Max Williamson of Glasgow Warriors, left, tackles Herschel Jantjies of Stormers,centre, with Warrick Gelant during the United Rugby Championship 2024/25 game at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenboschon Saturday. BackpagePix
Springboks Damian Willemse, Frans Malherbe and Ben-Jason Dixon were the casualties on Saturday afternoon after the Stormers lost 28-17 to the Glasgow Warriors in Stellenbosch.
Both Willemse (groin) and Malherbe (ankle) went for scans on Saturday afternoon and the Boks will be waiting in anticipation for their results and if they will be available for the November Tests in the United Kingdom.
Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson said that both injuries did not look too serious, but they would have to wait for the results of the scans before elaborating on them.
The Cape side fell off in the second half against the defending United Rugby Championship (URC) winners, conceding three tries in the second half to the Scots.
“Damian has a groin and Franna (Malherbe) rolled his ankle. If I had to be worried about the two, I would be more about Damian,” Dobson said.
“It was not a good day for us at all. Luckily, I don't think anything is serious. They look like a week or two cases.”
Willemse hobbled off shortly after scoring the opening try for his side after a brilliant attack that involved fellow Springboks Manie Libbok and Warrick Gelant. Libbok put Gelant in possession with the latter drawing a couple of defenders to put Willemse through a gap.
The Stormers' experiment to shuffle the backline ended up not going too well and it was hampered by the withdrawal of Willemse shortly before the Warriors scored their opening try before halftime.
Glasgow's three tries in the second forty, with only a converted try by Stormers captain Dan du Plessis and a penalty by Libbok in response, sealed the game for the visitors and they picked up seven crucial points from their tour to South Africa.
“Glasgow deserved to win, they were good and we knew it was going to be a shootout like this. Their quick kickoff after we went up 17-14 up caught us and we defended it poorly.
“Losing two Springboks in the first half and Manie's yellow card (for a deliberate knockdown), playing against a team with 17 internationals. We did not work hard enough off the ball and we were a little bit loose.
“We tried to open things up, and it is who we are but sometimes it's going to hang us. We were a bit too loose and lost key duels around the kicking. We could've been a little tighter.”
Points scorers: Stormers 17 (7): Tries: Damian Willemse, Dan du Plessis. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2). Penalty: Libbok.
Glasgow Warriors 28 (7): Tries: Johnny Matthews, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Rowe, Henco Venter. Conversions: Adam Hastings (2), Tom Jordan (2).
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