The DHL Stormers dropped to third place on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log on Saturday after suffering a disappointing 26-24 defeat in a thrilling match against Munster in the penultimate pool round at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.
The defeat for the DHL Stormers dealt a blow to their hopes of earning a possible home semi-final in a few weeks, as Ulster’s bonus-point victory on Friday against the Dragons saw them leap-frog the Cape side on the standings into second place by one point – although they will be pleased that they fought until the death to secure two bonus points from the match.
The result was also the DHL Stormers' first home defeat in 20 matches in the Vodacom URC.
The first half was a humdinger as both teams threw everything at one another, and Munster in particular would be pleased with their general efforts on defence, but in the end, the teams entered the break level at 12-12 after they each scored two tries and one conversion.
The second half was equally competitive with both teams trying hard to breach the defence and force errors, and this showed in the result as the teams fought until the final second, although Munster’s two converted tries to two tries and one conversion by the Cape side gave them the edge on the scoreboard.
Munster made a strong statement early on as hooker Diarmuid Barron scored in the second minute after forcing his way over the chalk from a powerful rolling maul. Munster tried hard to poke holes in the DHL Stormers’ defence as the half progressed. They backed this up with a strong defensive display, which saw them shut out the Capetonians on a few occasions.
The hosts found themselves a man down in the 21st minute as wing Seabelo Senatla received a yellow card, and the Irish club pounced on this advantage with Barron scoring his second try a minute later from yet another rolling maul, which saw them take a handy 12-0 lead.
The DHL Stormers fought back with Springbok prop Frans Malherbe diving over the chalk in the 30th minute from some good forward play, but unfortunately, Manie Libbok’s conversion attempt went wide.
They levelled the scores on the stroke of halftime after a few attempts at the tryline, with centre Ruhan Nel crashing through two defenders to touch down, while Libbok added the conversion, taking their tally to 12 points.
The DHL Stormers had opportunities to build on this early in the second half, but Libbok’s penalty goal attempt struck the uprights, while the hosts were unable to capitalise on two golden opportunities to score tries within minutes.
Munster broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when wing Shane Daly dashed through Senatla at pace after gathering a fantastic pass out wide, and replacement flyhalf Ben Healy added the extra two to nudge the visitors into a 19-12 lead shortly before the final quarter.
Healy had an opportunity to extend their lead with a penalty goal, but his attempt was short, leaving the gap on the scoreboard to a converted try, and minutes later the DHL Stormers found themselves trailing by two points after Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff went over from a rolling maul for their third try with 14 minutes left to play.
Munster continued to pile on the pressure with No 8 Gavin Coombe darting his way over the tryline from a pick-and-go in the dying minutes and the conversion pushed them nine points ahead as the clock started running out for the home side.
Libbok had two shots at goal with a little less than four minutes on the clock, with both attempts missing their mark, but Nel earned his brace in dying seconds to snatch two bonus points for scoring four tries and losing within seven points as they went down 26-24.
Scorers:
DHL Stormers: Tries: Frans Malherbe, Ruhan Nel (2), Steven Kitshoff. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2).
Munster: Tries: Diarmuid Barron (2), Shane Daly, Gavin Coombe. Conversions: Jack Crowley, Ben Healy (2).
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (c). Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Ernst van Rhyn, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Evan Roos, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman. Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Keynan Knox, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Keith Earls.