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The Stormers ended the Western Force's slim semifinals ambition in a 25-24 victory in Super 14 rugby at Newlands on Saturday.
The Force needed a bonus-point win to keep their outside hopes alive into the last round of the regular season next week but they could claim only a point from finishing within seven of the Stormers.
The Stormers, long eliminated from the playoff race, could have secured victory by halftime but they bombed two tries and led only 15-7. The Force rallied ahead at 17-15 just after the hour, but Willem de Waal's second penalty in the 66th minute put the Stormers ahead for good.
"We just lacked energy tonight, right across the board," said Nathan Sharpe.
"Full credit to the Stormers, they played very well but we just made far too many mistakes to be competitive."
"This was by far our worst performance of the year,"
"It's just one loss and we're certainly not going to throw the season away but sometimes you need a performance like that to spark you into gear and hopefully that's a wake up call for us."
Stormers 25 (Joe Pietersen 2, Willem de Waal tries; De Waal 2 penalties, conversion, Peter Grant conversion), Western Force 24 (Matt Giteau 2, James O'Connor tries; Giteau 3 conversions, penalty). Half Time Score: 15-7.