My pick of the week has to be the team from the Western Cape the DHL Stormers. in the marvel comics if Thor took on Spiderman there would be only one winner Thor with his mighty hammer would have a distinct advantage however that was not the case when these hero’s met at Newlands this past Saturday in fact it was Spiderman played by the Lions who came out the blocks firing with 2 tries in the first half with tries from Albertus Smith and their ever present captain Warren Whiteley. Thor (Stormers) were left to fight for scrapes and only found their way onto the score board through the boot of SP Marais in an error ladened first half for the home side with multiple handling errors. Despite this the score at half time 14-6 to the friendly neighborhood Spiderman
The second half was much of the same with the Stormers still making unforced errors but still managing to chip away at the lead with the reliable Marais taking advantage of almost every single kickable penalty. His assured boot and the Stormers defense kept them in the game and also a willingness to dig deep and right the wrongs of the previous week’s loss to the Bulls. It would be the Stormers who would take the victory in dramatic fashion as Herschel Jantjies scored after the hooter, under the posts to draw the home team level. Marais duly slotted the resulting conversion leavening Spiderman (Lions) with much to ponder in the coming week. Thor (stormers) on the other hand will take the character building come from behind victory and run with it for the weeks to come.
In other results the Sharks ran out comfortable victors against the Blues. The Sharks scored three unanswered tries in the first half as they looked to dominate the contest. The Blues came out with intent in the second half and looked to put the home team under pressure with a try of their own in the 61st minute and it looked like the side from New Zealand had turned the tide but in looking to turn the screw on the home side giving the ball some air as New Zealand sides tend to do their efforts were read easily by second half substitute Curwin Bosch as he intercepted a pass well in his own half and scampered away under the posts which proved to be the final nail in the blues coffin with the Sharks winning comfortably 26-7.
The Bulls took on the Argentinian juggernaut that is the Jaguares in a rain soaked Jose Amalitani stadium in Buenos Aires. The home side got off to the better start in the game running in their first try in the 17th minute with Matias Orlando crossing the white wash and Joaquin Dias slotting the conversion to make it 7-0 to the home side. Handre Pollard kept his team in the contest with the Bulls only points of the half in the form of a penalty but the home side would go into half time 7-3 up. The Bulls tried to claw their way back into the game with three second half penalties from the boot of Handre Pollard however it would be the home side to take the spoils with two tries in the last twenty minutes of the game from Rodrigo Bruni and Bautista Delguy to effectively end the game as a contest with the home team chalking up their first win of the tournament 27-12 over the Bulls from Pretoria.
