Stormy weather for Highlanders

Cape Town: Little went right for the Highlanders as they were soundly beaten 27-13 by the Stormers at Newlands yesterday. The Stormers scored three tries to one and, while they would have been frustrated not to have scored a fourth to gain a bonus point, the Highlanders' disappointment was much more acute. They played poorly. Their forwards were sluggish around the field and their backs seldom looked like penetrating a well-organised defence.

The Highlanders had enough possession to win the match comfortably but errors, forced and unforced, cost them dearly. They turned over the ball numerous times in attacking situations and made no fewer than 14 handling mistakes. Even the rub of the green went against them. Tony Brown's first two goal-kicks rebounded off the crossbar and right upright respectively, and the referee and television official were unable to confirm a try had been scored when Anton Oliver smashed over from a line-out four minutes before half-time. Highlanders coach Peter Sloane said the award of the try might have had an effect on the outcome. "We were getting back into the game at the time and exerting some pressure." But Sloane said his players made it hard for themselves by losing so much possession. "We created enough opportunities but we struggled to get the ball wide to score tries. We certainly had enough ball to win. "We camped in their territory for long periods but came away empty-handed." Sloane said the Highlanders now needed to win their last two games, against the Bulls in Pretoria and New South Wales in Sydney, to stay in the semifinal race.

Captain Taine Randell came through his first game since his severe groin injury satisfactorily and that, and the absence of injuries, were among the few positives from the game. "Taine came through very well and had no problems," Sloane said. "That's a plus." The Highlanders, down 3-13 at half-time, had little to show for prolonged periods on attack in the first spell. Right wing Breyton Paulse scored the first try after seven minutes when, after a break by halfback Dan van Zyl, he chipped ahead with his left foot and gathered the favourable bounce. And the Stormers stretched their lead to 20-3 nine minutes into the second spell when centres De Wet Barry and Robbie Fleck combined expertly for Fleck to score in Byron Kelleher's tackle.

The Highlanders scored their only try 22 minutes from the end when Pita Alatini jinked almost to the line and flanker Kelvin Middleton gathered Kelleher's in-pass from the ruck and crashed over. But the Stormers responded almost immediately with a magnificent counter-attacking try when the Highlanders fell off some crucial tackles. Fleck and wing Pieter Rossouw both beat ineffectual tackles and Rossouw's well-timed pass gave Paulse a head start on his 30m sprint to the line. The Stormers were denied a try in the last quarter despite some hectic attacks, and the Highlanders denied themselves when Jeff Wilson threw a loose pass to Middleton with the line open.

There was little rhythm or fluency about the Highlanders, who looked almost discouraged as the game slipped away. Rua Tipoki, Simon Maling, Carl Hayman and Paul Miller all came on as subs in the second half. But while some of the Highlanders looked good individually, the team simply did not click as a unit and the Stormers deserved their 14-point margin. The Highlanders will spend most of this week in Durban before they travel to Pretoria for the match against the Bulls on Sunday morning (New Zealand time).