The Stormers defeated rivals the Bulls 33-21 in an entertaining United Rugby Championship quarter-final match at the weekend, which saw the South African giants take one step closer to reclaiming their title.
The reigning champions have now beaten the Bulls six times in the competition, which no doubt led to this level of confidence during a break in play:
Can you ever imagine a side doing this in the middle of an All Blacks warmup? The Stormers had won the psychological battle before the first whistle was even blown. (Fully rate this btw – big fan of shithousery) pic.twitter.com/HsZtLDsyQ1
— Not A-P (@rugby_ap) May 9, 2023
Bulls coach Jake White was complimentary in his assessment of the Stormers, “We’ve got to be a bit humble. The Stormers played really well tonight. They are not champions of the URC for nothing,
“They can hold you in the first phase. They put you under pressure when you try to play from lineouts. They have an incredible defence system, and then, as soon as you turn the ball over, they can punish you.
“That seems to be the winning recipe for the way you win this competition,” White said.
Despite his fair assessment of the opposition on the night, White was not so complimentary about the officials:
“A lot of work goes into preparing video clips of things. The answers are that it won’t be allowed … then you see the same pictures in [today’s] game and it is allowed.
“So, I think one thing we’re going to have to work out is how can we, through the URC, find a way to get [decisions right]. I’ve heard there’s zero tolerance on hands past the ball on the ground, but it didn’t look like that tonight.
“I heard that if you sack a maul, and it’s a tackle, then you can’t lie on top of the ball. But that didn’t happen tonight either.”
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