Stormers come unstuck in Edinburgh after costly lineout failures

The Stormers could not back up a mammoth first-half defensive effort against the wind and conceded two tries to scupper a golden opportunity to record their first win over Edinburgh in Scotland.

An inability to play with the wind, coupled with error after error at lineout time and some poor decision-making in attack, ultimately led to a 17-13 defeat at Hive Stadium on Friday night and their first loss of the United Rugby Championship (URC) season.

The Stormers had every reason to believe they could leave Edinburgh with victory, particularly against a youthful home side, after producing a heroic defensive display in the opening 40 minutes.

Despite playing into a strong wind, the Cape side went into half-time trailing 3-0 only after repeatedly frustrating the home side and making tackle after tackle to keep the hosts off the scoreboard. But the Stormers could not maintain that momentum after the break and, ultimately, only had themselves to blame for letting the game slip away.

Eighthman Hacjivah Dayimani scored their only try and again produced a brilliant all-round performance, while Springbok captain Siya Kolisi also made a telling contribution on attack and defence during a first half in which the Stormers showed enormous character.

However, a plethora of changes in the second half robbed the visitors of valuable momentum just as they began to gain control of the contest.

Losing hooker André-Hugo Venter in the first half to a head knock was another blow, while it was a particularly difficult night at lineout time for his replacement Vernon Paulo, who at a stage lost about five lineouts in a row. He struggled to find his jumpers, with almost 10 throws going astray in the entire game and denying them a reliable platform to build pressure.

When they had lineout possession, the maul brought them plenty of metres and some penalties just to lose the ball at the throw-in again and having to build from scratch. That set the Stormers back. 

Their tackling also deteriorated in the second half, allowing Edinburgh to break through for two tries, with the decisive score coming late in the game to seal the victory.

The defeat leaves the Stormers on the back foot heading into their first home match of the season against the Sharks next Saturday, knowing this was a chance that got away. Their lineout must be better, and the backline must find some direction on the attack if they want to bag a first win at home.

Points scorers

Stormers 13 (0): Try: Hacjivah Dayimani. Conversion: Yaqeen Ahmed. Penalties: Ahmed (2). Edinburgh 17 (3): Tries: Paul Hill, Rory McHaffie. Conversions: James Grayson (2). Penalty: Grayson.