A late Faf de Klerk try after the siren broke Cape Town hearts as the Toyota Cheetahs snatched a dramatic 31-26 bonus-point victory over the DHL Stormers XXIII at Athlone Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Playing with a notorious Cape wind at their backs in the first half, the DHL Stormers dominated early territory but found themselves continually frustrated by a resolute Cheetahs defence. The deadlock finally broke in the 10th minute when scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer sniped around the fringe of a ruck to crash over for the opening score. Flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis added the extras to make it 07-00.
The Cheetahs struck back almost immediately. Four minutes later, winger Prince Nkabinde showed immense upper-body strength to pick-and-go from two meters out. The missed conversion kept the Stormers ahead 07-05.
The middle tier of the first half turned into a brutal set-piece battle, with referee Hanru van Rooyen penalising both front rows repeatedly in a chaotic scrum contest. Discipline worsened for the visitors when Simon Miller was sent off in the 32nd minute.
The Stormers capitalised on the numerical advantage just before the break. Following waves of relentless attacking phases, Vernon Paulo burst through under the poles. Du Plessis, slotting the easy conversion, sent the hosts into halftime leading 14-05.
The Cheetahs emerged from the tunnel with renewed intent. Just four minutes into the second period, captain Neels Volschenk power-hustled over from the base of a ruck. Zander du Plessis converted to trim the gap to just two points.
The Stormers answered back through winger Wandi Mlaba, who used a lethal low pick-and-go to force his way over from short distance. Jean-Luc du Plessis kept his perfect kicking record intact, pushing the Stormers' lead out to 21-12 after 58 minutes.
The momentum shifted dramatically when Mlaba went from hero to villain, receiving a yellow card for a dangerous tip tackle with 20 minutes left on the clock.
The Cheetahs immediately exploited the extra space. From the resulting penalty, Michael Annies sliced through the defensive line to score. Zander du Plessis struck a clean conversion to cut the deficit to 21-19.
Disaster struck again for the Capetonians ten minutes later. As the Cheetahs' rolling maul splintered the home team's line, the referee awarded a penalty try and brandished another yellow card to Stormers replacement Xola Nyali. The swing handed the Cheetahs an automatic seven points, a crucial four-try bonus point, and a 26-21 lead.
Refusing to back down, a returned Mlaba cross-checked his way over the whitewash for his second try of the match with only five minutes remaining. The difficult conversion fell short, leaving the score deadlocked at 26-26.
With time up on the stadium clock, the Cheetahs launched one final, desperate multi-phase assault. Spreading the ball through quick hands across the park, it was veteran Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk who spectacularly dove over in the corner to seal a breathless 31-26 victory.
Scorers:
DHL Stormers XXIII: Tries: Stefan Ungerer, Vernon Paulo, Wandi Mlaba. Conversions: Jean-Luc du Plessis (3), Kyle Smith.
Toyota Cheetahs U20: Tries: Prince Nkabinde, Neels Volschenk, Michael Annies, Penalty try, Faf de Klerk. Conversions: Zander du Plessis (2).
Teams:
DHL Stormers XXIII: 15 Dylan Miller, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Markus Muller, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Mfundo Ndhlovu, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis (c), 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Divan Fuller, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Xola Nyali, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Tom Barnard, 3 Danie Kruger, 2 Vernon Paulo, 1 Hendrik van Wyk. Replacements: 16 Altus Rabe, 17 Khuzwayo, 26 Herman Lubbe, 19 Luan Botha, 20 Wandi Mlaba, 21 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 22 Kyle Smith, 23 Gino Cupido.
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Michael Annies, 13 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Prince Nkabinde, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Neels Volschenk, 7 Juan Venter, 6 Ramon Uys, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Simon Miller, 3 Frankie Dos Reis, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Tebogo Nkosi. Replacements: 16 Juan Smal, 17 Tielman Niewoudt, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Curtly Thomas, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Sisonke Vumazonke, 22 Cohen Jasper, 23 Jooste Nel.