Connacht secured a 33-24 bonus-point win against the DHL Stormers in Cape Town, with several of their international players not included in the line-up.
The Stormers started the match with Deon Fourie sent off with a yellow card after four minutes of play in the first half. From the resulting penalty, Connacht launched wave after wave of attacks on the Stormers' tryline, and Shamus Hurley-Langton crashed over in the corner to edge Connacht 07-00 into the lead.
With the Stormers being tackled backwards, Scarra Ntubeni put Evan Roos into space with soft hands. Roos ran thirty meters, bulldozing past several defenders to level the scores 07-07, following the conversion by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
As the half continued, Connacht slowly wrestled dominance from the Stormers, playing most of the rugby. The final twenty minutes were scrappy, with both teams making several mistakes. With time up on the clock, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted a long-distance penalty to edge the Stormers 10-07 into the lead, going into the second half.
Connacht started like a house on fire and dominated posession and territory in the opening minutes of the second half; however, the Stormers attacked around the front of the lineout, which led to Ntuthuko Mchunu bulldozing his way over Connacht’s tryline. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted to extend the Stormers’ lead to 17-07 after seven minutes of play in the second half.
Connacht continued to launch and launch several waves of attacks on the Stormers tryline and eventually Paul Boyle crashed over for Connacht’s second try. Sam Gilbert converted, cutting the Stormers' lead to 17-14 after fifteen minutes of play in the second half.
Thereafter, the Stormers started to claw their way back into the match and, following several “stabs” at Connacht’s tryline, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s magic secured the Stormers' third try, which he converted to extend the Stormers’ lead to 24-14.
Connacht replied immediately when the Stormers could not control the kickoff, and John Devine crashed over in the corner, cutting the Stormers’ lead to 24-19 with fifteen minutes still to play in the second half.
At this stage, the Stormers started to throw caution to the wind, which Connacht used to their advantage, and gained several meters with disciplined forward play. Ben Murphy took advantage of the Stormers’ unwillingness to commit and scored Connacht’s bonus-point try. Sam Gilbert converted to edge Connacht into a 26-24 lead and eight minutes to play in the second half.
Connacht continued to apply pressure, and Sean Naughton intercepted to score Connacht’s fifth try, securing a 33-24 bonus-point win.
Scorers:
DHL Stormers: Tries: Evan Roos, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3). Penalty: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Connacht Rugby: Try: Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle, John Devine, Ben Murphy, Sean Naughton. Conversions: Sam Gilbert (4).
Teams
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Damian Willemse, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
Connacht Rugby: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Harry West, 13 John Devine, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Sean Naughton, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Darragh Murray, 4 David O’Connor, 3 Sam Illo, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Billy Bohan. Replacements: 16 Matthew Victory, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Josh Murphy, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Hugh Gavin.