The DHL Stormers secured a 32-19 bonus-point win against the Vodacom Bulls to move up into second place in the United Rugby Championship table after twelve rounds of action.
The Bulls' forwards dominated in the first half; however, the Stormers’ forwards came back in the second half to dominate, on which the Stormers built their win.
The first ten minutes were an arm-wrestle, with both sides testing each other with high kicks and brutal scrummaging. A yellow card to Adré Smith after fifteen minutes of play gave the Bulls the edge up front.
A brilliant 50/20 kick by Jeandre Rudolph was used by the Bulls to attack from the resulting lineout-maul, which led to the Stormers being penalised for collapsing the maul with a penalty try. Ben-Jason Dixon was shown a yellow card for his efforts, reducing the Stormers to thirteen players after twenty minutes of play in the first half.
The Stormers slowly clawed their way back into the match when Damian Willemse ran a brilliant line to cut the Bulls’ defence in two to score the Stormers' first try.
The Stormers continued to apply pressure, and eventually, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted a penalty to edge the Stormers 10-07 into the lead with time up on the clock.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted his second penalty of the match to extend the Stormers' lead to 13-07, and thirty minutes still to play in the second half.
The Stormers continued their pressure, and Paul de Villiers scored off the back of a five-meter lineout maul. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the extra two to extend the Stormers' lead to 18-07 with twenty minutes still to play in the second half.
The Stormers’ forwards continued their dominance and, with fourteen minutes of play, were awarded a penalty try to lead 25-07.
The Bulls lost Cobus Wiese and Marco van Staden in quick succession with yellow cards to add to the pressure the Stormers applied.
The thirteen-man Bulls struck back immediately when Canan Moddie tapped a ball to Zak Burger, who scored the Bulls' second try to cut the Stormers’ lead to 25-14 following the conversion by Handré Pollard.
Hacjivah Dayimani pounced on a kick by Damian Willemse to score the Stormers' bonus-point try, which Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted to extend the Stormers’ lead to 32-14 with ten minutes still to play.
With time up on the clock, Kurt-Lee Arendse took a great pass by David Kriel to score a consolation try for the Vodacom Bulls to cut the Stormers' lead to 32-19, which was the final score.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Penalty try, Zak Burger, Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversion: Handré Pollard.
DHL Stormers: Tries: Damian Willemse, Paul de Villiers, Penalty try, Hacjivah Dayimani. Conversion: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2). Penalties: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2).
Teams:
Vodacom Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Alu Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Zak Burger, 23 Willie le Roux.
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel (c), 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Paul de Villiers, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Imad Khan, 22 Jonathan Roche, 23 Wandisile Simelane.