The DHL Stormers' decision-making cost them the match against an unbeaten and willing Benetton who were willing to grind out a 20-17 win.
The Stormers trailed 10-13 at the halftime break, however, they should have led if they converted their point-scoring opportunities, however, Benetton are still 100% in the contest and will be happy with the scoreline at the halftime break. The second half will be referred to as "if we only could half" by the Stormers who suffered their second loss on the road.
The first 20 minutes was an arm wrestle with both teams making several mistakes on the attack and the defence.
Benetton set up camp for 5 minutes before Warrick Gelant made a horrible mistake on defence following a grubber from Tomas Albornoz. Gelant's effort on the defence was ......, however, Marco Zanon was happy to fall on the ball and score the first try of the match after 23 minutes of play in the first half.
Seven minutes later Warrick Gelant controlled a cross kick from flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis to score the DHL Stormers' first try of the match to reduce Benetton's lead to 07-05.
After 35 minutes of play, Tomas Albornoz converted a penalty to extend Benetton's lead to 10-05.
Benetton conceded a penalty from the kick-off, which the Stormers decided to kick for the line. Scarra Ntubeni scored from the back of the resulting driving maul to level the scores at 10-10.
With time up on the clock in the first half, Rhyno Smith converted a drop goal to edge Benetton back into the lead with 13-10.
The Stormers scored their 3rd try of the match when the ball was spread wide from a driving maul to open up space out wide for Courtnall Skosan to stroll over. The Stormers led for the first time in the match with 17-13 after six minutes of play.
Benetton struck back after 15 minutes of play in the second half when Alessandro Izekor scored in the corner. Benetton upped the tempo of the match exposing the halfhearted defence of the visitors, scoring a brilliant team try.
The final quarter was high-octane stuff, however, it also exposed the lack of decision-making from the visitors on the attack and defence. Benetton continued to work hard and spent the final 5 minutes on the Stormers' tryline to grind out a deserved 20-17 win.
Scorers:
Benetton: Tries: Marco Zanon, Alessandro Izekor. Conversions: Tomas Albornoz, Jacob Umaga. Penalty: Tomas Albornoz. Drop Goal: Rhyno Smith.
DHL Stormers: Tries: Warrick Gelant, Scarra Ntubeni, Courtnall Skosan. Conversion: Jean-Luc du Plessis.
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Ben Loader, 12 Ruhan Nel, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (c), 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Ivan Nemer. Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 Toa Halafihi, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Jacob Umaga.
