The DHL Stormers defeated the Scarlets 52-7 at Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday to guarantee that they would enter their four-game Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign with a full house of 10 log points from their two previous games.
As demonstrated by the cool way Leolin Zas dropped back to catch a ball under pressure before popping it up to Warrick Gelant, the Stormers displayed incredible skill and played with a measure of nonchalance throughout. This was especially evident when they had the ball in hand and were attacking.
In fact, you might be tempted to call this game a lighthearted romp if you didn’t know any better and mistook how hard the Stormers work on their busy, energetic playing template, which emphasizes the ball doing the work and occasionally gives you the impression they think the so-called opposition red zone, meaning Stormers tryline, is on their own.
At times, it appeared that way, as the Stormers’ eagerness to try the most daring plays and run the ball from practically anywhere gave the appearance that they were playing for fun on a village green.
It was a serious day at the office for them though and it netted them eight tries as they comfortably pocked the full house of log points that will send them away on tour, and into what should be a much tougher meeting with Glasgow Warriors at the Scotstoun on Friday night, feeling confident and good about life.
They gave off the impression that they were having fun at work from the first few minutes when their tenacious running and direction changes exposed the Scarlets defense, but they were unable to complete. But when the excellent Marcel Theunissen scored a try with a swift tap near the posts, they were able to score several more tries and even as early as the 28th minute, they were awarded the four try bonus point. That was achieved by a Stormers counterattack that was characteristically brilliant. Warrick Gelant fielded the ball close to his own line, and when the flanker had pulled the final defender, Hacjivah Dayimani surged forward to put flyhalf Clayton Blommetjies in.
