Stormers vs Harlequins

Following the Stormers' 32-28 Champions Cup triumph over Harlequins in Cape Town on Saturday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the action.

stormed through the season and look set to go deep in both tournaments. They know what a vital cog Fourie is to this in-form side, and if he can stay fit, expect the flanker to push this side to possible silverware. Unfortunately for their supporters watching at the venue and back home, both Care and Smith had quiet afternoons as they were starved of decent possession. He is the heartbeat of the Cape Town outfit and a shining example to the young stars that hard work always reaps rewards. Alas, they couldn’t impact themselves onto the game as Quins’ attack looked well off its usual deadly high standards. Fourie shows no signs of slowing when his career is supposed to be winding down as once again he displayed incredible work-rate, pace and determination for the Stormers’ cause.

The Stormers booked their spot in the Champions Cup quarter-finals with a 32-28 win over Harlequins in Cape Town on Saturday.

If Montpellier win, then they will travel to Cape Town for the last-eight encounter. The 32-28 scoreline is not a true reflection of the match though, as the Stormers had led 32-7 after 75 minutes. The Stormers started like a house on fire when Fourie scored inside the first minute. The move was started by Seabelo Senatla collecting a cross-kick from Manie Libbok, before off-loading to Willemse, who dived over in acrobatic fashion (22-7). If Exeter win at home, then they will host the Stormers in the quarter-finals. He dotted down after breaking loose from a driving maul.

IOL Sport's Leighton Koopman looks at the which players can decide the outcome when the Stormers take on Harlequins at Cape Town Stadium today.

Orie seems to have found his mojo at the Stormers and is running their lineout with great success. But, the kicking game of both needs to be on point, whether it's at poles or out of hand. Smith is not known for his defense, so the Harlequins inside centre might have a long day looking after Du Plessis. And with so many strike players outside of them, they'll have a big task to get their backline going. Louw has been solid for his English club side in this regard and will look to continue stabilising his side's set piece. That's the big question that will be answered on Saturday.

The DHL Stormers held out a determined Harlequins outfit to score five tries to three for a 32-28 victory in their Heineken Champions Cup top-16 clash at ...

Conversions: Marcus Smith (4). DHL Stormers 32 (17) – Tries: Deon Fourie (2), Steven Kitshoff, Damian Willemse, Willie Engelbrecht. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2).

The Stormers booked their place in the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup, with a comfortable 32-28 last 16 win over Harlequins on Saturday.

The second half started with the Stormers back on the front foot, leading to one of the tries of the season as the hosts moved further ahead in the 47th minute. The Stormers showed immense defence on the stroke of halftime to make sure that they went into the break with a 10 point lead as Harlequins threw everything at them in the final few minutes of the half, with multiple penalties and a team warning against the Stormers still not enough for the visitors to get through. In the eighth minute the Stormers received a couple of penalties, kicking onto the Harlequins 5m, where they setup the maul and rumbled overm with captain Steven Kitshoff dotting down the unconverted score as they took a 12-7 lead.

Harlequins crashed out of the Heineken European Champions Cup despite an attempted late fightback against the Stormers in Cape Town.

[Deon Fourie](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/deon-fourie/) ran a supporting line inside to finish off for the try. [Willie Engelbrecht](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/willie-engelbrecht/) from another lineout drive before Quins suddenly came alive as Smith started pulling the strings for Dombrandt, Esterhuizen and Marchant – with the final move of the game – to score. [Damian Willemse](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/damian-willemse/) did brilliantly to secure it, dabbing the ball down in the corner while his entire body was in the air the other side of the touch line. [Manie Libbok](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/manie-libbok/) started the move and added the conversion. [Cadan Murley](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/cadan-murley/) was loose when a try was on if it had gone to hand. [Alex Dombrandt](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/alex-dombrandt/), with his second score of the match, began the late push and [Andre Esterhuizen](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/andre-esterhuizen/) and [Joe Marchant](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/joe-marchant/) then crossed to make it 32-28 as fly-half [Marcus Smith](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/marcus-smith/) belatedly stamped his authority on the game, but that was as close as Quins would get.

Harlequins crashed out of the Heineken European Champions Cup despite an attempted late fightback against the Stormers in Cape Town.

Manie Libbok started the move and added the conversion. The Stormers went over for a fifth try through replacement Willie Engelbrecht from another lineout drive before Quins suddenly came alive as Smith started pulling the strings for Dombrandt, Esterhuizen and Marchant - with the final move of the game - to score. Another kick to the corner and this time the Stormers threw short, but the result was just the same as Fourie spun off the back of the maul for his second try.

Stormers proved too powerful for visiting Harlequins, Deon Fourie's two tries contributing to a 32-28 victory, the scoreline made close by a late Quins ...

Quins knew this was never going to be a holiday in the sun and they are vulnerable when this competition enters the knockout stages. There was a sense that for all their sterling work Quins could not quite match the Stormers for power. Quins knew their number was up seven minutes after the break when an extraordinary finish by Willemse after a cross-kick from Manie Libbok. Fourie was given the man of the match award for his tireless efforts. It was only then that Marcus Smith was able to sprinkle a little bit of his magic on proceedings. Quins scored three converted tries in the last seven minutes when the Stormers decided their work was done for the day.

The Stormers have advanced to the qurter-finals of the European Champions Cup after a narrow win over Harlequins in Cape Town on Saturday.

The lock pairing of Marvin Orie and Ernst van Rhyn, in his 50th game for the Stormers, acquitted them excellently of their task. Penalty: Libbok. Conversion: Manie Libbok. Orie was also rock solid in defence and was one of the players who put their bodies on the line defending the try line shortly before halftime when Quins could not score. Fourie scored a brace and was ever-present in the time he was on the field, turning over crucial possession when his team was under pressure and slowing the ball of Quins down. Two of the Stormers' tries, arguably the best of the day, came off the boot of flyhalf Manie Libbok in the first and second forty minutes.

The Harlequins showed why everyone rates them so highly for their exciting running rugby by scoring three late tries but it was too little too late as the ...

There were areas of the Stormers game that didn’t work as well as expected. That made it 22-7 and it became 25-7 when Libbok kicked a long range penalty. The Stormers allowed the visitors to bounce back too easily with a driving maul try to No 8 Alex Dombrandt that levelled the scores at 7-all after just four minutes. The round of 16 clash was watched by a crowd well in excess of 30 000 and it lived up to its billing as a spectacle. The Stormers also enjoyed a 75% territorial advantage. It was Dayimani who put in the final pass.