Southern Kings 12 (9) DHL Stormers 24 (11) MyZA

Two tries by DHL Stormers captain and flank Deon Fourie was the big difference as they beat the Southern Kings, 24-12, at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday evening, attended by 40 097 spectators.

It was the DHL Stormers’ first away win in South Africa and their second of 2013 after beating the Hurricanes by 18-16 in Round 11.

When this game started in Port Elizabeth, the DHL Stormers’ slim lifeline of qualifying for the playoffs had already been cut by the impressive Toyota Cheetahs, so both teams only had pride to play for at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The first half was a battle of attrition, with the DHL Stormers playing the most rugby and the Kings’ defence holding out in the face of a few strong onslaughts by the Capetonians.

On a number of occasions the DHL Stormers opted for lineouts instead of kicking at goal from penalties in the first half, but they only got their first try – from a maul by Fourie – in the 39th minute after throwing away a few other chances.

The second half was a rather drab affair until man of the match Deon Fourie smashed his way through a few weak tackles to score shortly before the final whistle.

Stormers coach Allister Coetzee predicted during the week that the Southern Kings would be up for the challenge and he was proved correct as his men struggled to overcome the gutsy hosts.

However they were never headed after taking the lead when Fourie scored off a lineout drive shortly before halftime, and then it was Fourie who wrapped up the 24-12 win shortly before the end.

Once again the Kings deserve immense credit for their defensive effort – Coetze estimated that they made upwards of 280 tackles.

The Stormers were stronger at forward and enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, but they battled to overcome the aggressive defensive line of a Kings team that you could say gave the Cape Town based side a taste of their own medicine for most of the 80 minutes.

That was one positive for the Kings. Another was that again a large crowd filed into the stadium, certainly a lot bigger than the one that watched the Cheetahs’ match against the Blues earlier in the afternoon.

With the Stormers flickering hopes of still making the play-offs extinguished by the Cheetahs’ win the Stormers’ still threw everything into the battle in a match played in a feisty atmosphere and with both teams frequently getting involved in bouts of fisticuffs.

The Stormers always looked the stronger team, and frequently looked like they might draw away on the scoreboard, only for the Kings to confound that impression by hanging in.

And that was the way it stayed until the last minutes, which was when Fourie barged his way across 20 metres of ground and through quite a few defenders to score the try that put the result beyond doubt.

It was a fitting end for Fourie, as he was brilliant on the night, with his contesting at the gainline and allround busy performance being one of the differences between the teams.

The Stormers were also stronger in the scrums, but there weren’t that many set-pieces in the game, which helped the Kings.

The Stormers weren’t helped in the first half by two inaccurate lineouts when the opportunity had been set up on the corner flag through penalties, but they did finally get it right on the stroke of halftime, with Fourie dotting down as his forward swarmed over the line.

That made the score at the break 11-9 to the Stormers, after they had trailed for most of the first half.

Demetri Catrakilis kicked two penalties to make it 6-0 to the hosts in the first 10 minutes, and up to that point the Kings looked the stronger team. But Elton Jantjies kicked his first points of the season for the Stormers by slotting a penalty in the 13th minute, and then came some strong drives from the Stormers, and that was the turning point.

The Kings weren’t helped by the yellow-carding of prop Kevin Buys for a late tackle on Bryan Habana.

It looked a marginal call, but then the Kings were guilty of yellow-card offences later, and were repeatedly warned by referee Lourens van der Merwe, who frankly didn’t have his best game with the whistle as he struggled to control proceedings.

The Kings never looked likely to score a try, and weren’t helped by their heavy reliance on the boot of Catrakilis for their points, as it meant they never had the ambition to set up the lineout drives from the penalties they got in the first half.

The Kings have a good conversion rate from driving mauls this season – better than the Stormers – and it was really the only way they were ever going to get a five pointer.

And that was what they needed once Jantjies had kicked a penalty to make it 17-12 going into the last quarter of an hour.

There shouldn’t have been too much doubt about the result when that happened, and although the crowd in Port Elizabeth seemed to really enjoy it, it wasn’t a memorable game and for those watching on television must have been a bit like watching paint dry.

Saturday’s result places the Southern Kings firmly at the bottom of the log on 24 points, trailing the Highlanders by 3 points.

Birthday boy, Demetri Catrakilis celebrated his birthday by staying in the Top 10 highest points scorer log in position number 8 with 142 points.

Scorers:

Southern Kings – Penalties: Demetri Catrakilis (4).
DHL Stormers -Tries: Deon Fourie (2). Conversion: Elton Jantjies. Penalties: Jantjies (3), Joe Pietersen.

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