Stormers player ratings: Springboks playmaker ‘shows his class’ as John Dobson’s side return to winning ways against Bulls
Stormers utility back Damian Willemse and hooker Andre-Hugo Venter (inset).
After their 32-19 victory in their United Rugby Championship clash against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, here’s how the Stormers players performed on Saturday.
Stormers player ratings v Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant: The former Springboks full-back was solid at the back as he impressed under the high ball but also caught the eye with some deft touches on attack while he won a crucial turnover. 8
14 Suleiman Hartzenberg: The young speedster looked lively on attack and thought he had scored a try early on, but television replays revealed that he put a foot in touch in the build-up. Apart from that, he had few attacking opportunities and was eventually replaced by Wandisile Simelane in the 69th minute. 6
13 Ruhan Nel (c): The Stormers came into this clash after losing three successive matches but their skipper was a calming influence in their backline and had a big part in helping them to return to the victory trail. Nel impressed with his leadership and shone with ball in hand as he gained 36 attacking metres. 8
12 Damian Willemse: The double World Cup winner showed his class when he ran a superb line en route to the Stormers’ first try and continued to ask questions of the Bulls‘ defence with his excellent skill-set. Willemse‘s excellent vision was on display when he delivered an inch-perfect kick ahead which Hacjivah Dayimani gathered before dotting down. 9
11 Leolin Zas: The experienced flyer was always looking for work but although he had some good attacking moments and finished with 38 metres gained, there were some nervy moments on defence as he missed several tackles. 6
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu: Was penalised in the first half for back-chatting referee Marius van der Westhuizen but put that incident behind him as he caught the eye with a fine attacking display after that. Although his goal-kicking was not of a high standard, the Springboks’ Golden Boy shone with ball in hand as he gained a team-high 62 metres and made five hits on defence. 7
9 Stefan Ungerer: Caught the eye with a well-timed offload to Willemse in the build-up to his try and his service to his outside backs was solid but most of his box-kicks were inaccurate. Replaced by Imad Khan after 71 minutes. 6
The forwards
8 Marcel Theunissen: He had big shoes to fill as he replaced first choice number eight Evan Roos but Theunissen gave a good account of himself as he emptied the tank either side of the ball. 7
7 Ben-Jason Dixon: The Springbok was responsible for illegally collapsing a maul deep inside his 22 which resulted in him being yellow carded and the Stormers conceding a penalty try. He came storming back after that as he won his fair share of lineout ball and put his body on the line in defence. 7
6 Deon Fourie: The veteran tearaway made his long-awaited return from injury and impressed as he carried hard, was solid in defence and made a nuisance of himself at the breakdowns. Forced off with an unspecified knock after 35 minutes. 7
5 JD Schickerling: The experienced second-row has been one of the Stormers’ standout performers this season and he continued with his fine form as he was their main source of possession in the lineouts and had a high work-rate on attack and defence. 8
4 Adré Smith: Was yellow carded for a late hit on Handre Pollard early in the opening half but put that setback behind him as he impressed at the coalface of the Stormers’ forward effort when he returned. Impressed at cleaning out the rucks and did well on defence. 6
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
3 Neethling Fouche: Caught on the back foot in the scrums early on but he got better in that facet of play as the match progressed and also did his bit with ball in hand and on defence. 6
2 André-Hugo Venter: The rookie Springbok was solid in the execution of his core duties with his lineout throw-ins accurate throughout and he also did well as a ball carrier, gaining 28 metres with three defenders beaten. Replaced by JJ Kotze after 55 minutes. 8
1 Ntuthuko Mchunu: Like fellow Springboks prop Fouche, Mchunu put his early scrum troubles behind him and came back strongly in that department while he also impressed on defence as he made seven hits. 7
Replacements: The Stormers players who came off the bench made a big impact, especially in the second half when the likes of De Villiers and Dayimani left their stamp on the match by crossing for important tries. The rest of the bench can be happy with their efforts as well as they continued to put pressure on the Bulls on either side of the ball and that played a big part in securing their team a much needed win. 8
