The DHL Stormers scored a bonus-point try late in the second half, to secure a 24-20 win over the Hollywoodbets Sharks in front of a full-capacity crowd in Cape Town.
The Stormers dominated all statistics and had two tries cancelled due to errors made off the ball, however, several unforced errors kept the Sharks in the game with the Stormers maybe just a tad "lucky".
The Hollywoodbets Sharks made a great start to the match and set up camp in the host's red zone from the kick-off. The Stormers' defence held, and the Sharks opted to go for the poles from the second penalty, which Jordan Hendrikse converted. The Sharks led 03-00 after five minutes of play.
The Stormers attacked from the kick-off, and a Warrick Gelant's kick pass was pounced on by Seabelo Senatla to score the Stormers' first try. Libbok missed the conversion, however, after ten minutes of play in the first half, the host led 05-03.
The first twenty minutes were played at a hectic pace, and despite the dominance in the first five minutes by the Sharks, the Stormers continued to increase their tight grip on the territorial and possessional statistics.
The Sharks attacked off a dominant scrum and quickly spread the ball wide, where Aphelele Fassie joined the backline at speed to open up space for Yaw Penxe out wide to score the Sharks' first try. Hendrikse converted to retake the lead 10-05 with seven minutes left to play in the first half.
The first half ended with the Stormers on the attack as they continued to dominate the territory statistics, however, the number of unforced errors made by both teams made this a stop-start game with a number of point-scoring opportunities left on the field going into the second half. More important is that the Stormers already used both their backline replacement after injuries to Herschel Jantjies and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Following a disallowed try, the Stormers continued their onslaught, and an offside penalty against the Sharks led to Libbok kicking to the corner. Deon Fourie scored off the back of the lineout-maul to level the scores as Libbok is still to taste success with the boot.
The Stormers attacked off a quick ball from a ruck twenty meters out off which Manie Libbok ran a brilliant line to take the pass at pace, cutting the defence of the Sharks in two to score a much-needed try for the Stormers. Libbok converted to extend the Stormers' lead to 17-10, with twelve minutes still to play in the second half.
The Sharks struck back immediately with a try by Jordan Hendrikse, who added the extra two points to level the scores at 17-17 and ten minutes to play.
With time running out Jordan Hendrikse converted a penalty to edge the Stormers 20-17 with five minutes still to play.
The Stormers attacked from the kick-off and Jean-Luc du Plessis bulldozed his way over the tryline. Libbok converted to extend the Stormers' lead to 24-20 and seconds left to play
Scorers:
DHL Stormers: Tries: Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie, Manie Libbok, Jean-Luc du Plessis. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2).
Hollywoodbets Sharks: Tries: Yaw Penxe, Jordan Hendrikse. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (2). Penalties: Jordan Hendrikse (2).
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (c), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.
Hollywoodbets Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Bryce Calvert, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Nick Hatton, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Francois Venter.