24 October 2026
The Stormers secured a breathless 52-40 victory over the Scarlets in a high-scoring United Rugby Championship encounter that produced 14 tries. Winger Yaqeen Ahmed proved to be the hero for the Cape side, crossing the whitewash twice in the final ten minutes to break Welsh hearts.
The visitors started with enterprise, utilising intelligent grubbers to test the home side’s backfield early on. However, the game turned on its head in the 10th minute when Scarlets hooker John McKee was sent to the sin-bin for an illegal breakdown intervention during a dangerous Stormers line-break.
The hosts capitalised on the numerical advantage immediately. Prop Zachary Porthen took a sharp, around-the-corner pass to steamroll his way over the line for the opening try.
While Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed the initial conversion, he made amends moments later. The Springbok playmaker sparked a brilliant counter-attack, slicing through the midfield before releasing Hashim Pead with a crisp, no-look switch pass to score under the sticks.
The Scarlets hit back swiftly through an overlapping run that allowed Joe Roberts to dive over in the corner. Carwyn Leggatt-Jones slotted the sideline conversion to narrow the deficit to 12-7.
The Stormers’ pack soon flexed their muscles at the set-piece, earning successive scrum penalties to march deep into the visitors' strike zone. Ntuthuko Mchunu reaped the rewards, peeling off the back of a powerful maul to crash over like a raging bull.
An acrobatic finish by Scarlets winger Ioan Jones briefly kept the visitors in touch. However, the Stormers blew the game open just before the interval.
Seabelo Senatla cantered over in the corner after gathering a perfectly weighted cross-kick to secure the four-try bonus point. Veteran flanker Deon Fourie then dotted down from a clinical driving maul, sending the hosts into the tunnel with a commanding 33-14 lead.
The Scarlets emerged from the break completely transformed, striking twice within six minutes of the restart. Macs Page split the home defence wide open with an explosive midfield burst to score before the Stormers could settle.
Moments later, a handling error by the hosts in midfield handed a gift to Joe Roberts, who streaked away to score beneath the crossbar. Leggatt-Jones added both conversions, slashing the Stormers' lead to just five points at 33-28.
The Capetonians temporarily halted the momentum by turning down a kickable penalty to go for the corner. From the ensuing 5m pressure, Olly Reid took a quick tap from the back of the ruck and drove over.
The Welsh side refused to lie down and continued to thrive in loose, unstructured play. Josh Macleod stepped his way inside to score in the corner, though Leggatt-Jones missed his first conversion of the day to leave the score at 40-33.
The visitors kept their tails up and continued to attack in waves. Joe Roberts completed a sensational hat-trick by running a superb hard line onto a crash ball, allowing Leggatt-Jones to tie the ball game up at 40-40.
The final ten minutes saw a massive territorial battle as both sides resorted to a tactical kicking game. The Scarlets looked to have secured the upper hand when a brilliant 50/22 kick pinned the Stormers deep in their own corner.
However, a critical handling error at the breakdown allowed the Stormers to win a vital scrum penalty and clear their lines. Refusing to settle for a draw, the hosts launched a massive offensive effort, hunting down the Scarlets' defenders to win a penalty for holding on.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu marshalled his backline beautifully from the resulting phase play. Ahmed took a short pass at pace, cutting into space to dive over under the posts, with Feinberg-Mngomezulu adding the extras.
With only a minute left on the clock, the Scarlets threw caution to the wind but fumbled the ball under immense defensive pressure. Ahmed reacted quickest, hacking the loose ball down the touchline before winning the footrace to scoop it up and dive over to seal a spectacular 52-40 victory.
Scorers:
DHL Stormers: Tries: Zachary Porthen, Hasseim Pead, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie, Oliver Reid, Yaqeen Ahmed (2). Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (6).
Scarlets: Tries: Joe Roberts (3), Ioan Jones, Macs Page, Josh Macleod. Conversions: Carwyn Leggatt-Jones (5)
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Markus Muller, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Haashim Pead, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Evan Roos, 6 Paul de Villiers (c), 5 Connor Evans, 4 Riley Norton, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Olly Reid, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 Adré Smith, 20 JD Schickerling, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Yaqeen Ahmed.
Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Ioan Jones, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Macs Page, 10 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Groves, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 John McKee, 1 Kemsley Mathias. Replacements: 16 George Roberts, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Gabe Hawley, 19 Harvey Cuckson, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Isaac Murray-Macgregor.