Harlequins had found one way to escape the foul weather at home during the week. They travelled 6,000 miles to Cape Town, swapping Strawberry Hill for Table Mountain and a game played in sweltering 30C heat in a majestic stadium.
Quins, led by Danny Care, were game opponents but a Stormers side with its all-Springbok front row, were always going to have a power game that would be difficult to cope with even after a week of acclimatisation in the sun and it is the Stormers who will meet the winners of Sunday’s match between Exeter and Montpellier.
After the earlier dismantling of Munster by the Sharks, the South African sides have the air of guests who have been invited to the European party only to make off with all the booze.
The scoreline is a trifle misleading. Quins scored three converted tries in the last seven minutes when the Stormers decided their work was done for the day. It was only then that Marcus Smith was able to sprinkle a little bit of his magic on proceedings.
Quins can look devastating when a game opens up and their scrum coped well on a pitch that rapidly opened up, too, but for the other 73 minutes Stormers were in control.
They had recorded emphatic wins over London Irish and Clermont at the DHL Stadium in the pool stages and Quins soon discovered that this citadel would be hard to storm. Quins had not laid a hand on the ball before the Stormers flanker Deon Fourie crossed their line after all of 55 seconds after a smart move down the blindside.
The breathless start continued with an instant retort from Quins, Alex Dombrandt crashing over in the corner from a lineout. The No 8 did not have had a happy Six Nations, but he continues to thrive at club level. Smith’s conversion from the touchline helped settle those early nerves.
Shrugs from the Stormers. They simply scored from a lineout of their own, their captain, Steven Kitshoff, barging his way over. Three tries in eight minutes was a nightmare for any watching defence coaches, but it was dream stuff for the marketing men.
Quins earned a minor victory with a scrum won against the head and their defence looked pretty resolute as the waves of Stormers’ attacks continued, full-back Nick David twice stopping his opposite number, Damian Willemse, in his tracks. Just before the half-hour mark, though, Fourie, in the slipstream of a driving maul from a lineout, grabbed his second try.
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The Stormers somehow repelled some intense pressure from Quins before the interval, leaving the home side 10 points ahead before a welcome break from the heat. There was a sense that for all their sterling work Quins could not quite match the Stormers for power.
Quins knew their number was up seven minutes after the break when an extraordinary finish by Willemse after a cross-kick from Manie Libbok. Willemse somehow evaded Joe Marchant’s tackle and the touchline to score in the corner for the Stormers’ fourth try. Libbok continued to spurn chances of conversions, but it hardly mattered, especially when the fly-half landed a long-distance penalty to stretch the lead.
The visitors thrive on unstructured rugby and some of their handling as they mounted second-half attacks was outstanding, but the Stormers kept them at arm’s length with unyielding defence. Willie Engelbrecht, a replacement for the outstanding Fourie, rubbed salt into Harlequin wounds with a fifth try.
Dombrandt’s second try and André Esterhuizen’s score, both made by Smith’s quick thinking, were terrific and some consolation before Marchant went over with the last move of the game.
Fourie was given the man of the match award for his tireless efforts. The moment of the match was Willemse’s astonishing try.
Quins knew this was never going to be a holiday in the sun and they are vulnerable when this competition enters the knockout stages. They remain the great entertainers of the Premiership but, with the playoffs looking out of reach, they would reflect on the long flight home that their season is as good as over.
