little handling errors coming in at critical moments, poor decision making and just plain bad luck.

The last mentioned came in the seventh minute. The driving maul has become one of the most impressive features of the Stormers game, and off an attacking lineout set up from a penalty it looked initially as though the drive had sent Pieter Louw in near the corner flag. The Stormers were so confident it was a try they headed back to halfway in anticipation of the restart.

But when the slow motion replay was engaged for the Television Match Official, it showed that the ball had touched a small part of touch in goal as Louw reached out to dot down. It was marginal, with just millimetres separating the Stormers from the try, but it was the right decision to disallow the try.

There was a combination of bad luck and poor decision making 13 minutes later. Impressive Stormers inside centre Juan de Jongh produced the first clear break of the game as he scythed through. Had he chosen to go right to an unmarked Jaques Fourie, the Springbok would surely have scored.

Unfortunately for the Stormers and De Jongh, he opted to go left with a kick. It still looked good as Bryan Habana advanced on the ball as it descended, but instead of bouncing into the basket it soared over his head and to safety for the Brumbies.

There was another try scoring opportunity that went begging five minutes into the second half, with Liebenberg being put into space down the short side but failing to put in the pass that would have put an unmarked Habana through for the score.

The Stormers may also have made a mistake in opting to kick for the touchline when they were awarded two kickable penalties in the first 10 minutes. In the defence of the Stormers, they did come close to a try -- the Louw decision -- with one of those, but at the end of the day they could have been 6-0 up after 10 minutes had they opted to kick.

Those first 10 minutes were punctuated by penalties, with no less than six penalties being awarded, one to the Brumbies and five to the Stormers. That about summed up which team was applying the early pressure.

While the penalties kept coming at a fast rate, it started to even out after that, with the Brumbies winning the kicking game and the Stormers perhaps at times trying to play too much rugby in their own half.

The first points of the game were scored by the Stormers, with Joe Pietersen landing a penalty in the 14th minute, only for Matt Giteau to level it for the Brumbies just two minutes later as the Canberra team sent out the clear message that they intended to throw everything into staying in the game. Pietersen put the Stormers ahead again later in the half, only for the Brumbies to get one back again, and for all the Stormers endeavour and the opportunities that came their way, the end of the opening 40 minutes arrived with the match in a stalemate.

The two place-kickers traded penalties twice more in the second half, with the Brumbies taking the lead for the first time around the hour mark before Pietersen drew the Stormers back to 12-all.

The Stormers are a much improved team on last year and they certainly are a lot more composed than they were, but you always had the impression that the super-efficient Brumbies, happy to absorb all the pressure they were placed under during the game, might prove just that little bit more patient.

That proved to be the case, and it is the reason the Stormers were not able to grab at least a share of the spoils on a night where the more clear cut chances definitely belonged to the hosts.

SCORERS:

Brumbies: Try - George Smith. Conversion - Matt Giteau. Penalties - Giteau (4).

Stormers: Try - Pieter Louw. Penalties - Joe Pietersen (4).

Read more on the Super 14 page.

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