Rugby: Blues slide to agonising loss

Alby Mathewson of the Blues escapes a tackle from Rynhardt Elstadt of the Stormers. Photo / Getty Images

Stormers 28
Blues 26

The Stormers have beaten the Blues 28-26 in dramatic fashion at Eden Park in Auckland.

Led by the midfield pair of Johann Sadie and Juan de Jongh, the Stormers invoked memories of their dramatic turnaround loss to the Chiefs last week.

The game started at a furious pace, despite the wet conditions. Both sides traded penalties before the Blues broke the deadlock with a wonderful counter-attack on 12 minutes.

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Stephen Brett stepped de Jongh and powered through the Stormers defence to set up a Mathewson try.

Luke McAlister then became the first New Zealander to bring up 100 points for the season when he converted and then landed his second penalty to push the Blues into a lead at 13-3.

On 25 minutes Nick Koster replaced the injured Lionel Cronje, who was in obvious discomfort with a knee problem before missing a penalty.

The Stormers then lost Francois Louw to the sin bin 8 minutes from half-time for cynically taking out a Blues player.

Four penalties and a conversion from Luke McAlister gave the Blues a commanding 19-3 lead at the break, despite the Stormers having 73 per cent territory.

The second half started in scrappy fashion and both sides continued to rack up handling errors.

But after some resilient Stormers defending, the away side started to build in attack. The much-need try came on 57 minutes. Juan de Jongh ran hard at the Blues defence, leaving Braid, McAlister, and then Mathewson in his wake to score his second Super 15 try.

With the Blues on the back foot, the Stormers continued to probe. They didn't have to wait long for another five points. A piece of individual brilliance from Johann Sadie four minutes later set the match up for a thrilling finale. Bursting clear from midfield, Sadie bolted to the try line to fly over.

The Blues managed to swing some momentum back in their favour when a deft left-footed grubber kick from substitute Rene Ranger fell to Lachie Munro to slide over the try line. McAlister duly converted to give the Blues an 8 point lead.

But the Stormers were not to be denied a comeback. A lineout on 78 minutes presented the away side with one last opportunity to level the scores.

Captain Schalk Burger picked the ball up from the resulting maul and crashed down amongst a group of Blues and Stormers bodies.

After prolonged consultation with the TMO, referee Keith Brown awarded the try to tie the scores.

Dewaldt Duvenage had to convert for the win and made no mistake from the touchline kick.

Stormers 28 (Juan de Jongh, Johann Sadie, Schalk Burger tries; Dewladt Duvenage 2 con, 2 pen, Lionel Cronje pen) Blues 26 (Alby Mathewson, Lachie Munro tries; Luke McAlister 2 con, 4 pen) Halftime: 3-19.

- Herald online