Stormers 32-28 Harlequins: Deon Fourie scores TWICE as hosts triumph in Cape Town

Big game hunters from South Africa showed up. The harlequins were cut up, hung to dry in the 22°C heat and sent back to London as a vacuum-sealed biltong packet.

Until yesterday afternoon, Tabai Matson’s had enjoyed their first trip to Cape Town. It has been a memorable week, of golf and vineyards, but it ended with a performance to forget.

At the end of the game, trailing 32-7, seven of the visiting players were squatting. Jelly legs. His season was fading in the sun, burned alive by the pace and power of the Stormers’ defense.

They ran straight into the teeth of the Springbok internationals, dropping balls and missing collisions. Locals who turned out to see Marcus Smith for the first time will have left disappointed. The No 10 Quins barely pulled ahead, except in the dying minutes when three late tries distorted the final score.

“The score is very complimentary for us,” Matson said. ‘Scoring three tries in the last seven minutes shows that we will fight until the end, but if we are honest, they were quality today. Having played here in South Africa many times, the front line on the battlefield is physical. We felt that for the most part we were being dominated in our carries.’

The day could not have started worse for the tourists. The Stormers scored from kick-off, launching a cross kick down the left wing before Deon Fourie finished a sweeping move down the right with just 57 seconds left.

It was not the last time that Manie Libbok disarmed the defense with her kicks. He kicked high and sideways, aiming for the touchlines to minimize the threat of Nick David launching his team’s classic counter-attacks.

Alex Dombrandt scored for the short end of a lineout after five minutes, but then his side disappeared without a trace. Every time they tried to weave phases together, they were swept up in a whirlwind of power around the ruck.

The Stormers’ technical team promised their forwards a braai in exchange for every maul attempt they scored. They will eat well this week. Prop Steven Kitshoff drove for the first and Fourie was next as the hosts scored three tries in half an hour.

The Harlequins, to their credit, held their own in the scrum but missed their attacking shots. They were struck by a level of desperation they couldn’t match, from a club that has been battling with management since 2021. Every time Smith looked for the back option, Stormers defenders had already figured it out.

At the beginning of the second half, the home team’s back line went on a rampage. Libbok, the closest thing South Africa has to Finn Russell in the number 10 shirt, sent another cross kick to Seabelo Senatla. He flicked the ball to Damian Willemse and the full-back shot off Joe Marchant’s tackle like a gymnast, setting the ball mid-flight as a perfect takedown.

“I told him after the game that he’s going to be watching my Instagram reel all week,” Fourie joked.

Matson argued that Willemse’s foot was in contact, but the chasm was too great to make excuses. Libbok put his team ahead with three points and Willie Engelbrecht extended the lead to 23 points in the 75th minute, earning another braai for the forwards.

“There are a lot of test players scattered around their roster, so in games like this it becomes a test match,” Matson said. “They didn’t let us play our game for the first 70 minutes.

‘When we return to the Premiership, we have a steep path to climb. We have a tough road to get into the top four and clearly this campaign has been a flop.

The harlequins appeared too late. Dombrandt scored on 78 minutes, Andre Esterhuizen on 79 and Joe Marchant on 84. The latest flurry of points will offer little consolation on the long flight home.