The Stormers thrashed Griquas 6-39 in a one-sided Super Rugby Unlocked Round 5 clash at a scorching Tafel Lager Park, Kimberley.
Ernst van Rhyn, Neethling Fouche, Angelo Davids, Dan du Plessis, Juarno Augustus, and Damian Willemse all scored as the Stormers claimed an important bonus-point win.
The victory put to bed the demons of last week’s – bizarrely the same score – 39-6 Loftus Versveld mauling at the hands of the Bulls.
Willemse kicked a penalty, three conversions, and scored the sixth try for a match haul of 14 points, which should have been more but for a few missed kicks.
John Dobson’s side moves into second place on the Super Rugby Unlocked log on points difference ahead of the Sharks.
All Griquas had to show for their efforts were two Tinus de Beer penalties either side of the interval.
Van Rhyn and Fouche both crossed for the visitors in the first half, and Willemse kicked a penalty and conversion to give the Cape side a 3-15 halftime lead.
De Beer’s 13th-minute penalty was all the home team had to show at the break.
Scott Mathie’s men struggled to do anything in possession, when they did have the ball, it was for short periods.
They often turned the ball over by making a handling mistake to gift the opposition the ball.
Griquas lost three of nine lineouts and one scrum. Their tackling was poor, missing 17 tackles.
The Stormers enjoyed 60% Territory and 70% possession as the hosts struggled to mount any attacks or keep the ball for long periods.
De Beer added another penalty, but Davids and Du Plessis dotted down soon afterward to take the game away from the home side.
The home team ran out of steam. Augustus and Willemse both finished off free-flowing attacks as the opposition wilted in the desert.
Away team dominates the first half as Griquas struggle to put points on the board
Van Rhyn opened the scoring after David Meihuizen stole Griquas’ lineout. Warrick Gelant, who was sublime, stood up a defender, sent the ball to Ruhan Nel.
Nel drew the last defender and popped to the flanker to score the game’s first try. Willemse missed the conversion.
Super Rugby Unlocked Round 5 Video Highlights: Griquas v Stormers at Tafel Lager Park, Kimberley
De Beer and Willemse traded penalties before Fouche, who won the previous scrum-penalty, scored after taking Gelant’s delayed pass near the try line.
Gelant was causing all manner of problems for the home team. He sucked in Zak Burger and De Beer before offloading to the prop to dot down. The conversion was good as the visitors went into the shed with momentum.
Stormers pull away in the third quarter as Gruquas errors compound the home team
De Beer kicked an early second-half penalty but missed another that would have reduced the deficit to six points.
But two mistakes saw the visitors pull away. Instead of a 6-15 scoreline, Dobson’s men punished their hosts, scoring twice in quick succession.
Davids and Du Plessis punished Mathie’s side and put the game out of reach as they opened up a 21-point 55th-minute lead.
Eduan Keyter knocked-on a counter-attack. Van Rhyn booted the loose ball forward, and SA Sevens star Davids watched the ball settle before picking it up and dancing inside the cover defender to score his team’s third.
Moments later, Du Plessis finished off a sublime counter-attack. Augustus sucked in two defenders before offloading to the supporting Gelant.
The fullback played quickly to Rikus Pretorius, who burst through the line, drew the last defender, and sent Du Plessis in for the score.
Willemse added the extras this time to make it 6-27 before the hour mark. Two more tries in five minutes from Augustus and his flyhalf
Augustus finished off a sublime attack. The Stormers took a quick-tap penalty and went wide to Davids. The winger beat several players before playing the No 8 inside for the try.
Minutes later Willemse finished off a quick-fire attack. Griquas were broken, they could not find the numbers to stop the standoff, who converted his try.
The final whistle could not come quick enough for the vanquished.
Final Score: Griquas 6 (3) Stormers 39 (15)
Scorers
Griquas
Tries –
Pen – De Beer (2)
Con –
Drop –
Cards –
Stormers
Tries – Van Rhyn, Fouche, Davids, Du Plessis, Augustus, Willemse
Pen – Willemse
Con – Willemse (3)
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant Ref 1: AJ Jacobs
Assistant Ref 2: Griffin Colby
TMO: Aimee Barrett-Theron
Teams
Griquas
15 James Verity-Amm, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Eduan Keyter, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Zak Burger (captain), 8 Carl Els, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Adré Smith, 4 Mzwanele Zito, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Hendrik Luus, 1 Mox Mxoli
Replacements: 16 Monde Hadebe, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Madot Mabokela, 19 Ewan Coetzee, 20 Johan Momsen, 21 Theo Maree, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Harlon Klaasen
Stormers
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 David Meihuizen, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain)
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Ruhan Nel
