URC result: Stormers edged by Connacht — Four key takeaways

The Stormers let a 10 point lead slip to go down 19-17 (halftime 7-10) against Connacht at the Sportsground in Galway on Saturday afternoon.

The Stormers took an early 17-7 lead in the second half before their discipline let them down in the closing moments, allowing Connacht to fight back and sneak a win that they probably didn’t deserve.

Here are four key moments from the match.

Northern Hemisphere reffing is a ‘problem’

The Stormers were harshly penalised over the entire match by ref Ben Blain, who let almost all the 50/50 calls go against the visitors, while he also made a couple of incorrect calls. The penalty count went 8-4 against the Stormers, which did not seem a fair reflection after Connacht were let off the hook a number of times.

A big moment that went against the Stormers was a yellow card to Ruhan Nel, who attempted to make a big tackle, which saw shoulder to shoulder contact, however the ref viewed it as being direct contact to the head and was looking to give a red card, before the TMO talked him down by explaining that first contact was to the shoulder.

In all it was not a good performance from the ref and the Stormers can feel hard done by.

Two yellow cards proved costly

The Stormers discipline in the second half let them down as they had to play 20 minutes with 14-men. The first yellow card to Sergeal Petersen for a deliberate knock down looked to be a fair call, however the second against Ruhan Nel for a high hit was incredibly harsh.

Before the first yellow the Stormers led 17-7 and were in a strong position, but the hosts took advantage of the extra man scoring two tries, one with Petersen off the field and the other with Nel in the bin to punish the visiting side. Although the Nel decision was harsh, he probably should not have been going into a tackle so high and that ended up costing him and his side in the end.

Stormers set piece was on point

During the match the Stormers set piece was on point, with them enjoying ascendancy at scrum time, while their lineouts and mauls were superb.

In the first half the Stormers maul was immense, gaining massive traction on a number of occasions, but in the second half Connacht managed to negate it a bit, although whether it was legal is up for debate.

Kicking game proved costly

The Stormers kicking game unfortunately let them down, particularly in the second half when they had the wind at their backs.

In the first half they struggled with a strong wind against them, which contributed heavily to their two missed conversions, from Damian Willemse and Manie Libbok.

However in the second half when they had the advantage of the wind the Stormers didn’t effectively use it, while poor decision making on when to run and when to kick also let them down and contributed to them slipping to a disappointing defeat.

Scorers

Connacht: Tries: Paul Boyle, Tom Daly, Peter Sullivan; Conversions: Conor Fitzgerald (2)

Stormers: Tries: Sergeal Petersen, Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok; Conversions: Manie Libbok