A chilly wind greeted the Highlanders and DHL Stormers at Newlands on Friday night which saw the home side walk of with a boring 18-6 win.

Although the Highlanders enjoyed a fair amount of possession, they found themselves idle by not converting the positive momentum they created into points, and rather made unnecessary errors.

Peter Grant capitalised on their opponents mistakes and slotted his fist successful kick through the poles in the first five minutes of the game. Two minutes later Robbie Robinson sliced an imperfect penalty to the right giving the Stormers relief, which became the blueprint of their game.

11 Minutes into the game, referee Steve Walsh granted Grant a penalty after the Highlanders found themselves offside and the home team took a six point lead.

Gio Aplon had a welcome return after turning the Highlanders dizzy with his side-stepping, almost going all the way to score in the right corner. The Highlanders opted to get hands in the ruck, denying the Stormers their first try, but it allowed Grant to successfully slot his third penalty over and give the Stormers a 9-0 lead.

In the 19th minute, the Stormers fell victim to offside play, and Robinson this time put his team on the board with a successful penalty kick. A minute later, Stormers lost a lapse of concentration and the opposition broke the defensive line allowing the opposition to cross the line. The TMO, Shaun Veldsman, took a while to make a decision but denied it after his evidence suggested it was inconclusive or short.

Highlanders captain Jamie Mackintish opted to take the kick a couple of minutes later after Stormers hands obstructed the ruck, but the kick struck the upright and the Stormers sent the opposition back to their 22 with a powerful hoof up-field.

The Highlanders took every opportunity to make the most of their possession and turned the Stormers over regularly on the ground. This put pressure on the home side and the Stormers were eventually penalised taking the deficit to only three points as Robinson successfully converted a penalty.

Walsh took matters into his own hands and sent Andries Bekker to the sin bin for a head butt to his opposite number, which from the television replay clearly showed he too was a victim of receiving a punch. What the referee did however get right was awarding Highlanders lock Jarrod Hoeata a yellow card for instigating a punch four minutes shy of half time and Grant successfully slotted the penalty to give his side a 12-6 half time lead.

The second half saw the start of a flurry of penalties awarded to both teams for obvious infringements and mistakes. The Stormers scrum improved and dominated the Highlanders front row offering passive resistance, however they failed to convert their opportunities with painless errors.

Grant made what probably was the best break seen this season and made 30 meters in the oppositions half which troubled the Highlanders defense. The move gave the visitors no other option but to infringe and give the Stormers a penalty. Grant slotted the kick without trouble and took his team to a 15-6 lead. The pressure told as the visitors repeated the infringement, but this time Grant failed with his kick.

It was a torrent of attacks from both sides which was felt physically on both sides of the battlefield. CJ van der Linde walked off the field shaky after a tackle. The Stormers absorbed the fury of the Highlanders in their 22 several times, and with 15 minutes to go, they opted for a scrum after being awarded a penalty for offside play.

The dividends did not pay off as the visitors knocked on as they were about to cross the line and score. Stormers forward replacement Siyabonga Ntubeni could have made more of a counter, but failed to pass to his overlapping right wings.

The waves of attacks continued but not without the Highlanders finding themselves offside. The Stormers were awarded a penalty and Grant took his side to an 18-6 lead.

The final 15 minutes proved to be tactless rugby and saw the end of a scrappy encounter of Super Rugby as the home side walked off as victors, beating the Highlanders 18-6.

AFTER MATCH PRESS CONFERENCES:

Stormers Conference:

The Stormers faced a contest of test-match proportions against a very determined Highlanders squad with intentions of leaving their reputation of easy points behind.

The final score of 18-6 to the Cape Town side belies the physical nature of the contest, something which both captain Jean de Villiers and coach Allister Coetzee alluded to after the match. Coetzee was not only happy with the teams performance as a whole, but aggressively supports his players, regardless of media opinion or calls to give some of them game time in a lower league to regain their form.

Coetzee was very outspoken in his case for winger Bryan Habana.

Alistair on Bryan Habana2

Highlanders

For a team which was previously unbeaten, to come to Newlands against a similarly undefeated team and lose, was a bitter pill to swallow for the Highlanders.

Going down 18-6 to the Stormers in a kicking contest, the Otago-based team knew they had been in a bruising encounter after the match. They did manage to hold onto possession for large periods of time, but as captain Jamie Makintosh says, the stats don’t reflect the way in which the Stormers defended, spending almost 20 minutes in their own half without the ball.

Jamie Makintosh Highlanders Captain