You would never have thought that the Stormers were actually leading 6-5 after 30 minutes, but two Harlequins tries before halftime took the fight out of the Capetonians as they eventually went down 53-16 in Saturday night’s Champions Cup clash at the Twickenham Stoop in London.

On a chilly night in the British capital – with Damian Willemse also in the coaches’ box – the under-strength Stormers were always going to be on a hiding to nothing without most of their Springboks.

In fact, they only had two in the match-23 in captain Salmaan Moerat and André-Hugo Venter.

Coach John Dobson had little choice but to send a weakened side up north following last week’s 24-14 loss to Toulon in Gqeberha, but he would’ve taken heart out of how his mix-and-match team made a sprightly start against Harlequins.

New loosehead prop Vernon Matongo put himself about, standing strong in the scrums, carrying with vigour and getting stuck in on defence.

The former Maties Varsity Cup star showed that he could be a viable option going forward at No 1, especially considering the vast number of injuries in that position in the Stormers group at the moment.

Another youngster in flank Louw Nel put in some effective tackles too, and flyhalf Jurie Matthee slotted two penalties to put the visitors 6-0 up in nine minutes.

But centre Wandisile Simelane, who also caught the eye with a couple of energetic runs, dropped a kick-off, and eventually Quins pounced as wing Cadan Murley produced a superb finish by evading a couple of tacklers.

Simelane, though, shrugged off his mistake and again combined with Seabelo Senatla down the left flank, but the former Blitzboks star lost the ball in a subsequent tackle.

The tide seemed to turn in the Stormers’ favour when former Bulls lock Irné Herbst was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Moerat – it could’ve been a red as well, as his shoulder made direct contact with the face.

But as they made their way towards the Harlequins tryline, the Stormers conceded a penalty when tighthead prop Sazi Sandi tackled an opponent off the ball.

Instead, the hosts pounced when veteran scrumhalf Danny Care cantered over off a five-metre lineout on the half-hour mark.

Matongo was unlucky to be penalised at a scrum when Quins tighthead Simon Kerrod flopped down, but it turned into another seven-pointer as captain Alex Dombrandt burst through from a lovely delayed Care pass.

Dobson would’ve been frustrated by the fact that the Capetonians didn’t make more of the 60% possession that they enjoyed in the first half, and it came back to haunt them in the second.

From the kickoff, skipper Moerat was penalised for obstruction, and resolute defence resulted in flyhalf Marcus Smith taking a three-pointer.

Matthee slotted a well-taken drop goal soon after that, but the knockout blow for the visitors came when scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer was yellow-carded for a deliberate knockdown close to the Stormers tryline, and Dombrandt went over from a subsequent lineout drive.

Defeat in London against Harlequins. #HARvSTO #iamastormer #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/h4cNRoM2yh
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) December 14, 2024

The big No 8 completed his hat-trick a few minutes later when Clayton Blommetjies’ chip ahead went straight to Smith, and eventually Dombrandt galloped over on the right.

Further yellow cards to wings Senatla and Angelo Davids encapsulated a difficult night for the Stormers, with Murley also completing his hat-trick in the final quarter.

There was at least something to cheer about for Stormers fans when exciting young fullback replacement JC Mars scored his first Champions Cup try in the closing stages.

Points-Scorers

Stormers 16 – Try: JC Mars. Conversion: Jurie Matthee (1). Penalties: Matthee (2). Drop goal: Matthee (1).

Harlequins 53 – Tries: Cadan Murley (3), Danny Care, Alex Dombrandt (3), Sam Riley. Conversions: Marcus Smith (3), Jarrod Evans (2). Penalty: Smith (1).

#salmaan-moerat

Sprightly start, but under-strength Stormers take 50 from Harlequins in London