The Stormers produced a dominant performance as they clinched their third victory of the 2019 Super Rugby with a 35-8 triumph over the Jaguares at Newlands on Friday evening.

Although the Argentines opened the match well and went 5-0 ahead via Bautista Delguy’s try, the Cape Town-based franchise wrestled control through their outstanding pack. SP Marais benefited, kicking 11 points off the tee, while Dan du Plessis went over for a 16-8 advantage at the interval.

Siya Kolisi then touched down at the start of the second period to put the hosts in command before Hershel Jantjies and Justin Phillips made sure of the win in the final quarter.

The South African outfit have struggled to score tries this season and it was easy to see why early on as they failed to find any sort of continuity with ball in hand.

In contrast, their opponents have once again shown plenty of fluency and that was in evidence in the opening score as excellent hands sent Delguy across the whitewash.

Robbie Fleck’s side are powerful up front, however, while their defence, led by the imposing Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit, helped put pressure on the visitors.

The holes which were prevalent for the Argentines’ try were sealed and the Stormers duly got themselves into the contest via Marais’ penalty.

They were then the beneficiary of further Jags errors when miscommunication in the air saw two players fail to deal with Jean-Luc du Plessis’ chip ahead and his cousin, Dan, duly picked up and touched down.

Fleck’s outfit were now in control, despite Joaquin Diaz Bonilla’s penalty, and successive Marais efforts off the tee gave the hosts an eight-point buffer at the break.

The second period continued in the same vein with the Stormers’ defence and forwards dominating. As is typical with South African teams, the maul was strong and Kolisi scored after a drive had sent the Jaguares into reverse.

At that point, with the Cape Town franchise so dominant, the game was effectively over, but they had plenty of time to add to the visitors’ pain and Jantjies showed excellent sniping instincts to finish from close range.

Their next target was the bonus-point and, with Gonzalo Quesada’s men so ill-disciplined, it gave them plenty of opportunities and they eventually took one of them as Phillips went over.
 


Stormers

Tries: Daniel du Plessis, Siya Kolisi, Hershel Jantjies, Justin Phillips

Conversions: SP Marais (2), Jean-Luc du Plessis

Penalties: Marais (3)

Jaguares

Try: Bautista Delguy

Penalty: Joaquin Diaz Bonilla

 

Stormers: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 SP Marais, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 John Schickerling, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 Ruhan Nel, 23 Damian Willemse.

Jaguares: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti Pagadizaval, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Mayco Vivas.
Replacements: 16 Gaspar Baldunciel, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto Heilan, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Juan Cruz Mallia, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere.

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)
TMO: Christie du Preez (South Africa)