Cape Town - The Stormers got their season off to a confident start as thy outplayed the Western Force 54-12 in the opening Neo Africa Tri-Series match at a sweltering Newlands on Saturday.

The series is being staged to help the Stormers, Force and Sharks prepare for the Super 14 which kicks off on Friday, February 12, and it's debatable how much the Stormers would have got out of this game other than the obvious boost to the confidence of individual players who performed well.

It was a good win and an impressive performance, but the Force opted to field what was essentially a second string team, with no Nathan Sharpe, no Andre Pretorius and none of their other first-choice players who will be in action when the Australians clash with the Sharks on Tuesday night, also at Newlands.

The Force were far more competitive when Sharpe, James O'Connor, David Pocock, Ryan Cross and other first choice players came on in the second half, but by then the game was over as a contest. Indeed, it was over as a contest as early as the 12th minute, by which time the Stormers had racked up a 21-0 lead.

The Stormers scored six tries in the first half, with the running of the backs, particularly the way they were prepared to draw defenders and put runners into space, one of the impressive features.

Apart from the scrums, where there appeared to be early problems with Wicus Blaauw’s scrumming, the Stormers were impressive in every other area and coach Allister Coetzee would have felt that his team had ticked most of the boxes as they go into the on-field preparation phase for the Super 14.

But the Australian franchises are not noted for their depth, particularly not the Force, so perhaps it was unsurprising that their efforts to stem the Stormers tide were so feeble and ineffectual.

In the first quarter hour they struggled to effectively field kicks, missed tackles and were too easily outflanked, and were significantly off the pace against a Stormers team fielding their two new Springbok recruits from upcountry, Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie, for the first time.

Habana went through a gap with his first touch of the ball, but apart from being the target of what looked a dangerous early charge, he was not asked to contribute too much on attack in the first half. He did though get off the mark as a try-scorer for the Stormers, rounding off a try that was created by a series of forward drives near the Force's line in the 37th minute.

Fourie did not cross the line, but there was no denying his significant presence in a midfield which combined well for a first time out.

The start of the game was confusing for the 18 020 crowd as the organisers had not taken into account how similar the respective team’s jerseys were. When Joe Pietersen crossed the line in the opening minutes it was almost impossible to say how the try had been created – from the vantage point of the press box it just looked like a mess, and then from nowhere Pietersen was over the line.

The second try was the product of a break down the right flank by Tiaan Liebenberg, the hooker carrying on the impressive form with which he ended the 2009 season. Duane Vermeulen was up in support on the inside, and when you present Andries Bekker an opportunity with a clear line in front of him, he seldom fails to take it.

Liebenberg himself was the next to score as he rounded off an attack which featured a jinking run down the touchline from Gio Aplon, while the fourth try was probably the most impressive of them all as quick hands and good running created the overlap from which Pietersen was able to score his second try.

Fourie and Habana stayed on the field until beyond the 50 minute mark, which was when the Stormers management started to ring the changes as they offered the fringe players a chance to show what they could do.

Scorers:

Stormers:
Tries: Joe Pietersen 2, Andries Bekker, Tiaan Liebenberg, Bryan Habana, Peter Grant, JJ Engelbrecht
Conversions: Pietersen (4), Grant
Penalties: Pietersen (2), Grant

Western Force:
Tries: Joelin Rapana, Mark Swanepoel
Conversion: James O’Connor



Jaque Fourie of the Stormers in action against the Western Force at Newlands (Shaun Roy / Gallo Images)