With the Super Rugby semi-finalists now decided we take a look at the teams who fell at the quarter-final stage. Next up it's the Stormers.
Their season ended the same way it did 12 months ago, with a home defeat to the Chiefs bringing down the curtain on 2017. However, the men from Newlands were much improved from 2016 – when they didn't face a Kiwi team until the play-offs – and are moving in the right direction.
Once again they won 10 games but as said, last year the schedule meant they avoided the New Zealand sides and were subsequently blown away by the Chiefs in a shock to their system. This season though they met four in the regular-season before of course facing the Chiefs again.
Their losses came against the Lions, Crusaders, Highlanders, Hurricanes and Sharks but still they did enough to seal a home quarter-final.
Under the guidance of Robbie Fleck and with a raft of young talent impressing, there were a great deal more positives than negatives this season. The likes of Dillyn Leyds, SP Marais, EW Viljoen, Robert du Preez, Cheslin Kolbe and Dan du Plessis all impressed in the backline while up front Bongi Mbonambi, Nizaam Carr and Sikhumbuzo Notshe were excellent. Unfortunately they now lose Kolbe to Toulouse in France.
Leyds was their standout man though and in their best performance of the season, a home win against the Chiefs in April, a moment of magic saw him offload out the back door to Marais for a breathtaking try. He then continued to grow in confidence following a Springbok call-up.
That win over the Chiefs was their sixth straight at the start of the campaign as they impressed early on. But what followed was a sticky patch when a home defeat to the Lions sent them on their tour to New Zealand on a negative. Three heavy losses followed before they found some form towards the season's end, beating the Cheetahs, Sunwolves and Bulls to send them into a fixture with the Chiefs in good spirits.
But alas they couldn't come out on top against the Hamilton outfit and in the aftermath Fleck suggested they only had themselves to blame, which was a fair point to make. They had chances to edge the Chiefs but yet again it's the quarter-final hurdle that proves their undoing.
Best player: Making over a metre a minute this season was Dillyn Leyds. The full-back or wing was outstanding for the Stormers, as he beat 45 tackles and made 19 line breaks with 11 offloads also thrown in. Leyds was electric with ball in hand and impressed alongside SP Marais and the aforementioned youngsters in the backline. The former University of Cape Town player is 24 and the Stormers must keep hold of him.
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