Manie Libbock. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
South Africa’s first coastal derby of the current URC season was unknowingly billed as the match that was to determine who between the Sharks and the Stormers was better able to absorb the absence of their myriad Springboks.
Late on Saturday afternoon, a stunned King’s Park faithful had to admit that it’s definitely not their side.
By winning emphatically 46-19, John Dobson’s troops showed that they are, without question, still the team to beat on the South African shield, let alone relinquish their title from last year.
SUMMARY | URC – Sharks v Stormers
They had come into this skirmish with the mental scars of a resounding 5-35 loss to Ulster, the absence of their regular domestic players and then the late withdrawal of Hacjivah Dayimani.
None of those drawbacks were apparent.
As early as the second minute, high-profile returnee Manie Libbok stamped what would be his considerable authority on the match with some magical sleight of hand, first fielding a poor kick from Thaakir Abrahams and then passing Hyron Andrews’ arm . he prepared Herschel Jantjies with the opening score.
He would cross the shutout only in the third quarter when he feasted on an errant and ill-conceived volley from Durbanites replacement pivot Lionel Cronje, though that score felt like a mere bonus for the work they had put in in the middle. .
The irony of the Stormers’ performance was that they were generally without the ball (38%) and even got caught in their own half (36% territory), but they never got into trouble because when they were in position hit, they did. so with ruthless efficiency.
Ruben van Heerden, making a triumphant return to his old hunting ground, made the most of a delicious inside pass from a prone Libbok to demolish the hapless Andrews and pass, before forward dominance, a feature of the Stormers’ game that day. he led to the efficient rounding of a maul from Joseph Dweba.
Armed with a 24-7 halftime lead, the Stormers clinched the result with a try from Seabelo Senatla, a superb floating pass sequence from Clayton Blommetjies and a brilliant pass from the former Blitzbok star, and the flyer did it again. starting a counterattack on the 22nd that saw him use his impeccable footwork again to drive away Suleiman Hartzenberg.
It was something impressive.
But that should still pale in comparison to how well the Stormers’ system works when they’re on song.
Six tries were a clear expression of that, but they also dominated at scrum time and tackled like men possessed, posting a 92% completion rate and winning 7 turnovers.
Say what you want about depth: Every player on Dobson’s team is exactly on the same page.
Which is perhaps the problem with the Sharks currently.
Yes, there is a perceptible gap in their resources when the Boks are not yet around, as last week’s valiant effort in Edinburgh demonstrated, that doesn’t mean they should lack firepower to this extent.
This felt like a game architecture issue.
And I could see them miss the playoffs…
Point scorers:
Sharks – 19 (7)
Attempts: Gerbrandt Grobler (2), Dan Jooste
Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2)
Storms – 46 (24)
Attempts: Herschel Jantjies, Ruben van Heerden, Joseph Dweba, Seabelo Senatla, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Manie Libbok
Conversions: Libbok (4), Clayton Blommetjies
Penalties: Libbok (2)
