WILLEMSE GIVES A STORMERS MASTERCLASS

SPRINGBOK fullback Damian Willemse put on a masterclass at flyhalf, inspiring his DHL Stormers team to a 34-19 win over Irish province Munster in Cape Town on Saturday.

Willemse’s ability to defeat defenders, twist his way out of tackles and always be a threat on attack, while being more than solid on defence, made him an easy choice for man of the match as the Stormers’ slow poison worked in overdrive when it mattered to claim the five points on offer.

The win lifted the Stormers off the bottom of the log into 10th spot, something that will no doubt overjoy their fans and sent out a message that they will be a dangerous side for the rest of the season.

What must have been the most pleasing was the way they closed out the game, even when Munster threatened to come back at the end. Superb game control set it up, and then Willemse slotted a perfect penalty, and a minute later stabbed a superb drop goal to put the game beyond the seven-point buffer.

With Munster desperately trying to get back into the game, Ruan Nel intercepted to get the second of his tries on the night and put the game beyond any reasonable doubt.

The celebrations among the players were easy to understand. Munster beat them in a final two seasons ago at the same venue and, traditionally, their matches have been slugfests where the Cape side has struggled to turn domination into big victories.

Add to that the pressure of being at the bottom of the table – albeit at the start of the season – and the victory will be the elixir that John Dobson’s team were looking for.

There were some big performances as well from the likes of Neethling Fouche, Andre-Hugo Venter, Marcel Theunissen and Paul de Wet, while Warrick Gelant looked as dangerous as ever from the back.

Yet there were also moments when their penchant to attack almost cost them, and often was the reason Munster stayed so close, while again there were some perplexing refereeing decisions that would have confused most at the field.

POTENTIALLY COSTLY LOSS FOR MUNSTER

But that shouldn’t take away from a solid victory for the Stormers, and the fact they let Munster leave Cape Town without a bonus point could well turn out to be massive later in the season.

The home side opened the scoring thanks to their defensive pressure, which forced Munster flyhalf Jack Crowley to throw a loose pass which was intercepted by winger Suleiman Hartzenberg, who ran a good 65 metres to stretch away from the chasing defence and get his side on the board. — SuperSport.

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