Waratahs recover to overwhelm Stormers
Quote:
Waratahs 32 - Stormers 26
CAPE TOWN: The New South Wales Waratahs claimed their second successive away win in the Super 14 with a 32-26 victory over the Stormers at Newlands on Sunday.
The Australian side, who beat Queensland Reds in the opening round, won for the first time in Cape Town since 2002 by outscoring the Stormers 22-6 in the second half.
The Waratahs, runners-up in the 2005 Super 12, climbed to third in the standings with nine points after two games, while the South African team have five points.
The home team had the edge in the first half after a quick start, but the Waratahs showed the experience of a team who have played in a final and kept their discipline and structure.
They scored three second half tries through centre Morgan Turinui, replacement back Daniel Halangahu and fullback Sam Norton-Knight to secure a bonus point.
The Stormers scored two first half tries through wing Jongi Nokwe and scrumhalf Bolla Conradie but conceded a soft try to Waratahs skipper Chris Whitaker.
In the 13th minute Nokwe was on the end of sweeping backline move to score the opening try. He collected a long pass from De Wet Barry, chipped ahead and collected his own kick under enormous pressure from the defence.
From the re-start, however, Stormers fullback Werner Greeff's attempted clearance kick was charged down by flanker Phil Waugh and Whitaker was first to pounce.
Three minutes later, Peter Grant added his second penalty and in the 19th Conradie intercepted a loose Lote Tuqiri pass to score an easy try.
Waratahs wing Peter Hewat added a 42-metre penalty on the half hour to narrow the deficit before halftime.
Hewat slotted his second penalty in the 44th minute but Greeff landed a drop-goal from directly in front of the posts two minutes later to maintain the Stormers' 10-point cushion.
Turinui kept the pressure on the Stormers when he sliced through a sea of defenders from 35-metres to score in the corner and with Hewat's conversion the match hung in the balance with 25 minutes to go.
And despite another Grant penalty it was left to Halangahu and Norton-Knight to put the seal on a strong performance.
Stuff.nz
