Plenty of possession and plenty of territory all came literally to nothing for the Highlanders yesterday.
Snuffed out by a swarming Stormers defence and let down by their own errors, they fell 33-0 in Cape Town yesterday morning.
It was the first time the side had failed to register a point since its inception, and was the biggest loss in Glenn Moore's time.
The Highlanders probably could have knocked over a penalty in the second half to get on the board, but by then they were chasing the game, and it was more about tries than goals.
Down 16-0 at the break, the Highlanders just could not get over the tryline even though they were in the right end of the field for decent periods of the game.
Though it would be easy to credit the Stormers defence, which was rock-solid throughout the match, the Highlanders just lacked an attacking edge, and too many times coughed up the ball with a silly error.
The visiting side lost ball in the contact area and there was too much running across field from the backline, which made easy pickings for the home team.
The Stormers defensive line speed was very good, but perhaps the Highlanders missed a big man in the midfield who would get them across the advantage line.
Kicking in general play was also average and the line-out was ordinary, especially in the first half.
Bryan Habana scored the bonus point try for the Stormers right at the end, toeing the ball on from 40m out after a Michael Hobbs grubber kick was charged down.
Captain Jimmy Cowan went close early in the second half, just losing the ball as he tried to place it against the post.
That effort led to him leaving the field with a dislocated finger, not the greatest present on his 28th birthday.
Any slim hope the Highlanders had of getting back into the match was snuffed out 20 minutes into the second half.
Stormers captain Schalk Burger grabbed the ball from a line-out maul 30m out and the home side's forward pack proceeded to march up the field.
Burger detached just short of the tryline and could not be stopped.
That act was repeated eight minutes later from a line-out 5m out, when the Stormers drove and Burger's replacement Pieter Louw scored.
It was a first 40 minutes to forget for the visitors.
The line-out was ugly, with the Highlanders missing five of their own thrown-ins, while the side was too often on the wrong end of referee Mark Lawrence's whistle.
The Stormers looked lively on attack and made the advantage line too easily.
After Dagg missed a handy penalty early on, Stormers fullback Joe Pietersen put the first points on the board with a penalty after eight minutes.
He added another four minutes later.
The Stormers then scored their first try with quarter of an hour gone.
The Highlanders lost their own line-out on their own 22m line.
The Stormers ran the ball up a couple of times and hooker Deon Fourie bustled over from a couple of metres out.
The Stormers were almost in with five minutes to go in the first half, when Pietersen dropped the ball with the tryline in sight.
Best for the Highlanders was No 8 Adam Thomson, while Jamie Mackintosh got round the paddock.
Burger had a fine game for the Stormers, along with lock Andries Bekker and hooker Fourie.
