Stormers fullback Warrick Gelant (right) congratulates teammate Manie Libbok after their victory against Sale Sharks. Picture: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
Stormers fullback Warrick Gelant has stressed that Sale Sharks are a good team and the Stormers’ 40–0 victory over them was in fact a “tough game” despite the scoreline.
Man of the Match in Saturday’s fixture, Gelant scored a try, made several strong runs, and delivered well-placed kicks as the Stormers won their first Champions Cup match in the third round at Cape Town Stadium.
The Sale Sharks will feel they let themselves down after squandering countless opportunities in the Stormers’ 22m area. The home side, though they conceded more penalties, turned their opportunities into points.
In the end, sensational kicking and agile stepping from the Stormers backline proved too good for the visitors.
The six-try bonus-point win elevates the Stormers to fourth on the log ahead of bottom-placed Racing 92, where they play this coming weekend. Gelant also plied his trade at Racing during the 2022/23 season, featuring in 19 games for the French side.
“Sale are not a bad squad. They were excellent in the build-up to this game,” said Gelant, referring especially to the English side’s 38–0 win over Bristol and 29–7 victory over Racing in December.
“We are not taking for granted what the score shows, it was a tough game. We wanted to rectify some things and we got it right today.”
While Gelant gave credit to his Stormers teammates for the work they put in ahead of the Sale game, he said sometimes their style of play left a result to chance.
“We try to chase chaos, it’s something they are not used to. Some work and some don’t work but today a lot worked for us.”
The Stormers needed the win after two losses in the tournament and Gelant said he was glad they could cross the line in front of their home crowd.
“We fixed what we did wrong in the past and we got five valuable points. So now it’s put us even to go try get a win in Paris.”
When asked about Racing, he said the Stormers pride themselves on “making knock-outs” every season and fans could expect similar action when the Capetonians go to France.
“Hopefully we will get nice weather conditions to play some Stormers rugby,” he added.
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