The Stormers’ United Rugby Championship tour in Europe ended on a low after going down 38-7 to Edinburgh in Scotland on Saturday.
While they were looking for a second win away from home, especially with a handful of tough games in Cape Town awaiting them, they could not deliver a performance to grab a victory over their Scottish opponents at the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.
After going winless in their first three games, the home side returned from South Africa hurting after two losses and took their frustration out on the Cape side in front of their home fans.
They recorded a bonus point victory to send the inaugural URC champions back home with only five points from their tour. It will be seen as a failure, with the Stormers targetting at least two wins in their first away tour.
Look, the Capetonians couldn’t get going at all in the clash and the countless errors they made with knock-ons and wrong decisions on the attack didn’t help them.
But there will be furore in the Stormers camp with the officiating of the encounter and how they pulled on the short end of the string for a second match on tour.
The Cape side was under fire from referee Ben Whitehouse’s whistle in the scrums and the breakdown, two aspects of their game normally stronger than usual. They could hardly get rewards from their scrums and were penalised at times for angling in.
The breakdown was a free-for-all and especially in the second half, Edinburgh stole possession with players off their feet, not rolling away after the tackle or kicking the ball out of the ruck without it being penalised. It won't surprise if the Stormers petition to never have Whitehouse as one of their URC referees.
But the blame can’t just be laid at the door of the ref, there were glimpses of good attacking plays by the Stormers, but they were never in a position to play their running rugby, especially because the forwards could not get the upper hand up front.
Flyhalf Damian Willemse and fullback Warrick Gelant looked to spark the attack at times, but there was hardly any front-foot ball possession to launch attacks from. And the Stormers first need that advantage over the gain line to work their magic.
The Bok duo had moments of magic but handling errors at the front and back curbed their attack.
Winning one from three overseas games won’t sit well with the Stormers, but facing two champion teams next in Cape Town should provide the wake-up call they need. They can’t afford any more losses so early in the season. The possible return of a few Boks in flyhalf Manie Libbo and prop Frans Malherbe in the next week could alleviate some headaches for the Stormers ahead of visits from Munster and Glasgow Warriors.
Point scorers: Stormers 7 (7): Try: Ruhan Nel. Conversion: Damian Willemse. Edinburgh 38 (14): Tries: Ben Muncaster (2), Paddy Harrison, Darcy Graham, Grant Gilchrist. Conversions: Ross Thompson (4), Matt Scott. Penalty: Thompson.