Leighton Koopman
After breaking their overseas hoodoo in the United Rugby Championship (URC) in Wales on Friday, the Stormers will want to see a significant improvement in their next clash in Ireland – their second last round-robin match of the season.
They scored four tries in the last 15 minutes at Rodney Parade to put away the Dragons, but they left things very late to secure the bonus-point 44-21 victory. The win was all they were after, and things can only improve in the next match as they travel to Galway to face Irish dark horse Connacht this Saturday.
The Stormers didn't impose their game on the Dragons until deep into the second half, and some penalties and kick-tennis prevented them from picking up any momentum on the attack.
Head coach John Dobson said after the game his side did well to turn things around after trailing 11-0 at a stage, and in the second half going down 21-16 before a gallant defensive effort in the 22m area prevented the home side from going up by two scores.
Dobson highlighted this stanza as probably the game-changer in the clash.
"The big turning moment wasn’t actually the attack stuff," according to Dobson.
"It was when they got back into our 22 when they were 21-16 up and we held them out. There were some immense tackles. You could just see this team say, 'okay, enough is enough now'."
And once things started going their way in the scrums, and the Stormers found some momentum on the attack, there was no stopping the likes of flyhalf Manie Libbok, fullback Warrick Gelant, and their wingers.
Dobson also praised the impact his substitutes made as Hacjivah Dayimani ignited the flame and props Neethling Fouche and Brok Harris claimed the scrum penalties with their pack. The speedy service of replacement scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer also helped to spark the attack of the backline.
The returning Angelo Davids scored two tries on the wing, while the prodigious Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu had a spectacular cameo in his comeback match, also dotting down twice.
"If we had lost, it would've been really traumatic for us. A spot in the top four probably went when we lost to the Ospreys, but we will keep fighting.
“Munster won everything on the way (to the title) last year, and I know that it is clutching at straws, but we have put ourselves in the frame for it.
"What we could not have happen is to not be in the play-offs. We are not scared to go anywhere in the competition and are confident about our fight. But we want experiences like this, where we win away from home.
"We are driving on a gravel road (in the tournament), but the win against the Dragons was important."
A moment of beauty from @THESTORMERS 😍
Libbok ⏭ Hartzenberg ⏭ Du Plessis ⏭ Feinberg-Mngomezulu#BKTURC #URC | #DRAvSTO pic.twitter.com/4HwVkQpQgO
Things won't get any easier this Saturday against Connacht and the Stormers can ill-afford another slow start. The Irishmen will test them way more than what the Dragons did, and won't let the opportunity slip to score more points when they are in a position to do so.
The Stormers must impose their game on the home team from the onset if they want to walk away with the win this weekend.
"Our mistake was that we were quite conservative (against the Dragons). And we got into some kick-tennis and lost all those battles. That is how we fed the Dragons and we should have played with more fire and be aggressive earlier."