Stormers 49
Chiefs 15
On the day All Black coach Graham Henry nominated the Stormers as the best team in the Super 14, they did their best to prove him right.
Not only did they prove their championship credentials, they wrecked the last slim chance the Chiefs might have harboured.
Somebody somewhere, will have
a formula that tells them that the Chiefs can make the playoffs if they take maximum points from their remaining games. Forget it. There are too many good teams above them and the Chiefs bordered on incompetent last night, stirring up memories of the bad old days.
It would be wrong to put too much focus on the Chiefs' woes, however. This was a very good team they were playing.
"I've been very impressed by the Stormers," Henry said. "I think they're the best team in the Super 14, but that's just my opinion."
After just half an hour you would have struggled to find many in disagreement. They punched holes in the Chiefs at will and scored two spectacular long-range tries through Bryan Habana and Duane Vermeulen (and had a Schalk Burger try disallowed). When the Chiefs had the ball and were trying to forge some momentum, the Stormers threw the big, white defensive blanket over them.
It did not help that the nascent Mike Delany-Stephen Donald combination was given no chance to unpick the defence, the former having left the field in the opening minutes clutching a shoulder. That allowed Donald to shift back in to his preferred first five-eighths position, with Callum Bruce coming in to the midfield.
Despite the vistors' dominance, the Chiefs were not completely out of this at halftime. They might have been outclassed and outmuscled, but when Sione Lauaki broke off the back of the scrum and put Tanerau Latimer in under the posts, the home side turned just 10 points down.
False dawn? Absolutely. As it turned out, there was just as much chance of a Daihatsu Charade winning the Hamilton 400 tomorrow as there was of the Chiefs overhauling the Cape men.
For a start, they have Andries Bekker, a giant of a man in the form of his life. He left a trail of destruction at Eden Park and caused havoc here, too. Burger and Vermeulen were in similar hard-running form, giving the backs an armchair ride.
The tries were poured on in the second spell. Tiaan Liebenberg benefited from a Burger break. Sireli Naqelevuki made a mockery of the Chiefs' defence. Bekker got his just desserts and replacement hooker Deon Fourie joined the party.
Tim Nanai-Williams did well to finish in the corner as the clock wound down, but it wouldn't even count as consolation as the home side were broken men by then.
Winless in Waikato - who would have picked that after three rounds. Certainly not the booing crowd.
Stormers 49 (Bryan Habana, Duane Vermeulen, Tiaan Liebenberg, Sireli Naqelevuki, Andries Bekker, Deon Fourie tries; Peter Grant 2 pen 4 con)
Chiefs 15 (Tanerau Latimer, Tim Nanai-Williams tries; Stephen Donald pen con).
Halftime: 20-10.
CENTRE OF ATTENTION
Richard Kahui's Chiefs have slipped from semifinal contender to also-ran and his form has been on a downward curve. At least he admitted that he had to lift his game. Unfortunately, the Stormers backline are not the forgiving kind. Led by combative Jaque Fourie, they were in the face of Kahui, giving him no room from phase play to re-ignite his attacking game.