London Irish needed a win against DHL Stormers to boost their Heineken Champions Cup qualification hopes, however, the DHL Stormers scored 21 unanswered points in the first half to secure an uninspiring 28-07 win.
The first quarter was full of errors as both teams made several unforced errors. A red and yellow card to the hosts within three minutes did give the DHL Stormers some edge, however, a scrappy game at that stage with the penalty try awarded to the DHL Stormers the only points.
The halftime score of 21-00 in favour of the DHL Stormers may suggest a dominant effort from the visitors, however, errors on the defence by London Irish were the major contributor to all three tries. An adequate performance from DHL Stormers against a "struggling" London Irish.
During the third quarter, both teams scored a try each, unfortunately, the game lost most of its structure and is a bore-fest at this stage. The DHL Stormers led 28-07 with twenty minutes to go.
Nothing changed much in the last quarter, however, London Irish did score the final try to lose 14-28.
Scorers:
London Irish: Tries: Penalty try, Danilo Fischetti. Conversion: Rory Jennings.
DHL Stormers: Tries: Penalty try, Ruan Nel, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Angelo Davids. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3).
As it happened:
13:17 DHL Stormers was awarded a penalty try. (00-07)
13:17 Juan Martin Gonzalez (London Irish) was shown a yellow card.
16:44 Ben Loader (London Irish) was shown a red card.
29:22 Ruan Nel scored the DHL Stormers' second try from an intercept 45 meters out. (14-00)
37:45 Suleiman Hartzenberg control a brilliant grubber to score the DHL Stormers' third try. Admittingly below standard defence help Hartzenburh.
42:12 Ciaran Parker (London Irish) was sent off with a red card.
46:24 Angelo Davids scored the DHL Stormers' fourth and bonus point try. A horrible bouncing ball was eventually controlled by Davids, which allowed him to stroll over the London Irish's tryline. (00-28)
50:02 A penalty try was awarded to London Irish. (07-28)
50:02 Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) was sent off with a yellow card.
76:52 Danilo Fischetti powered his way over the DHL Stormers' tryline. (14-28)
Teams:
London Irish: 15. Ben Loader, 14. Lucio Cinti, 13. Luca Morisi, 12. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Rory Jennings, 9. Ben White, 8. Matt Rogerson (c), 7. Tom Pearson, 6. Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5. Rob Simmons, 4. Api Ratuniyarawa, 3. Lovejoy Chawatama, 2. Mike Willemse, 1. Will Goodrick-Clarke. Replacements: 16. Ignacio Ruiz, 17. Danilo Fischetti, 18. Ciaran Parker, 19. Chunya Munga, 20. Josh Basham, 21. Chandler Cunningham-South, 22. Joe Powell, 23. Michael Dykes.
DHL Stormers: 15. Damian Willemse, 14. Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13. Ruhan Nel, 12. Dan du Plessis, 11. Angelo Davids, 10. Manie Libbok, 9. Paul de Wet, 8. Hacjivah Dayimani, 7. Junior Pokomela, 6. Deon Fourie, 5. Marvin Orie, 4. Connor Evans, 3. Neethling Fouche, 2. Joseph Dweba, 1. Steven Kitshoff (c). Replacements: 16. Andre-Hugo Venter, 17. Ali Vermaak, 18. Brok Harris, 19. Simon Miller, 20. Ben-Jason Dixon, 21. Willie Engelbrecht, 22. Stefan Ungerer, 23. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
