2 October 2026
Edinburgh Rugby defeated the DHL Stormers 17-13 in a tightly contested match, frustrating the visitors' bid for a historic first win in Scotland.
The Stormers' hopes were severely hampered by a malfunctioning lineout that repeatedly turned over possession. Played in severe wind, both teams struggled early on, with multiple straightforward penalty attempts blown off target.
Edinburgh flyhalf James Grayson opened the scoring after five minutes, slotting a penalty to reward his side's early territory. The remainder of the first half turned into a tactical midfield battle as both defences stood firm in the wet conditions. Neither side could break through before the interval, leaving Edinburgh with a narrow 3-0 lead at halftime.
The Stormers started the second half with the strong wind at their backs, allowing them to control tactical positioning. Flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed capitalised on this advantage, kicking a 49th-minute penalty to level the scores at 3-3. Just two minutes later, Ahmed struck again from the tee to edge the South African franchise into a 6-3 lead.
Edinburgh increased their attacking intensity and, after a sustained period of pressure, James Grayson forced his way over for the game's opening try. To make matters worse for the Stormers, winger Seabelo Senatla was shown a yellow card during the build-up. The numbers were soon balanced when Edinburgh's Freddy Douglas was also sent to the sin bin for a technical infraction.
The Stormers responded strongly when eighth-man Hacjivah Dayimani picked up from a dominant scrum to score, directly after a Wandisile Simelane try was disallowed. Ahmed converted to put the Stormers back ahead 13-10, but Edinburgh immediately hit back from the restart. The hosts shifted the ball wide, allowing Rory McHaffie to score the winning try in the corner, which Grayson converted to secure the 17-13 result.
The match ended with the Stormers losing their 10th lineout, halting their final onslaught. Edinburgh deservedly won 17-13.
Scorers:
Edinburgh Rugby: Tries: James Grayson, Rory McHaffie. Conversions: James Grayson (2). Penalty: James Grayson.
DHL Stormers: Try: Hacjivah Dayimani. Conversion: Yaqeen Ahmed. Penalties: Yaqeen Ahmed (2).
Teams:
Edinburgh Rugby: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Malelili Satala, 13 Matt Currie (co-captain), 12 Kienan Higgins, 11 Geordie Gwynn, 10 James Grayson, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Magnus Bradbury (co-captain), 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Glen Young, 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Harri Morris, 1 Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Euan McVie, 20 Tom Currie, 21 Conor McAlpine, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Rory McHaffie
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (c), 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Yaqeen Ahmed, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Riley Norton, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Adré Smith, 21 Wandile Mlaba, 22 Andre Warner, 23 Wandisile Simelane.