Seven-Try Stormers Deliver Champions Cup Demolition Against Bears
The DHL Stormers made an emphatic start to their Investec Champions Cup campaign, powering to a bonus-point 49-12 victory over Bristol Bears at DHL Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Stormers scored seven tries, with Leolin Zas and Jonny Roche both crossing for braces, while Andre-Hugo Venter, Warrick Gelant and Seabelo Senatla also got on the scoresheet. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu complemented the hosts’ attacking display with an impressive performance off the kicking tee.
The Stormers suffered a pre-match setback when captain Ruhan Nel was ruled out through injury, with Paul de Villiers taking over the captaincy. Wandisile Simelane stepped in at outside centre, replacing Nel at number 13.
However, the reshuffle did little to disrupt the Stormers’ attacking rhythm as they dominated the opening exchanges.
Senatla spectacularly opened the scoring in the seventh minute, gathering a loose pass from Feinberg-Mngomezulu before beating the defensive line and using his pace to finish in the corner despite a desperate covering tackle.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu added an excellent conversion from out wide to give the hosts a 7-0 lead.
The Stormers continued to apply pressure and doubled their advantage in the 15th minute following another sweeping attacking move. After initially involving their forwards, the hosts spread the ball to their backs, creating space for Zas to finish their second try.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted again to extend the lead to 14-0.
Bristol eventually found their footing and enjoyed a spell of possession in the Stormers’ half, with Joe Owen crossing for the visitors’ opening try. Sam Worsley added the conversion to reduce the deficit to seven points.
The Stormers responded impressively, restoring their two-try cushion in the 28th minute. Damian Willemse sliced through a gap in the Bristol defence before offloading to Roche, who crossed beneath the posts to open his Stormers account for the season.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted to make it 21-7.
However, the momentum shifted four minutes later when JJ Kotze received a 20-minute red card following a head-on collision with Bristol scrum-half Kieran Marmion, leaving the Stormers facing the challenge of playing with 14 men.
HALF-TIME: STORMERS 21-7 BRISTOL BEARS
Zas was shown a yellow card shortly after the break for a high tackle, leaving the Stormers temporarily reduced to 13 men.
Sol Moody’s 50th-minute try gave Bristol hope of mounting a comeback, but their momentum was short-lived. Just three minutes later, a Feinberg-Mngomezulu up-and-under led to a collision between two Bristol players contesting the ball in the air. Roche gathered the loose ball and scored his second try of the match.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the extras with a superb touchline conversion to extend the home side’s lead to 28-12.
The Stormers added three more tries to seal an emphatic victory. Gelant finished off a sensational long, looping pass from Haasiem Pead before Venter and Zas crossed the whitewash to complete the seven-try rout.
Bulls overpower Stade Français in Pretoria
Earlier in the day, the Vodacom Bulls made a powerful statement in their Investec Champions Cup campaign with a commanding 56-20 victory over Stade Français Paris at Loftus Versfeld.
The Bulls scored eight tries in an emphatic attacking display, with Cheswill Jooste leading the charge with a superb hat-trick. Cobus Wiese, Cameron Hanekom, Marco van Staden, Jeandré Rudolph and Jan-Hendrik Wessels also crossed the try line.
The visitors showed considerable fight after the break, with Jacques Botha and Petero Mailulu scoring tries to reduce the deficit to eight points at 28-20.
However, the Bulls responded emphatically in the closing stages, with Jooste completing his hat-trick as the Pretoria side pulled away from their opponents.
Handré Pollard’s accurate goal-kicking helped the Bulls secure a convincing victory and a valuable bonus point to kick-start their Champions Cup campaign.
