The Stormers forwards did a demolition job on their much-vaunted Bulls opposition to pave the way for a remarkable 32-19 United Rugby Championship victory at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon. History tells us that predicting the outcome of North-South derbies is a fool’s errand, and this was once more the case as the Stormers made a mockery of the form book.
The Bulls made a decent enough start to the game. They were unlucky to have a lovely try by Kurt-Lee Arendse chalked off after the TMO picked up a vague forward movement of the ball on the ground before scrumhalf Paul de Wet passed it. The movement involved slick inter-passing by the forwards and beautiful handling by David Kriel and Canan Moodie in the backs.
Stormers Forwards Dominate
The first scrum, in the fourth minute, was an unhappy one for the visitors, with Wilco Louw giving Nuthuko Mchunu a hard time. Two minutes later, Louw repeated the dose for a second penalty, but the plucky Mchunu won one back in the next scrum. The Stormers were on the board in the 30th minute when Damian Willemse ran a perfect line from a ruck close to the Bulls’ line to go over untouched.
After absorbing so much pressure because of the yellow cards, the Stormers finished the half as the stronger side, and the last action was a post-hooter penalty by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for a 10-7 lead. The visitors continued their dominance after the break and were soon rewarded with another three points from their flyhalf’s boot.
Key Moments in the Game
- The Stormers were down to 13 men and hanging on at one stage, but managed to pull through.
- A penalty try was awarded to the Bulls after a lineout was illegally pulled down.
- Paul de Villiers went over from a maul to extend the Stormers’ lead.
The Bulls battled to get their hands on the ball, and when they did, there were some shocking handling errors, with Willie le Roux and Elrigh Louw culprits. It went from bad to worse for the home team when Cobus Wiese was yellow carded for shoving a hand into the face of Dixon. As the United Rugby Championship continues to heat up, the Stormers will be looking to build on this momentum.
