The Stormers were the side hanging on for the half-time whistle.
Flanker Paul de Villiers starred in the Stormers’ bonus-point Champions Cup win against La Rochelle in Gqeberha on Saturday.
The Cape franchise ran out 42-21 winners after leading 16-7 at the break, but were made to work for the five log points by a youthful French outfit featuring 15 academy graduates.
The Stormers were on the front foot from the off, and crossed the whitewash within five minutes. Recalled Springbok star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu delivered a pinpoint kick-through for right wing Dylan Maart to collect and score.
The flyhalf then swept play left and right with cross-field kicks, stretching the La Rochelle defence. The pressure was relentless – the first La Rochelle scrum was destroyed, the Stormers went left off the turnover ball and it was Feinberg-Mngomezulu who gave the pass for left wing Leolin Zas to scamper over. A second missed conversion made it 10-0 after eight minutes.
Referee Luke Pearce then disallowed two Stormers tries in quick succession, the first negating a stunning no-look pass by Feinberg-Mngomezulu. It was the correct call as there had been a foot in touch. However, the second was ruled out for “slight” blocking by lock JD Schickerling, much to the dismay of the Stormers supporters.
The French club barely got their hands on the ball in the opening exchanges and when they did they struggled to hold onto it. A rare breakaway into Stormers territory by right wing Suliasi Vunivalu was quickly snuffed out and things just went from bad to worse for La Rochelle as the Fijian went off injured, to be replaced by South African Dillyn Leyds.
However, the momentum of the game then swung decisively as a series of needless infringements gave La Rochelle a foothold in the game. The pressure eventually told as hooker Quentin Lespiaucq crashed over from a maul. The conversion by 19-year-old flyhalf Diego Jurd suddenly made it a three-point game in a match the Stormers had dominated up to that point.
There was a moment of concern when Stormers captain Salmaan Moerat, who has only recently returned from injury, was absolutely floored in a tackle by Kane Douglas. But he picked himself up and soldiered on.
A penalty for an earlier infringement saw Feinberg-Mngomezulu slot an easy penalty to bring some order to proceedings. But back came the visitors who opted against kicking penalty goals and instead went for attacking lineouts in a show of defiance. The Stormers were their own worst enemy as cheap infringements and a rising error count allowed La Rochelle to remain in the game and the French side came within inches of crossing the tryline again.
The Stormers were the side hanging on for the half-time whistle and only a brilliant steal on the ground by Man-of-the-Match De Villiers kept La Rochelle out.
However, Feinberg-Mngomezulu would have the last say in the half, a stunning breakaway from deep leading to a penalty which he converted from 35m out to give the Stormers a 16-7 half-time lead.
The Stormers came out with intent in the second half and hooker Andre-Hugo Venter crashed over in the 45th minute.
However, a yellow card for a high tackle by prop Neethling Fouché saw the pattern of the first half repeated as La Rochelle replacement hooker Nikoloz Sutidze crashed over under the posts and the conversion brought the visitors back to within seven.
However, more Feinberg-Mngomezulu magic saw Maart race in from 40m for a much-needed score. Minutes later, a searing break by Cobus Reinach against a tiring La Rochelle saw Feinberg-Mngomezulu send fullback Warrick Gelant over to push the score out to 35-14.
The game then became a freewheeling entertainment affair, with La Rochelle fullback Nathan Bollengier taking advantage of shambolic defending at the back to crash over under the posts.
With less than 10 minutes to go, replacement loose forward Marcel Theunissen crashed over as the Stormers continued their impressive unbeaten start in Europe.
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