It was a back and forth battle at Newlands on Saturday evening which saw the visiting Reds pull off a huge victory over a Stormers side that reminded one of the early days of the competition, where the Cape side showed promise on attack, but had little to show for it in terms of points.

Report provided by Kevin Abbott at our Associate friends at NewsPOD Media, who represent us directly at Newlands

The Stormers began the match without the inspirational Jean De Villiers who pulled up in training with a suspected hamstring injury, although he was rested as a precaution with Juan de Jongh entering the starting line-up. Brok Harris, Stormers prop was looking to inspire in his 50th Super Rugby game.

Stormers began the match with their, of late, typical attacking flair which resulted in a 2nd minute penalty when the visiting Reds went off their feet at the breakdown – incredibly, Peter Grant missed a long kick for posts. But the Cape side continued their attacks down the flanks, testing the Reds’ defenses early.

After absorbing the pressure for a few minutes, the Reds began to show off their own running game in an attempt to break out of their half and impose themselves on the match.  Their efforts were aided by the sending off of Duane Vermeulen in the 8th minute for an alleged punch thrown in the ruck, spotted by the touchline official.

Despite the disadvantage, the Stormers tackled manfully to keep the Reds out and simultaneously turn over the ball.

After 20 minutes, the scores were still level at 0-0 with both sides feeling each other out, but neither able to break down the other’s defense, and with Vermeulen’s return to the field, the Stormers would have been pleased not to have concede any points during his absence.

The Reds eventually managed to get their noses in front in the 24th minute after the Stormers defenders failed to retreat behind the last feet in the ruck inside their own 22, a mistake which flyhalf Quade Cooper made them pay for with 3 points.

He further added to their tally in the 29th when Danie Poolman was penalized for holding onto the ball in the tackle. Cooper made no mistake from a difficult kick on the far touchline which bounced in off the upright.

The Stormers lack of discipline caused them further distress only minutes later when they went off their feet at the ruck right in front of their poles, Cooper making no mistake with the penalty and taking the Reds out to a 9-0 lead in the 32nd minute.

A sustained period of attack from the Stormers eventually awarded them with a penalty when the Reds went offside – Peter Grant, with only his second shot at goal in the match, put the home team onto the scoreboard in the 35th minute.

9-3 Was the scoreline as the teams headed into the locker rooms for the halftime break.

The Reds began the second half with probing kicks onto the Stormers backs as the ball took to the air from both flyhalves. But it was Cooper who made the first error when the bounce of the ball took a long bomb over the Stormers’ deadball line, bringing the Stormers into the Reds’ half for a scrum, an area they have been pressured in by the team from Queensland. But as both teams have proven, crossing the line was going to be as much a case of ingenuity as it would be error on the defending team’s
part – this time, the Reds did not err, and sent the Cape side back into their own half.

Hoping to inject stability to the scrums, Allister Coetzee sent veteran CJ van der Linde onto the park in place of Wikus Blaauw in the 50th minute. The Reds also switched hooker James Hanson with Saia Faingaa, although he had a less than auspicious start as the Stormers stole yet another lineout from the visitors.

With 54 minutes gone in the match, the Stormers backs seemed to be finding form, sending wave after wave into the Reds line. In the 57th minute, they were rewarded as defenders rushed up in an offside position, Peter Grant given an opposition on the 22m mark, right in front of the poles, an opportunity he would not miss. The Stormers were now only 3 points behind with the score standing at 9-6.

Ill-discipline at the ruck again gave Quade Cooper the chance to extend the Reds lead from about 30 meters out, which to his chagrin amidst the boo’s of the Newlands congregation, he missed.

The crowd at Newlands were driven to a frenzy in the next ten minutes as both sides passed the ball expansively in an attempt to breach the other’s gain-line, but is was a trip by Deon Fourie which earned him a yellow card, and gave Cooper the chance to extend the Reds’ lead to six. He duly converted. 12-6 the score in the 66th.

Ricky Januarie made his way onto the park with 11 minutes to spare in an effort to create some spark in the Stormers attack, replacing Dewald Duwenage.

An attempted drop goal in the 72nd minute from Cooper took a deflection off a defender, resulting in a Red’s scrum just 5 meters out from the Stormers line, an area where the Newland’s men had struggled all evening. It resulted in a try as centre Mike Harris powered over with only 6 minutes remaining on the clock. Quade Cooper made no mistake with a quick conversion to take the score to 19-6 and all but seal victory on the road for the Queenslanders.

The game was marred in an otherwise good performance by a few of questionable calls from the referee in which seemed to favour the Reds, including a number of high tackles and a shoulder charge where the crowd certainly felt the offender got off lightly with a simple penalty.

The Stormers now regroup to face the Lions at Coca Cola Park, while the Reds travel home to face the Bulls.

The crowd attendance for the match was 40,140

Scores:

DHL Stormers:

Penalties: Grant (35, 57)

Reds:

Tries: Mike Harris (75)

Conversions: Cooper (76)

Penalties: Cooper (24, 29, 32, 66)