The Vodacom Bulls held on for a 33-32 win over the DHL Stormers at a packed DHL Stadium on Saturday in Cape Town.
The Bulls made a great start and "dominated" the first ten minutes, however, the Stormers clawed their way back into the match and trailed 17-18 going into the halftime break. The Bulls led the territory (61%) and possession (55%) stats at the end of the first half.
The second half was a brilliant effort on the attack by both teams, however, the Bulls hung on to secure a much-needed 33-32 win away from home.
The Vodacom Bulls made a magnificent start to the match. A brilliant carry off the kickoff by Cameron Hanekom led to Cobus Wiese scoring the Bulls' first try ninety meters down the field. David Kriel missed the conversion. The Bulls led 05-00 after just one minute of play.
The Stormers absorbed a lot of pressure from the Bulls and clawed their way back into the match. After ten minutes of play, the Stormers attacked after a failed lineout maul, Frans Malherbe bulldozed his way over the tryline next to the poles. Jurie Matthee converted to put the Stormers 07-05 in the lead.
Eight minutes later, the Bulls launched wave after wave of attacks on the Stormers' tryline until Jan-Hendrik Wessels bulldozed his way over the tryline. David Kriel converted for the Bulls to retake the lead 12-07.
David Kriel converted a penalty, to which the Stormers replied immediately with a penalty conversion by Jurie Matthee.
Four minutes later, the Stormers again attacked out wide from a five-meter lineout-maul. Captain Salmaan Moerat crashed over for the Stormers' second try. Jurie Mathee converted for the Stormers to retake the lead to 17-15.
David Kriel converted his second penalty with the time up on the clock. The Bulls led 18-17 at the halftime break.
A knock by Joseph Dweba off the kickoff led to a try by Harold Vorster, who picked-and-go from the back of a ruck to extend the Bulls' lead to 25-17 following a Kriel conversion.
The Bulls once again dominated early on, and once again, the Stormes absorbed the pressure and scored their third try after sixteen minutes of play. The Stormers moved the ball wide off the back of a lineout-maul with brilliant interplay giving Evan Roos a small gap to bulldoze his way over the tryline for the Stormers' third try.
Three minutes later a rampant Stormers scored their fourth and bonus point try by Warrick Galant to retake the lead 27-25.
With twenty minutes to play in the first half, David Kriel added three points with a converted penalty to retake the lead for the Bulls 28-27.
Akker van der Merwe intercepted a channel one pass by the Stormers and ran 50 meters whereafter the ball was sent wide to Ruan Vermaak who scored the Bulls' fourth and bonus point try to extend the Bulls' lead to 33-27 with ten minutes to play in the second half.
The Stormers launched a brutal attack and Evan Roos passed to a storming Ben-Jason Dickson who bulldozed his way over the tryline. Blommetjies failed to convert leaving the Stormers trailing 32-33 with seconds left on the clock.
Despite a last-gasp effort by the Stormers the Bulls walked off the winners by 33-32.
Scorers:
DHL Stormers: Tries: Frans Malherbe, Salmaan Moerat, Evan Roos, Warrick Gelant, Ben-Jason Dickson. Conversions: Jurie Matthee (2). Penalty: Jurie Matthee.
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Cameron Hanekom, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Harold Vorster, Ruan Vermaak. Conversions: David Kriel (2). Penalties: David Kriel (3).
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Jonathan Roche, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Willie le Roux, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Sebastian de Klerk.