Rusty Hurricanes fail to fire a shot as Stormers dominate

The Stormers managed to start John Dobson’s coaching tenure with a bonus-point win over a very feisty Hurricanes outfit.

The home team scored four tries – three of them in a dominant first half – to send the New Zealand outfit away empty-handed – a 27-0 shutout at Newlands on Saturday.

The Stormers held a 19-0 lead at the break, but the visitors put up sterner resistance in the second half.

However, the game was marred by the injury of Springbok and Stormers World Cup-winning captain Siyamthanda Kolisi – who hobbled off inside the first quarter. He suffered medial ligament damage, after a shockingly late tackle from Ricky Riccitelli on his left knee.

The post-match disciplinary panel may well have a long, hard look at that cheap shot.

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Stormers coach John Dobson said Kolisi would definitely miss a home fixture against the Bulls next Saturday.

“Siya could be out for six weeks,” Dobson told a post-match media briefing.

“He took a knock to the knee and a scan will reveal how serious the injury is.

“It is a hell of a blow losing your captain midway through the first half of your opening match.

“Siya is an inspirational leader and means so much to the team.”

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The Wellington side was particularly niggly throughout the match – possibly due to frustrations creeping in due to a number of basic errors.

Centre Billy Proctor was yellow-carded in the 48th minute after several warnings for repeated offences and he then shoulder-charged Damian Willemse off the ball.

And replacement forward Vaea Fifita got 10 minutes in the sin bin for a high hit on Stormers replacement hooker Siyabonga Ntubeni.

To add to the Stormers’ post-match concerns, Bok hooker Mbongeni Mbonambi also limped off near the 50-minute mark, after getting his leg trapped badly in a ruck.

The Stormers got on the front foot early on, marching into the 22 where they launched a maul and brought the ball in front of the poles where scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies put in a clever cross-kick to find an unmarked Sergeal Petersen out wide.

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A turnover near halfway from lock Salmaan Moerat gave them their next attacking opportunity and the forwards took control, with prop Steven Kitshoff crashing over in the corner.

The third try came as a result of defensive pressure as Jantjies intercepted a bouncing pass and raced away to score.

The Stormers then showed good defensive discipline to hold the Hurricanes out and keep them scoreless at the half-time break.

The visitors were shown two yellow cards at the start of the second half, with the Stormers stretching their lead to 22-0 with a Damian Willemse penalty on the hour mark.

The fourth try came at the death as an intercept in the 22 turned defence into attack and Willemse raced away to score and put the seal on an emphatic performance.

– Rugby365

It wasn’t the best start to Jason Holland’s head coaching career with the Hurricanes: