Two yellow cards in the final 12 minutes, one of them upgraded to a red, and a number of questionable calls from referee Hollie Davidson brought an end to the Stormers’ United Rugby Championship (URC) title defence on Saturday in Dublin.
It was a humdinger of a semi-final, with the Stormers and Leinster going at each other hammer and tongs, but it was the defending champions who prevailed 20-11 as the Cape side failed to make the most of a couple of opportunities that could have swung the match in their favour.
There were ugly scenes after the halftime whistle when a scuffle broke out in the tunnel, with Leinster players appearing to target Stormers lock Connor Evans.
Croke Park in the Irish capital will now host the Grand Final on Friday evening in a fortnight, with Leinster set to defend their crown against the Bulls.
The red card shown to replacement loose forward Ruan Ackermann was inexcusable at a time when the visitors looked poised to pile on the pressure in search of points and the lead. Leinster were 13-11 ahead when Ackermann’s clearout on hooker Ronan Kelleher made direct contact with the head, leaving the officials with little option but to send him off.
Even with 14 men, the Cape side continued to fight, but a baffling decision by Davidson to yellow-card replacement lock Salmaan Moerat effectively ended the contest. Leinster scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park crossed from the breakdown soon afterwards and, with a man down, the task proved too great for the Stormers.
They started slowly, and that contributed significantly to the result. The Irish side was quickest out of the blocks and led 13-0 after 23 minutes. But the Capetonians fought their way back into the contest after beginning to assert themselves at scrum time, an area where Davidson also appeared to struggle for consistency.
It took repeated appeals from tighthead Neethling Fouché and hooker André-Hugo Venter before Davidson finally rewarded a dominant Stormers scrum. Rieko Ioane opened the scoring for the hosts after they found space out wide in the eighth minute, while flyhalf Sam Prendergast added two penalties during a period in which Leinster dominated territory and possession.
However, a try from lock Adré Smith and a couple of penalties from flyhalf Jurie Matthee brought the visitors back into the game.
A massive defensive effort shortly before half-time highlighted their resolve. Leinster looked set to score and extend their advantage, but a brilliant tackle by scrumhalf Imad Khan, followed by a counter-ruck, forced a turnover and brought much-needed relief for the Stormers.
Their inability to build on that momentum in the second half, however, coupled with an early yellow card to winger Leolin Zas and the late cards that followed, ultimately proved costly.
It was another strong defensive performance, but once again their failure to convert scoring opportunities came back to bite them.
