Cape Town — It wasn’t the most exciting game, but in the end, the Stormers were rewarded for their attacking mindset to outlast the Bulls 19-17 at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday to retain their lead at the top of the United Rugby Championship South African Shield.
It was a typical local derby full of big hits, but the Bulls never quite got out of second gear and conceded their second consecutive loss to the Stormers, following their 30-26 defeat at Loftus Versfeld in January.
Whereas the Bulls relied too much on the likes of Elrigh Louw and Marcell Coetzee to put them on the front foot at close quarters, the Stormers played in the wider channels and made significant inroads with ball-in-hand.
The DHL Stormers edge the Vodacom Bulls by two points to cement their position as the top SA team in the Vodacom #URC 🔝 pic.twitter.com/ZZ5UQM06ZF
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 9, 2022
The Cape side’s scrum was also dominant for most of the game on a sunny afternoon, with Steven Kitshoff in particular enjoying an edge over Mornay Smith.
The Stormers’ kicking game was also well executed, with Herschel Jantjies’ box-kicks pinpoint and Manie Libbok finding space up the middle, while Bulls halfbacks Zak Burger and Chris Smith battled to put their opponents under pressure with the boot.
But for all the rough and tumble of the first half, it was 3-3 for most of the opening stanza until the last moments before the break.
Unbelievable scenes at DHL Stadium where the DHL Stormers have held on for a hard-fought 19-17 win in the North-South showdown. Thanks to the Faithful who turned out today, you were crucial in this win.#STOvBUL #iamastormer #dhldelivers @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/XzIEJiB6vc
The Stormers made a sweeping attack upfield and had the Bulls defence scrambling out wide, and then flank Hacjivah Dayimani displayed some outstanding footwork to sidestep Smith and then hold off Walt Steenkamp to score under the posts.
Libbok’s conversion made it 10-3 to the Stormers at halfback, and they never relinquished the lead.
Bulls lock Ruan Nortje was superb in disrupting the Stormers lineout and won a number of steals, and the rest of his pack joined in during the second half to earn some parity in the scrums.
But time and again the visitors coughed up possession inside the Stormers half.
They finally found some rhythm on attack to score a terrific try. Instead of kicking the ball back, Burger burst through the middle and found Cornal Hendricks, who drew the defence before sending Canan Moodie over in the corner.
Suddenly it was level pegging at 10-10, but the Stormers kept plugging away and probing the Bulls defence on attack.
Libbok landed two penalties and Damian Willemse a well-taken drop goal to put the Capetonians well in front, and it looked like there was no way back for the Bulls.
But fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse, who hadn’t had many opportunities with ball-in-hand, provided the spark to get his team back into the Stormers 22 with a thrilling run down the left.
Sound ON 🔊
Don't mess with Frank Murphy 😤#URC | #STOvBUL pic.twitter.com/NqGFaztXR5
The move ended in Nortje thinking he had scored a try, but a long deliberation between referee Frank Murphy and TMO Marius Jonker, the touchdown was ruled out for a knock-on by Arendse.
But Dayimani was given a yellow card for a cynical infringement in his dangerous tackle on Arendse, and from the resultant lineout, No 8 Elrigh Louw dotted down under the posts.
It was all to play for at 19-17 in the last five minutes, but the Stormers held on in defence to enhance their prospects of securing a quarter-final spot.
Points-Scorers
Stormers 19 – Try: Hacjivah Dayimani. Conversion: Manie Libbok (1). Penalties: Libbok (3). Drop goal: Damian Willemse (1).
Bulls 17 – Tries: Canan Moodie, Elrigh Louw. Conversions: Chris Smith (1), Morné Steyn (1). Penalty: Smith (1).
IOL Sport