Brave DHL Stormers hold off Jaguares
The DHL Stormers secured a hard-fought 13-8 victory over the Jaguares in their historic first-ever Vodacom Super Rugby match in Argentina.
It was the DHL Stormers fourth win of the 2016 Vodacom Super Rugby season, and they were made to dig deep and work hard for it by a fired-up Jaguares outfit.
All of the points came in the first half of a tough match, and the DHL Stormers showed tremendous character to come away with a vital victory which sees them go into their bye week in a commanding position in the Africa Conference One.
The DHL Stormers took the game to the home side from the start and they were rewarded with an early breakdown penalty which Kurt Coleman kicked over to give them a 3-0 lead.
The Jaguares responded by taking the ball deep into DHL Stormers territory, but the defence held up well under pressure and the visitors managed to double their lead when Jaguares scrumhalf Martín Landajo played the ball on the ground in front of the poles.
The Jaguares got on the scoreboard shortly afterwards through a penalty from flyhalf Nicolás Sánchez after the DHL Stormers had strayed offside.
The Jaguares were struck a blow when Sanchez was shown a yellow card for a cynical infringement after a searing run from Leolin Zas who was stopped just short of the tryline.
The DHL Stormers took advantage as the ball was sent wide to Cheslin Kolbe who stepped a series of defenders at close range to go over for a remarkable try, with the conversion from Coleman opening up a 13-3 lead.
The Jaguares launched an extended attacking sequence in response, and the DHL Stormers defence held up well, but the home side eventually managed to strike on the stroke of half time as centre Jerónimo de la Fuente finished off a flowing movement.
Sanchez was not able to add the conversion, so the DHL Stormers took a 13-8 lead into the half-time break.
The Jaguares made a determined start to the second half, and nearly had a second try but for a desperate tackle from Frans Malherbe who forced a knock-on from prop Santiago García Botta just short of the tryline.
The hosts enjoyed the majority of possession in a hard-fought second half, but were unable to capitalise, with Sanchez pulling a penalty attempt wide with 20 minutes left.
The final stages were very tense, and the Jaguares missed another chance to score when Santiago González Iglesias put a penalty attempt wide as the DHL Stormers hung on for a crucial victory.
The scorers:
For Jaguares:
Try: De la Fuente
Pen: Sanchez
For DHL Stormers:
Try: Kolbe
Con: Coleman
Pens: Coleman 2
Teams:
Jaguares: 15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Orlando, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Lucas González Amorosino, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Tomás Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Matías Alemanno, 3 Felipe Arregui, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Santiago García Botta.
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Roberto Tejerizo, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Santiago Cordero.
DHL Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Juan de Jongh (co-captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe (co-captain), 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Huw Jones.
Referee: Chris Pollock
