Paul Williams scored all the Auckland Blues points as they ground out a 14-8 win over Western Stormers in a poor Super 14 match at Newlands on Saturday.
The son of All Blacks wing legend Bryan, who plays in the same position as his father, scored a try and kicked three penalties as the New Zealanders completed their two-match South African tour with a victory. It was a pleasant change from last weekend when a much weaker Blues team suffered a humiliating 33-point loss to Northern Bulls in a Pretoria meeting of former champions.
Wing Joe Rokocoko, scrum-half Taniela Moa and No. 8 Jerome Kaino returned from paternity leave for this game and performed adequately for an outfit that will perform better and lose. Scrum-half Ricky Januarie scored a try and fly-half Peter Grant kicked a penalty for the Stormers, suffering their second loss in three home matches and looking far from southern hemisphere title contenders.
PHOTO :EPA
Springbok Test venue Newlands has staged many memorable matches down the years, but this scrappy affair must rank among the worse matches seen in Cape Town for a long time. There were endless unforced errors by both teams and the restless home crowd resorted to booing on 65 minutes when Stormers wing Tonderai Chavhanga knocked on to spoil another promising back-line move.
Right at the death the home team could have snatched victory as a surge took them within meters of the Auckland line and attempts by Grant and center Jean de Villiers to cross came up just short. But amid the frenzied assault, stand-in South African referee Jonathan Kaplan spotted a knock-on and when the Blues won the scrum it was all over for the 35,000 suffering spectators.
“This was a really tough game and I’m happy to finish our tour with a win — 10 points from three matches on the road in Australia and South Africa is good going,” Blues hooker and skipper Keven Mealamu said.
Grant kicked a penalty, Williams crossed the line in the first serious Blues attack, Januarie latched on to his kick ahead to put the Stormers back in front and Williams leveled at 8-8 before halftime with his first penalty.
He edged the Blues in front with another penalty on 52 minutes in perfect conditions and a high tackle by Andries Bekker on Michael Hobbs led to a late shot at goal that Williams placed between the posts.
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