The Stormers will not only be kicking themselves, they will also be punching themselves, running themselves into walls at full speed headfirst and walking themselves barefoot over hot coals for this.

What they should have done is pinch themselves, especially in the second half. That way they would have discovered they were indeed sleeping and dreaming, and woken up to the fact that kicking balls into the opposition's half is not the way to win games.

There was nothing wrong with the opening forty minutes, which they capped with one magnificent try, another try borne of sheer perseverance, and two full-deserved penalties.

Their visitors, who were never really on their game all day, were more than fortunate to get their first-half try, and simply couldn't believe the ease with which the comeback was completed.

The opening quarter of an hour was reminiscent of the Stormers of a different age. First, Jongi Nokwe was unlucky not to get a score from a right to left backs move, and then, after a series of moves left and right and some hard yard grafting by Schalks Brits and Burger, Peter Grant banged over a penalty for the lead.

Then Nokwe went one better with a try of pure genius, from a back-line move involving - in this order: a miss-pass, a loop, a dummy pop, and a wide pass to Nokwe's fingertips. Nokwe sped on, chipped, chased, and scored. Grant landed a superb conversion, and the Stormers were 10-0 ahead and cruising.

Two minutes later, all was undone by the first sign of the mental sloth which gripped the men in black throughout the second half. Conradie's pass to grant was slow, Grant's attempted clearance was slow, and Phil Waugh first charged down, then scored. 10-7.

Two more minutes later, it was 13-7, courtesy of a transgression at the restart and Grant's boot, and by the end of the first quarter, it got even better for the home team.

Not only was it that most cherished of gifts, the interception try, but it was presented to them by Lote Tuqiri, whose pop out of the tackle was so late that Bolla Conradie didn't even need to stretch to take it.

Tuqiri's desperation to make amends saw him first frustrated because of a forward pass,  second, free on the left, only to watch his chip bounce left and dead in-goal, and third, streaking from his own 22 only to let the ball slip from his grasp as he wound up for the scoring offload.

In between second and third, Hewat made it 20-10 with a penalty, and that, with the exception of a chest-bashing contest between Conradie and Waugh, was that for a first half which was absorbing without being actually good. Lots of bluster, lots of bodies thrown into rucks and tackles, precious little co-ordinated play.

The second half was no better, although as the Stormers' slumber deepened, so the Waratahs took the opportunities afforded to them.

Hewat and Greeff traded three pointers, the former with a penalty, the latter with a drop goal, but then came the try which turned the game.

A Waratahs line-out and drive petered out to not much, and a slack pass came back from Whitaker, but Turinui picked up, darted through a gap, and fifteen black-shirted men gawped at each other while the Wallaby centre went over the line.

Hewat made it 23-20 with the conversion, and although Grant's penalty on the hour increased the lead to six, the Stormers had lost all semblance of imagination and determination in their play, and Greeff, Grant and Conradie - later De Kock all kicked as though back at school and playing gainers.

The Waratahs were almost lulled into a doze themselves, such were their errors in the contact, but eventually two of the more alert Waratahs - both of them off the bench - combined, with reserve scrum-half Brett Sheehan sending Daniel Halangahu through a gap the size of the entrance to Cape Town's harbour. Again, the black shirts watched from stationary positions.

The fourth try was a mess, with Wycliff Palu smashing the unprotected Schalk Burger and loosening the ball from his grasp, and the ball spun efficiently to the right for Sam Norton-Knight to score.

Four minutes the Stormers had to bounce back, the score at 26-32, and the possibility of a win still there if they could score a try. Four minutes to get a try, five kicks to touch. Somebody pinch them.

Man of the match: Both Stormers locks played well, and stole their share of line-outs. For the Waratahs, Sam Norton-Knight was composed under the deluge of kicks, but Rocky Elsom was the one who kept them on the front foot for much of the match, and so he gets the vote.

The scorers:

For the Stormers:
Tries: Nokwe, Conradie
Cons: Grant 2
Pens: Grant 3
DG: Greeff

For the Waratahs:
Tries: Whitaker, Turinui, Halangahu, Norton-Knight
Cons: Hewat 3
Pens: Hewat 2

Teams:

Vodacom Stormers: 15 Werner Greeff, 14 Jonghi Nokwe, 13 De Wet Barry (captain), 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Bolla Conradie, 8 Adri Badenhorst, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Ross Skeate, 3 Eddie Andrews, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 JD Moller.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds/Hanyani Shimange, 17 Attie Winter, 18 Henk Eksteen, 19 David Hendricks, 20 Neil de Kock, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Joe Petersen

Waratahs: 15 Sam Norton-Knight, 14 Peter Hewat, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Shaun Berne, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Tim Donnelly, 9 Chris Whitaker (captain), 8 David Lyons, 7 Phil Waugh (vice-captain), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 4 Alex Kanaar, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Adam Freier, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Wycliff Palu, 19 Stephen Hoiles,  20 Brett Sheehan, 21 Ben Jacobs, 22 Daniel Halangahu

Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Steve Walsh (New Zealand), Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Television match official: Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Assessor: Frans Muller (South Africa)