Stunning Stormers Continue Unbeaten Run In Front Of Home Crowd
The DHL Stormers continued their impressive unbeaten run this season as they scored 24 second-half points to defeat a dangerous Lions side in front of a fanatical home crowd of 28,205 – 34-27 – at the DHL Stadium.
The poor state of the pitch did not deter the brand of rugby either side intended to display after hosting an International World Supercross GP event last weekend.
Stormers rugby CEO Johan le Roux bemoaned the playing surface in the build-up to the game, describing it as ‘absolutely sad’ – a sentiment echoed by coach John Dobson and the players.
Festivities kicked off with Neethling Fouche walking onto the pitch for his 100th Stormers appearance with his baby in hand and wife alongside him.
Pre-game celebrations would not carry over to the game, though, as the Lions dominated early proceedings.
The Lions left the Stormers faithful in disbelief as Ruan Venter scored the opening try within the first minute – from a mistake by Evan Roos at kickoff – as Chris Smith added the extras from the conversion to give the Lions a 7-0 lead.
There was a major concern that caused a stoppage in the game as Lions player Reinhard Notnagel was injured and had to be stretchered off.
The Stormers struggled to get out of the starting blocks as a combination of a lack of possession and poor decision-making when they had the ball, stifling their efforts.
Fans needed to wait a further 17 minutes for the next bit of scoring as a Chris Smith penalty extended the lead to 10-0 with 18 minutes played.
Wing sensation Dylan Maart finally got the Stormers up and running with a wonderful try in the 27th minute – his fourth in as many games – as a Paul de Villiers pass was taken in his stride and saw the flying winger touch down for the Stormers’ first points of the game.
Jurie Matthee made no mistake with the conversion, taking the score to 10-7.
The Stormers drew level in the 38th minute as a Jurie Matthee penalty took advantage of a Lions knock-on.
As fans left their seats on the cusp of half-time, Ruan Venter added his and the Lions’ second with a pick-and-go – with Smith slotting the conversion for a 17-10 Lions lead heading into the break.
HALF-TIME: STORMERS 10-17 LIONS
A more determined Stormers side appeared in the second half and much like the Lions in the first half, wasted no time in dotting down the half’s first try with some slick hands and interplay from Cobus Reinach and Salman Moerat, who found Wandisile Simelane to cross the try-line.
Matthee, once again showing impressive kicking prowess, added the extra two points to level the scores again at 17-17.
The early second-half onslaught continued as Paul de Villiers led a strong Stormers maul to score the five-pointer in the 53rd minute.
As expected, Matthee made no mistake, and the Stormers took the lead for the first time in the game, 24-17.
Smith and Matthee then exchanged penalties to take the score to 27-20.
It was all one-way traffic as the relentless Stormers pack unleashed wave after wave of attack that saw Evan Roos dot down. With the conversion slotted, the Stormers took the scoreline to 34-20.
Soon after, Kelly Mpeku ran onto a wonderful grubber that allowed him to get behind the Stormers’ defence and still keep the Lions in touching distance at 34-27.
There was a late Lions surge, but the Stormers’ defence stood firm under pressure to secure yet another victory after an impressive second-half performance maintaining their unbeaten start.
