The Stormers tucked away another successful warm-up run as they beat the Kings 40-7 in Port Elizabeth on Friday night.
The Cape franchise, having beaten the Bulls 26-19 in their first trial match, in Polokwane last weekend, scored six tries, with Springbok flanker Siya Kolisi claiming three and Nic Groom two.
The Kings, in front of an enthusiastic crowd, put their heart and soul into defence, but were battered by the irresistible force of the driving maul, which set up the Stormers' first four tries for a 26-7 lead at half-time. The Kings responded in similar fashion for Paul Schoeman to touch down.
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee took the opportunity to give all his players a run, making wholesale changes at half-time. Deon Fourie came on at flank for Schalk Burger – captain for the night while Jean de Villiers took a break – and slipped through the defence to boost the score. He ended up at hooker as the changes were rung through the game.
If there was any area of concern for Coetzee, it could be in the lineout, which the Kings disrupted regularly in the first half. But he could not fault their attacking intent, which was blunted only by the Kings' commitment to the tackle. It took the Stormers 22 minutes to get on to the scoreboard, but once they had settled, there was only one result.
Kings – Try: Paul Schoeman. Conversion: George Whitehead.
Stormers – Tries: Nic Groom (2), Siya Kolisi (3), Deon Fourie. Conversions: Demeti Catrakilis (3), Gary van Aswegen (2).
Kings – 15 Siviwe Soyizwapi, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Dwayne Jenner, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Eben Barnard, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Sonwabo Majola, 8 Devon Oosthuizen, 7 Stephan Zaayman, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Steven Sykes (c), 3 Charl du Plessis, 2 Albé de Swardt, 1 Brendon Olivier.
Subs: 16 JC Oberholzer, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Pieter Stemmet, 19 Stephan Greeff, 20 Thembelani Bholi, 21 Kevin Kaba, 22 Tyler Paul, 23 Jaco Grobler, 24 Ronnie Cooke, 25 Michael Killian, 26 Brian Skosana.
Stormers – 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Michael van der Spuy, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Scott van Breda, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger (c), 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Jean Kleyn, 21 Nizaam Carr, 22 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 23 Louis Schreuder, 24 Gary van Aswegen, 25 Pat Howard, 26 Devon Williams, 27 Ryno Eksteen.
Photo: Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images
