URC result: Stormers score six tries in hammering Sharks in Durban

The Sharks were without several of their Springbok players, who were being rested or possibly attending team-mate Eben Etzebeth’s wedding, and it showed as they crashed to a 19-46 loss to the Stormers in a postponed round one United Rugby Championship match in Durban on Saturday.

The Stormers were also missing a few key men but had far too much fire-power for their hosts, who were outplayed in a number of areas and heavily penalised by referee Jaco Peyper.

John Dobson’s defending URC champions are now well on their way to seriously challenging for the title once again. They are second on the points table, while the Sharks are eighth and in a battle to make the playoffs.

The home team were on the back foot from the start when Herschel Jantjies finished off a quality counter-attack by the Stormers, which was started by Clayton Blommetjies and taken further by Manie Libbok, before the Springbok No 9 crossed the tryline.

From then on the visitors to Durban dominated proceedings, winning all the contests, but especially the scrums, while the Sharks also gave away a number of penalties.

Midway through the half it was the turn of new recruit Ruben van Heerden to score; the big lock finishing off after a lineout win and his team-mates taking the ball through several phases.

In control

A penalty by Libbok made it 17-0 to the Stormers and they should have scored a third try soon after, but Libbok lost control of the ball going over the line, with Curwin Bosch hanging on to the flyhalf’s jersey for dear life, and doing enough to dislodge the ball from the No 10’s grasp.

But within minutes of that incident the Stormers did score their third try, by Joseph Dweba, who went over from a five metre lineout drive.

The Sharks though had something to cheer at the break after Gerbrandt Grobler finished off after a long passage of play that marked the home team’s best few minutes of the half.

Second half

And as they did by scoring an early try in the first half, the Stormers got their fourth five-pointer almost from the restart; Seabelo Senatla scoring in the corner after receiving a perfectly weighted long pass out wide by Libbok.

And Senatla, back after a long-term injury, was involved in his team’s fifth try when he hacked a loose ball ahead and collected and off-loaded to Sulieman Hartzenberg to score; this after the Sharks had been on the attack but a poor pass allowed the Stormers’ Ruhan Nel to kick the loose ball ahead and turn defence into attack.

And the disappointing afternoon for the home team soon got worse when another loose pass in the backline allowed Libbok to grab the ball and run in his team’s sixth try with just over 20 minutes to play.

But the Sharks showed some fight late on when Dan Jooste (after a smart move at the front of the lineout) and Grobler (who benefited after a missed Stormers lineout) scored tries to give thee scoreline some respectability.

Libbok though, who enjoyed a good outing, had the last say when he slotted a long-range penalty to put his side 46-19 up.