URC result: Stormers turn up the heat in second half to win at Loftus
· Citizen
A dominant scrum and lineout, resilient defence while down to 13 men, and brilliant second-half performance secured the Stormers a bonus-point 32-19 win against the Bulls at Loftus in their United Rugby Championship clash on Saturday.
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While the Stormers were already set for their worst finish in the SA Shield, the result means they will leapfrog the Bulls to end third, with the Bulls finishing in a record-low fourth.
The Stormers will also climb from fifth to second on the URC’s overall table.
Discipline was crucial as both teams played with 13 men for a while. But the Stormers turned up the heat in the second half, extending their 10-7 lead at the break with three tries to two in that period.
The game followed their first leg in Cape Town two months ago, which the Stormers edged 13-8, thanks to a late try after a 35-minute deadlock.
13-man Stormers turn up at Loftus
The Bulls would have opened scoring in just the third minute when Canan Moodie broke the Stormers line and set up Kurt-Lee Arendse to dot down. However, the TMO found a knock-on in the build-up.
Back-to-back scrum penalties for the Bulls led to an attacking opportunity but another knock-on four minutes later broke their momentum.
A Stormers scrum penalty immediately afterwards gave them momentum, but a try on the side by Suleiman Hartzenberg was overruled when the TMO found he put a foot out of bounds.
Stormers lock Adré Smith received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Handré Pollard 15th minute, and the pain compounded for the Stormers when Ben-Jason Dixon also received a yellow card for illegally collapsing a maul, and the Bulls received a penalty try in the 19th minute.
Damian Willemse found a gap to score the Stormers’ first try in the 31st minute. Back to their full complement, the Stormers found their rhythm against the Bulls and a Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty gave them a 10-7 lead at the break.
Poor discipline costs the Bulls
The Stormers slotted a penalty kick in the 51st minute before a Paul de Villiers try from a rolling maul extended the lead to 11 points six minutes later.
The Bulls suffered another setback when Cobus Wiese was sent to the sin bin for striking an opponent with an open hand.
The Stormers capitalised on that with a penalty try when Marco van Staden, playing his 100th cap for the Bulls, illegally disrupted a maul in the 66th minute. He too received a yellow card.
The Bulls brought one back when Canan Moodie successfully chased his own kick and laid off to Zak Burger to dot down a minute later. Pollard’s conversion brought the score to 25-14 to the Stormers.
Hoewever, Hacjivah Dayimani scored the Stormers’ fourth try when he chased a kick into the goal area and dotted down in the 70th minute.
Arendse scored a consolation overlap try for the Bulls in the 80th minute.
Scorers
Bulls: Tries – Penalty try, Zak Burger, Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions – Handré Pollard 1/1, David Kriel 0/1.
Stormer: Tries – Damian Willemse, Paul de Villiers, penalty try, Hacjivah Dayimani. Conversions – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2/3. Penalties – Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2/4.