By Andy Colquhoun
Hurricanes(13)13
The Stormers kept the flag flying for South African rugby with the kind of performance that contradicts the growing impression that the game in this country might, in the immortal words of Monty Python, actually be a dead parrot.
Passes were made and taken, angles were run and decoys deployed while a goalkicker finally held up his hand to new Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli to say: "I'm the answer to your prayers." That it was Percy Montgomery may actually have been as big a surprise to Monty as it was to the rest.
The Stormers moved into third place on the log on the back of a hugely assured performance (at least until Saturday's fixtures are played out) and can approach the coming seismic clashes against the pace-setting Brumbies and Highlanders with the kind of confidence that is but a fading memory around the other South African franchises.
They also scored four tries - a first for a South African side this season - to claim the bonus point.
The only disappointment was that they didn't take more of the chances their fluent running and handling cried out for.
Monty's general play - making one of Pieter Rossouw's two tries - and kicking seven out of eight shots at goal for a personal haul of 20 points made him the official man of the match, but it could have gone to any of 15 candidates.
Werner Greeff was a revelation at flyhalf, making one scything break and putting De Wet Barry through a gaping hole for his try while providing the kind of defensive wall that used to cost the Soviet Union about 10 billion roubles a year.
Outside him Barry was a constant and nightmarish threat to a Hurricanes midfield cruelly disrupted by injury to Tana Umaga while Marius Joubert had his best game of Super 12.
The list doesn't end there, however. The blindside probing of Bolla Conradie was hugely influential while the scrum at times destroyed their opponents. Tjoepie van den Heever and Daan Human also deserve special mention for the mountain of work they laboured through.
Human was rewarded with a first Super 12 try to get the Stormers rolling in what was a harder match than it may have looked on paper.
The Stormers had dominated this fixture in recent years, winning the last three meetings between the sides and handing out a 43-23 thumping when the sides last met in Cape Town two years ago. Twelve months back they kick-started their campaign with a 27-15 win in Wellington but, incredibly, only five of that starting line-up were on duty last night.
Gone are Charl Marais, Braam van Straaten, Stuart Abbott, Robbie Brink and Dan van Zyl while the injured list is as debilitating.
Breyton Paulse, Robbie Fleck, Bob Skinstad and Robbie Kempson are on the recovery trail but their successors were left with a task that could not be underestimated - the gulf in experience and even class in the back divisions was enormous with the Hurricanes' backline having almost scored as many Super 12 tries (112) as the Stormers' seven had made appearances (134).
But those numbers mean nothing if you have belief, skill and passion on your side and the Stormers had that by the bag-full.
They now have two remaining home matches before a week's bye and then the trip overseas for matches against the Reds, Crusaders, Chiefs and Blues. On Saturday they face a Laurie Mains-coached Highlanders side that has become accustomed to gorging on South African meat - having put 40 points on the Cats and Sharks in successive weekends. It is doesn't get any easier. Seven days later the Stormers face the Brumbies in a piece of fixture-planning which is the cruellest imaginable for a side hoping to set off on their great adventure with a spring in their step.
But as the 43 756 fans celebrated on Friday night there was only one thought - this is not an ex-team.
- Stormers: Tries: Daan Human, De Wet Barry, Pieter Rossouw (2). Conversions: Percy Montgomery (4). Penalties: Montgomery (4).
- Hurricanes: Tries: Pita Alatini. Conversion: David Holwell. Penalties: Holwell (2).