The Blues upset the high-flying Stormers 14-33 at a hot and sunny Newlands, Cape Town.
Joe Marchant grabbed a first-half brace either side of Dalton Papalii’s 21st-minute score as the A Blues inflicted a first defeat of the season on the Stormers.
Otere Black’s metronomic boot added two penalties and three conversions to give the visitors a 13-point halftime lead.
Mark Telea’s yellow card gave the Stormers a sniff, but they could not make their man advantage truly count.
Juarno Augustus and Sergeal Petersen crossed for the under-performing Stormers to keep John Dobson’s side in the contest.
However, Scarra Ntubeni’s misplaced lineout throw cost his team a converted Papalii try, killing all momentum they would have taken into the shed.
The Blues kept the Stormers scoreless in the second half, but that was not hard considering the lack of cutting edge by the South Africans.
Black added another two penalties to take the Blues advantage to three scores as they ended a run of four defeats on the bounce to the Cape Town side.
The Stormers go into their bye-week off the back of their first defeat, but more worryingly, was the level of ineptitude against an ordinary Blues team, struggling for consistency.
Blues start with pace and tempo, starving the Stormers of penalties and possession as they open up a three-score lead in the opening quarter
Leon MacDonald’s men raced into a point-a-minute 0-20 lead after tries from Marchant and Papalii.
Black opened the scoring with a third-minute penalty before another attack inside the opposition’s 22 led to points.
Stephen Perofeta spun out of a tackle ran into the Stormers’ 22 before drawing Dillyn Leyds, and sending Marchant away for the game’s first try on seven minutes.
The Blues’ discipline was immaculate, not conceding a penalty until the 26th-minute of the game, while the Stormers shipped them.
Four of the Kiwis’ first five entries into the opposition’s 22 resulted in points.
Super Rugby Video Highlights: Stormers versus Blues, Newlands, Cape Town
Black added another penalty before another attack inside the Stormers’ 22 finished when Papalii scored in the left-hand corner.
Papalii dived over, carrying a defender with him following a series of pick-and-drives from the forwards before the ball went wide to the flanker to dot down.
Stormers hit back with two tries in quick succession, but give away momentum with another unforced error before the break
Otere Black’s metronomic boot added two penalties and two conversions before a mistake by Rieko Ioane, knocking-on the restart set-up an attacking scrum inside the Blues’ 22 that led to a try.
Black kicked seven from seven for 18 points, which always kept his team ahead of the game.
Augustus powered over from close-range after a strong scrum by the forwards, and two strong carries by Pieter-Steph du Toit and skipper Steven Kitsoff were stopped short.
Telea’s dangerous tackle on Petersen from the restart saw the wing spend 10 minutes on the naughty step.
The Stormers made their extra man count, scoring with two minutes remaining.
Petersen, behind Willemse in the pocket, gathered the ball on a looping run and raced through a hole and score.
But a mistake from Scarra Ntubeni, who had a poor day with his lineout throwing, gifted the tourists a score against the run of play after the hooter sounded.
Ntubeni’s throw was over the top again, and the Blues counter-attacked with tempo.
They spread the ball wide at pace, and Marchant’s expert finish, following TMO Review, was awarded.
Dobson fumed in his halftime interview with South African broadcaster SuperSport.
Both teams struggled to find any cohesion or rhythm after the restart
The Stormers managed to start the second-half as poor as the first.
MacDonald’s changes seemed to hurt the Blues, who were disjointed with their attack; however, their defending was superb, shutting out the hosts.
It took 15 minutes of the second stanza before the first points were scored.
Black’s third penalty extended his side’s lead to 16 points as the final quarter approached.
The Stormers could not find a way back. Their discipline was non-existent as they shipped another avoidable three points because of ill-discipline.
The match petered out into an error-strewn mess, but the Aucklanders will not care a jot.
Final Score: Stormers 14 (14) Blues 33 (27)
Scorers
Stormers
Tries – Augustus, Petersen
Pen –
Con – Willemse (2)
Drop –
Cards –
Blues
Tries – Marchant (2), Papalii
Pen – Black (4)
Con – Black (3)
Drop –
Cards – Telea (Yellow, 28′)
Match Officials
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant Ref 1: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant Ref 2: Divan Uys
TMO: Joey Klaaste-Salmans
Teams
Head Coach: John Dobson
15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 John Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Cobus Wiese, 21 Ernst van Rhyn, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.
Head Coach: Leon MacDonald
15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Joe Marchant, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Thomas Faiane, 11 Mark Telea, 10 Otere Black, 9 Sam Nock; 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Dalton Papalii, 6 Tom Robinson, 5 Jacob Pierce, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (captain), 3 Sione Mafileo 2 Kurt Eklund, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe.
Replacements: 16 Luteru Tolai, 17 Marcel Renata, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 18 Aaron Carroll, 20 Blake Gibson, 21 Jonathan Ruru, 22 Harry Plummer, 23 Matt Duffie.
