A Springbok-laden DHL Stormers team learnt a valuable lesson from Leinster’s second stringers on what it means to have “quality in depth”, according to MARK KEOHANE.
A late try from Clayton Blommetjies secured a 22-22 draw for the Stormers after a resurgent Leinster looked set to extend their 15-game winning run in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship with a magnificent second-half effort.
However, there were still mixed feelings for the defending URC champions, who had a 17-point lead in the first half and a couple of good opportunities to seal a rare win in Dublin in the second half.
Keohane wrote earlier in the week that it was a ‘win-win’ situation for the Stormers against a Leinster ‘B’ team at the RDS Arena, as John Dobson’s troops would be stronger and wiser, regardless of the result in the top-of-the-table clash.
In his latest TimesLIVE column, he argues that the adage “the 15 best players invariably lose to the best 15” was true on Friday night in Dublin, and that the Stormers now know who “sets the standard in Europe”.
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“I had the Stormers winning by 15 when I saw their match 23 and that of the Dublin hosts. Forget that Leinster were 15 wins from 15 in the league, the Stormers had picked the very best on show to take on what was effectively Leinster’s B team,” Keohane writes.
“But in the second 40 of a match, in which the Stormers led 17-0 after 38 minutes and trailed 22-17 on 67 minutes, the ‘win-win’ wasn’t quite as clear cut.
“Statistically, there was no winner in the 22-all draw, but the moral victory belonged to the hosts, and wow, did it illustrate the potency of their provincial set-up and the quality in depth of their players.
“The Stormers return home knowing who sets the standard in Europe, and they’ve yet to ever play that A team. They know because they couldn’t beat the B team.
“It was a reality check. It wasn’t a defeat but it wasn’t quite the ‘win-win’ I thought it would be, regardless of the result.”
Photo: @THESTORMERS/©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo