URC – Vodacom Bulls First Ever Win Against DHL Stormers In URC

 

The Vodacom Bulls won 40-22 against the DHL Stormers at Loftus in a round 11 match of the United Rugby Championship. Their first win ever against the DHL Stormers in this competition.

The Vodacom Bulls scored the first points of the match when Johan Grobbelaar scored from the back of a 5m lineout-mail to lead 07-00 after just two minutes of play.

The DHL Stormers' Ben Loader scored their first try out wide 13 minutes later. The visitors were clawing their way back into the match and trailed 07-05.

John Goosen secured 4 penalties for the hosts to extend their lead to 19-10 and 15 minutes still to play in the first half. However, despite the penalties the DHL Stormers dominated territory and possession.

Evan Roos scored a try from the back of a 5m lineout maul which was followed by a Manie Libbok converted penalty, to reduce the Vodacom Bulls lead to 19-15, which was a "fairer" reflection of the play on the field.

The Vodacom Bulls added two tries courtesy of Johan Grobbelaar and Cana Moodie to extend their lead to 33-15 after just 15 minutes of play in the second half.

The DHL struck back when Andre-Hugo Venter bulldozed his way over for the DHL Stormers' 3rd try.

A knock on, on the attack by the DHL Stormers, was kicked forward by Emrose Papier who followed up his own kick to score the Vodacom Bulls' bonus point try. The Vodacom Bulls led 40-22 with three minutes to play, which was also the final score.

Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls: Try: Johan Grobbelaar (2), Canan Moodie, Embrose Papier. Conversion: Johan Goosen (4). Penalties: Johan Goosen (4).
DHL Stormers: Tries: Benn Loader, Evan Roos, Andre-Hugo Venter. Conversion: Manie Libbok (2). Penalty: Manie Libbok.

Teams

Vodacom Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Marcell Coetzee (cc), 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (cc), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Simphiwe Matanzima, 17 Akker van der Merwe, 18 Francois Kloppers, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Willie Le Roux, 23 Mpilo Gumede.

DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Evan Roos, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.