After their 44-21 triumph in their United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Cardiff at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, here’s how the Stormers players performed on Saturday.
Stormers player ratings v Cardiff
15 Damian Willemse: Showed some deft touches with ball in hand and delivered a superb offload to Zas, who crossed for a well-taken try in the first half. The double World Cup winner continued to ask questions of Cardiff‘s defence with his excellent skill-set as the match progressed and was a calming influence when Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was forced off due to injury in the second stanza. 8
14 Seabelo Senatla: The former Springboks sevens star returned to the run-on side after recovering from injury and hit the ground running with a fine attacking display. Impressed with a fine offload to Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who raced away for a try before leaving the field in the 59th minute with Stefan Ungerer replacing him. 7
13 Ruhan Nel (c): The Stormers skipper was his usual, steady self as he ran good lines on attack and impressed with his leadership and decision-making under pressure. 6
12 Dan du Plessis: The experienced campaigner was solid in the midfield as his distribution was of a high standard while he eventually gained 26 attacking metres and did what was expected of him on defence. 6
11 Leolin Zas: The Stormers speedster had plenty of work to do after running onto Willemse’s pass in the build-up to his try but showed his class with an excellent finish. Zas continued to impress on attack, finishing with 36 metres gained and also did well under the high ball. 6
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu: The Springboks playmaker asked several questions of Cardiff’s defence and provided some good attacking opportunities to his team-mates. Finished with 56 metres gained, which included a deserved try, but the Stormers will be sweating over his fitness as he limped off with a leg injury shortly after that score. 7
9 Imad Khan: The young scrum-half impressed with his decision-making and distribution, but he made some costly errors. Had a pass intercepted which led to Cardiff’s opening try and also threw the ball away after stepping into touch and was penalised for that indiscretion. Cardiff subsequently launched an attack from the resulting lineout and were rewarded with another try. Moved to the wing when Ungerer replaced Senatla. 6
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The forwards:
8 Evan Roos: The United Rugby Championship‘s leading try-scorer had a quiet game by his usual standards as Cardiff’s defence kept him in check throughout. Despite that, he did well on defence and made nine tackles before Ruan Ackermann replaced him in the final quarter. 6
7 Ben-Jason Dixon: The Springboks back-row put in a solid all-round performance as he gained good ground with ball in hand, won his fair share of lineout balls and finished with eight tackle completions. 7
6 Paul de Villiers: Showed why he is so highly rated as he caught the eye with an excellent all-round display. De Villiers linked well with his backs on attack and was superb on defence as he finished with a match-high 15 tackles made and also won two turnovers. 8
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5 Ruben van Heerden: Emptied the tank during his 40 minutes on the field before being replaced by Marcel Theunissen. Van Heerden did what was expected of him in the lineouts and was solid in defence, making seven hits. 6
4 Adré Smith: Got through plenty of work at the coalface of the forward effort as he did well in the lineouts while also cleaning out the rucks with great intensity. 7
3 Neethling Fouché: The 33-year-old was in action for 57 minutes before fellow Springbok Zachary Porthen replaced him, but Fouché put in a dominant scrummaging shift during his time on the field. 7
2 André-Hugo Venter: The one-Test Springboks hooker was a willing ball carrier and was rewarded with his side’s opening try off the back of a lineout drive. Finished with 28 metres gained, which included three defenders beaten, before being replaced by JJ Kotze after 57 minutes. 7
1 Ntuthuko Mchunu: The rookie Springboks front-row continued with his fine form as he delivered another outstanding all-round performance. Mchunu got the better of Keiron Assiratti in their direct duel in the scrums and did his bit on attack, which resulted in him crossing for a deserved try. 8
Replacements: Stormers director of rugby John Dobson deserves plenty of credit for the timing of his substitutions as all of his replacements did well when they came onto the field. Amongst the forwards, Theunissen brought plenty of energy once he entered the fray while Matthee also caught the eye in the backline. 8
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