The Stormers piled the misery on the bottom-of-the-log Reds by thumping them 37-24 in a one-sided Super 14 match at Newlands on Saturday.
Captain Luke Watson and left wing Brent Russell both scored a brace of tries in a match where the final score line did not reflect the home side’s dominance. The Stormers led 20-12 at the break, with Watson’s two tries the difference between the teams.
His tries were scored within four minutes of one another, with the first coming after the Stormers had opted for a line-out instead of an easy kick at posts when they were 6-9 down.
The Reds infringed at the ensuing maul, but referee Steve Walsh allowed advantage and from the ensuing play Watson scored.
Reds tighthead prop David de Moana was sin-binned for a professional foul. Grant’s conversion made it 13-9 and it was a matter of minutes before the Stormers again launched a raid into the Reds’ territory.
They had the opportunity to pull further ahead from a penalty, but instead opted for the scrum. Springbok number eight Joe van Niekerk gathered the ball and fed Watson, who scored his second try.
Earlier, the Reds had led 9-6 thanks to three penalties by fullback Clinton Schifcofske, while Stormers flyhalf Peter Grant himself had slotted two.
Schifcofske added another penalty before the break to reduce the deficit to eight points. However, the Stormers looked the better side throughout the first half and continued to dominate after the interval.
Fiery flank Schalk Burger was particularly industrious. It was, however, from a counter-attack early in the second half that the Stormers extended their lead.
The ball was turned over on their goal line and there was some terrific interplay between inside centre De Wet Barry and left wing Russell before the latter ran in for the try.
The Stormers got a little bit carried away after that and lost their structure as they set about running the Reds ragged. They paid the price for this cavalier approach and Reds centre Ben Tune scored after the Reds had spread the ball down the line.
Any hopes from the Reds that it would lead to a revival were dashed from the kick-off. Reds right wing Andrew Walker’s attempted clearance after receiving the ball was charged down by Russell, who scored his second try to bring up the bonus point for the Stormers.
They weren’t finished yet and, after a good spell, Van Niekerk got in on the act after collecting an awkward pass from Barry in the 67 minute to make it to 37-19.
There was little but pride left to play for after that for the Reds, and they managed a late try through replacement hooker Sean Hardman to give the score line some respectability. — Sapa