The Stormers beat the Jaguares 17-7 in a bruising Super Rugby battle at a wet, windy Newlands, Cape Town.
John Dobson’s side remains unbeaten in this year’s Super Rugby edition after another display of dogged defending and clinical attacking play as they stay top of the South African Conference.
Another defeat in the Western Cape sees the South American’s losing run continue despite a late second-half fightback.
The weather conditions dictated that the game would be a battle of attrition played in the tight phases by two monster packs of forwards.
Frans Malherbe was yellow-carded in the 16th minute.
But Damian Willemse’s boot gave the hosts a slim 3-0 lead as the Stormers wall kept the Jaguares at bay.
Herschel Jantjies and Ruhan Nel scored after the break as the Stormers moved out of sight in this tight, attritional affair.
Rodrigo Bruni crashed over for his team’s sole try, the first conceded at Newlands all season.
The tourists had their chances, but poor handling, coupled with ill-discipline and strong defending by the Stormers, kept them out.
Dour, attritional first half but the hosts had a slender lead
The Stormers led 3-0 at the break courtesy of Willemse’s 13th-minute penalty despite visiting the Jaguares’ 22 several times times.
Los Jaguares’ defended stoutly, keeping the Stormers out, limiting them to only half-chances.
The Argentinians looked to play between the two 10-metre lines, going to the boot at every opportunity unless they entered the opposition’s 22.
Super Rugby Video Highlights: Stormers versus Jaguares, Newlands, Cape Town
The tactic works, but not if you don’t score and let the opposition hurt you from your own mistakes.
The South Americans defended the rolling maul expertly, holding up the opposition’s pack on a couple of occasions as well as Nel from broken play.
Two good scoring chances at the beginning of the second stanza go begging and the Stormers make the Jaguars pay for their profligacy
The electric Jantjies crossed for the game’s first try five minutes after the restart. Willemse’s conversion made it 10-0.
Gonzalo Quesada’s men had a couple of good scoring opportunities as the game opened up, but they could not hold onto the ball.
Nel scored his side’s second eight minutes later. The try came after some good work by the forwards, Jamie Roberts and Joco Coetzee.
Willemse navigated the blustery north-easterly, slotting the wide conversion to extend the lead to three scores with 26 minutes to play.
Stormers’ defence is finally breached after 3 hours and 46 minutes
The Stormers wall was finally breached when Bruni picked up the rolling ball at the base of another bulldozing scrum, to put his team on the board on 66 minutes.
It was the first try the Stormers had conceded at home all season
It is also the first points scored against the Cape side in 226 minutes after they shutout the Hurricanes 27-0 and Bulls 13-0 in their previous two matches.
Los Jaguares thought they had scored a minute after the restart, but Gonzalo Bertranou dropped a high ball.
Bruni played the ball in front of the halfback before the counter-attack began, and try scored.
Dobson’s side controlled the remaining 10 minutes. They ran down the clock with accurate kicking that kept the opposition pinned inside their half.
The Stormers held on for the win.
While the Jaguares’ defeat is their second of the season as they drop to third in the South African conference after the Sharks’ win against the Rebels, earlier today.
Final Score: Stormers 17 (3) Jaguares 7 (0)
Scorers
Stormers
Tries – H. Jantjies, Nel
Pen – Willemse
Con – Willemse (2)
Drop –
Cards – Malherbe (Yellow, 16′)
Jaguares
Tries – Bruni
Pen –
Con – Miotti
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant Ref 1: Egon Seconds
Assistant Ref 2: Griffin Colby
TMO: Willie Vos
Teams
Stormers
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 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Alister Vermaak, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Johan du Toit, 21 Ernst van Rhyn, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.
Jaguares
Head Coach: Gonzalo Quesada
15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Santiago Chocobares, 12 Juan Cruz Mallia, 11 Sebastian Cancelliere, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Tomas Cubelli (captain), 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Francisco Gorrissen, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Guido Petti Pagadizaval, 20 Marcos Kremer, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 23 Matias Moroni.
