Manie Libbok exorcised a few ghosts to seal a dramatic 21-20 victory for the Stormers over La Rochelle in the Champions Cup pool match at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
Libbok’s conversion of Andre-Hugo Venter’s try handed the Stormers an unlikely victory on final whistle.
It was a dramatic end to a match at times made peculiar by the officials. Barely four minutes earlier, visiting flyhalf Antoine Hastoy scored a converted try that appeared to put the game beyond the Stormers’ reach.
However, in the build-up to the try, the visitors’ Joel Sclavi made head contact with Venter and was yellow carded. It didn’t just leave La Rochelle a man short in the 76th minute, but Hastoy’s converted try was chalked off.
The Stormers gleefully grabbed the lifeline, producing a sterling rearguard action after falling 11 points behind earlier in the contest. Libbok, Damian Willemse, Deon Fourie and Venter played significant roles in the resurgence.
In an uncompromising pool that contains three previous winners of this competition, the Stormers at times looked out of their depth. That they were able to pull off a win speaks volumes of their character and tenacity.
Though they had traction in the scrum, their game lacked precision as the visitors looked more incisive when opportunity beckoned. At the back, the Stormers’ usually dexterous backs appeared to operate on vastly different wavelengths.
La Rochelle proved more proficient at the ruck, mainly through the awareness and technical application of dynamic man of the match Levani Botia.
In front of a disappointingly small crowd, the home team took a while to warm to the occasion of going toe-to-toe with the defending champions. The few fans in the stadium were at times perplexed and later infuriated by some of the calls of the match officials. The Stormers players too got in on the act and, frankly, it was an unedifying sight.
It was La Rochelle that was quicker on the draw and even a wobbly line-out just inside the Stormers half was turned into an opportunity as the hosts dithered in the first half.
Captain Pierre Bourgarit beat feeble tackles before offloading to scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow who ran in the try. Dogged by imprecision at crucial moments, as the half-time grew nearer, the home team started making inroads.
Though the heat and humidity helped make the ball greasy and difficult to handle, the first scrum only arrived in the 17th minute. It was the one area in which the Stormers were able to get a foothold.
In fact, their first points arrived on the back of a repeat early engagement from La Rochelle. Libbok added another before the break with La Rochelle leading 13-6.
A Yoan Tanga try in the 45th minute put the wind back into the visitors’ sails but crucially, the home team kept believing and rode the storm.
Scorers Stormers (21) - Tries: Ben Loader, Andre-Hugo Venter. Conversion: Manie Libbok Penalties: Libbok (3).
La Rochelle (20) - Tries: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Yoan Tanga. Conversions: Antoine Hastoy (2). Penalties: Hastoy (2).
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