While the Stormers scored a five-try bonus point win over Leinster on Saturday night, the way it finished has thrilled local fans, particularly after their performance a week earlier.
Going down to Ospreys at home in the previous round, the Stormers had a lot to prove to their Cape Town faithful ahead of their two-match URC tour.
Coach John Dobson feels they are now back on track, sitting in fifth position on the table after their 42-12 thumping of Irish powerhouses Leinster.
“The previous tour was at the start of the season,” said Dobson, referring to the tour that proved winless after four matches.
“We knew we would come home and have to catch up. The loss to Ospreys at home knocked us properly. We are now under a massive points situation. The devastation of that result against Ospreys was that we could have finished that weekend two points behind the Bulls, looking for a home playoff. That’s pretty much unrecoverable.”
United Rugby Championship
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
15
12
3
0
58
2
15
11
4
0
54
3
15
10
4
1
53
4
15
10
5
0
51
5
15
9
6
0
45
6
15
9
6
0
44
7
15
9
6
0
44
8
15
9
5
1
44
9
15
10
5
0
43
10
15
8
7
0
40
11
15
7
8
0
39
12
15
3
11
1
25
13
15
4
11
0
23
14
15
3
12
0
17
15
15
3
12
0
16
16
15
1
13
1
15
The Stormers will have a week’s break then embark on a two-week tour of the UK and Ireland, facing Dragons in Newport then Connacht in Galway.
“Now, it’s a must-win tour. We’ve never had that sort of feeling before, our level of desperation. We are taking our Springboks. This will be a different mindset from the first tour. It’s full metal jacket to try to win every game.”
The match started with star Springbok Damian Willemse providing a scoring pass for Englishman Ben Loader, and ended with 2019 Rugby World Cup winner Warrick Gelant delivering a dummy for the ages.
As Loader ran a switch line, Gelant’s instincts took over and the thousands on hand witnessed a memorable bit of play that was the perfect ending to an impressive team performance.
🔥 Warrick Gelant, STOP THAT!
An outrageous dummy from the DHL @THESTORMERS flyer 😮💨@Vodacom | #URC | #RaceToTheEight | #STOvLEI pic.twitter.com/6N1lBhSOqV
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) April 27, 2024
I heard those two Leinster players are still looking for the Boogeyman along the N1. Last spotted approaching Canal Walk 👻
— Marcel Paulse (@marcelpaulse) April 27, 2024
Definitely the try of the year Stormers embarrassed the opposition
— YZ Smith (@YZSmith1) April 27, 2024
Might be try of the season
— Doon 🇺🇦🍉 (@clueclucks) April 27, 2024
That was a beauty by W.G pure fire 🔥
— ⚜💥SH?LD???S? 💥⚜🇿🇦 ☝🏽💚 (@ShaldonSA) April 27, 2024
“Tonight, the way it finished, I thought we had our pomp back,” Dobson said.
“We are not going to change how we play, we just all learned last week to be a bit more circumspect.
“It was a really compelling performance.”
