The DHL Stormers secured a place in the 2025/26 United Rugby Championship semi-finals with a 44-21 win over Cardiff Rugby. The Stormers will either travel to face Leinster in Dublin or host the Fidelity SecureDrive Lions on the 6th of June.
Cardiff started like a house on fire; however, the Stormers clawed their way back into the match and set up camp in Cardiff’s red zone. Both teams had several opportunities to score, but unforced errors prevented them from scoring.
After 20 minutes of play, Cam Winnett intercepted a sloppy pass to run from within his 22m to score Cardiff’s first points of the match. Ioan Lloyd converted the try, extending Cardiff’s lead to 07-00.
The Stormers replied five minutes later when Andre-Hugo Venter crashed over from the back of a 5m lineout-maul. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted the try to level the scores 07-07.
The Stormers continued their relentless onslaught, and this time Ntuthuko Mchunu peeled around the back of a 5m lineout to crash over for the Stormers' second try, extending their lead to 14-00 with 10 minutes still to play in the first half.
With four minutes to play, a great pass by Damian Willemse put Leolin Zas into space; however, Zas still had a lot to do down the touchline, and scored the Stormers’ third try, extending the Stormers’ lead to 21-07 following the conversion by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Cardiff started the second half like a house on fire, and eightman Taine Basham scored off the back of a dominant scrum to cut the Stormers' lead to 21-14 following the conversion by Ioan Lloyd.
After ten minutes of play in the second half, Seabelo Senatla pinched an ill-directed kick pass from Cardiff, offloaded to Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who ran a brilliant line, to score the Stormers' fourth try, extending their lead to 26-14.
Cardiff started to claw their way back in the game, and James Botham scored off the back of a lineout-maul. The conversion by Ioan Lloyd cut the Stormers' lead to 26-21 after 18 minutes of play in the second half.
Five minutes later, Paul de Villiers scored off the back of a lineout-maul, extending the Stormers' lead to 31-21.
With ten minutes to play, Jurie Matthee converted a penalty, extending the Stormers' lead to 34-21.
With time almost up on the clock, JJ Kotze crashed over, and Jurie Matthee converted the try, after which Jurie Matthee converted a penalty to secure a 44-21 win.
Scorers:
DHL Stormers: Tries: Andre-Hugo Venter, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Leolin Zas, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Paul de Villiers, JJ Kotze. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3), Jurie Matthee. Penalties: Jurie Matthee (2).
Cardiff Rugby: Tries: Cam Winnett, Taine Basham, James Botham. Conversions: Ioan Lloyd (3)
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (c), 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ruan Ackermann, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Jurie Matthee
Cardiff Rugby: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Jacob Beetham, 13 Ben Thomas, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 James Botham, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (c), 1 Rhys Barratt. Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 George Nott, 20 Alun Lawrence, 21 Evan Lloyd, 22 Ellis Bevan, 23 Tom Bowen.