Following the Stormers’ 31-13 victory over Zebre Parma, here are our five takeaways from the gritty United Rugby Championship encounter.
Top line
The Stormers continued their winning ways with John Dobson’s charges notching up their fourth URC victory from as many matches. However, the men from Cape Town did not have it all their own way and were put under the cosh by a dogged Zebre outfit who refused to lie down.
In fact, the Italians were a score away from a losing bonus point until the final play when Stormers skipper Ruhan Nel intercepted a long pass to inflate the scoreline.
Zebre repeatedly repelled the Capetonians and were rather unfortunate to head into the break behind by five after tries by Paul de Villiers and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, either side of Mirko Belloni’s intercept try.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu doubled his tally early in the second half, running a sharp line, capitalising on the dominance up front, before he threw a wonderful flat ball out for Warrick Gelant, who had a clear run over the line.
Zebre fought hard to get back into the game with Giacomo da Re nailing two second-half penalties and tried to chase a losing bonus point, which Dobson admitted they deserved, but Nel read the play expertly to kill off the threat and the match.
Scrum officiating
First things, first. Scrum dominance doesn’t automatically equal penalties.
Eddie Jones cried out during the Rugby Championship that officials weren’t rewarding teams as they should have and, to a degree, he had a point. Stormers’ fans would have had the same argument on Saturday.
However, for the most part, Andrew Brace was spot on and explained it wonderfully to the Stormers’ front rowers, who pleaded their case.
“It’s a great contest; they are not infringing” was the crux of his argument in the first half. For the most part, he was right, Zebre were shunted into reverse but went backwards legally, holding their bind, not popping or hinging.
Don’t get me wrong, there are referees that don’t reward scrum dominance and punish illegality as much as they should, but that wasn’t the case with Brace here. When Zebre were illegal, they were punished.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s magic
While Manie Libbok spent the day chatting with Quade Cooper, his new attack coach, and Richie Mo’unga in Japan, the Stormers’ new go-to man in the number ten jersey weaved his magic to inspire a gritty win.
There is a puzzling notion online at the moment that Feinberg-Mngomezulu is windgat or arrogant, but right now, the youngster is delivering despite what John Allan might be claiming.
Sure, there is a fine line between arrogant and confident, but the 23-year-old is still in the latter as he flexes his abilities and isn’t afraid to express himself on the pitch even when it doesn’t come off. Nothing summed that up more than his long-range drop goal attempt, which he scoffed.
An arrogant player would go into his shell, lacking the real mental strength to bounce back, but not Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who was throwing offloads and kicking well out of hand soon after.
He has a lot to learn; no fly-half is complete at 23, not even Dan Carter was, but being confident is a trait that the playmaker certainly has in his toolbox.
The mark of a great number ten is their ability to take charge and responsibility of a match, and he delivered a masterclass in just that, scoring twice, at a time when the Stormers lacked that killer edge, and then setting up another.
The first try was courtesy of a bit of luck, but hard-working players are often luckier than others, and his work-rate was rewarded as he scooped up the ball from Zebre’s error to race away to score.
His second came off the back of forward dominance, with the fly-half screaming ‘That’s your try forwards, well done boys’, shortly after dotting down, extremely arrogant behaviour.
This was far from his outrageous performance against Argentina in Durban, but it was a mature one that won’t be overlooked by the Springboks coaching team with a testing November lying ahead.
Another who may have caught Rassie Erasmus’ eye is Evan Roos, who produced another man of the match performance. He charged the pitch from the first to the final whistle and made good metres with the ball in hand. He regularly got over the advantage line from the back of the scrum, but will that be enough to end his exile? Only time will tell.
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Zebre grit and breakdown brilliance
On the evidence of the first half, this should have been a cricket score. The Stormers had the upper hand in the scrums, lineouts, and with their maul, not to mention the flair and skills in the run amok outwide, but they didn’t. In fact, they trailed by just five at the break despite being largely dominated by the visitors.
It’s a mark of a good team environment that Massimo Brunello, who was named the URC coach of the year last season. The former Italian international is dealing with a much tighter budget than his URC counterparts and a smaller player pool, but unlike coaches before him, he has turned the Parma club into a competitive one.
In seasons gone by, teams used to arrive in northern Italy expected to collect an easy five points, but those days are gone. Zebre might not be winning every week and might be lucky to be a mid-table team come the end of the season, but they are no longer the URC’s whipping boys.
Countless times, the Stormers looked destined to score and looked to muscle over the line and at least thrice in the first 44 minutes, they were denied.
Central to their success against the South Africans was their breakdown, as they were able to repeatedly stop the Stormers dead in their tracks through their brilliance in that facet of the game. It’s quickly becoming a real trademark of Italian rugby with the Azzurri causing the Springboks all kinds of headaches in that facet of the game in July.
Italy’s head coach Gonzalo Quesada was in attendance and will have been impressed by the efforts of openside flanker Samuele Locatelli, who regularly pilfered over to stall the visitors’ attack.
It’s clear that Zebre will be teams to the gutter and creating a dogfight in matches, particularly in Parma, and one can really admire that attitude.
Stormers building an innings
It’s still early in the season, but there are so many pleasing aspects for Stormers boss John Dobson, who has overseen four straight wins, three of which with bonus points.
Today was far from perfect; in fact, it was filled with inaccuracies, soft moments and lacked a ruthless edge, but they still came away with a full five points.
Zebre managed to score more points than any of the three teams the Stormers have faced prior to today, bettering the measly 10 points that Leinster, Ospreys and Scarlets collectively managed, and seven of those came via a loose pass from Warrick Gelant.
The air-tight defence, paired with a functioning and dominant set-piece, suggests that the Stormers have the potential to be a championship-winning team again this season, but again it’s early doors but there is no reason why fans can’t get a bit excited.