Stormers outplay Lions in Johannesburg

URC REPORT: The Stormers continued their upward trajectory in the United Rugby Championship with a 32-10 win over the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The visitors scored four tries on their way to victory, which also bagged them a vital bonus point.

The first half was characterised by missed opportunities with both teams making their way close to the tryline on a few occasions but failed to cross the chalk, but the Capetonians shifted to a different gear after the break to put their hosts away.

In the end the only try scored in the first half was a pearler by Stormers No.8 Hacjivah Dayimani, who made a great break through the defence and stepped on the gas to touch down to add to a conversion and penalty goal by Manie Libbok (flyhalf), while the Lions’ only points were compliments of a penalty goal by flyhalf Tiaan Swanepoel, which saw the visitors take a 10-3 half-time lead.

The Lions threatened as early as the early as the second minute, as they got close to the tryline only to knock on the ball, and they had further opportunities in the half, which they failed to capitalise on due to a combination of handling errors and solid defence by the Capetonians.

The Stormers also had their chances, with Libbok dancing his way to get through the defence in the ninth minute, but with the team unable to get through, Libbok had to settle for a penalty goal in the 10th minute for the first points of the match.

Swanepoel responded with a penalty goal minutes later to level the scores, but the difference on the scoreboard going into the break was stunning try by Dayimani, who made a brilliant break in the mid field, and the extra two points by Libbok saw them take a 10-3 lead.

The Cape side picked up where they left off in the second half with Libbok adding his second penalty goal, and they built on this with tries in quick succession by Seabelo Senatla and Sergeal Petersen (both wings) to take a handy 25-3 lead.

Senatla touched down after some nice handling and a magic touch out him, while Petersen received the ball on the short side after some enterprising attack.

Man-of-the match Deon Fourie added their bonus-point try in the 72nd minute after a beautiful grubber which the opposition failed to gather and the experienced Stormers flank pounced on it over the tryline to score in their fourth try of the match.

The Lions refused to give up and scored their only try compliments of Morne van den Berg (replacement scrumhalf), and Jordan Hendrikse’s (replacement flyhalf) conversion pushed their score into double figures for 10 points. This, however, was too little too late for the home side and they were left to settle for a 32-10 defeat.

Man of the match: Stormers prop Steven Kitshoff was a hard man to bring down, while Seabelo Senatla kept the Lions on their toes with his quick feet. Damian Willemse had a hand in a couple of tries. However, the award goes to Deon Fourie once again. He was a menace at the breakdowns and carried the ball strongly in open play. He also scored one of his team's four tries.

The scorers:

For Lions:

Try: Van den Berg

Con: Hendrikse

Pen: Swanepoel

For Stormers:

Tries: Dayimani, Senatla, Petersen, Fourie

Cons: Libbok 3

Pens: Libbok 2

Yellow card: Ruhan Nel (Stormers, 76 - cynical play, deliberate knockdown)

Teams:

Lions: 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Tiaan Swanepoel, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel (captain), 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Ruhan Straeuli, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Ruan Dreyer.

Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Wandisile Simelane.

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).

Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 David Meihuizen, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Dan du Plessis, 23 Angelo Davids.

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen

Assistant referees: Aimee Barret-Theron, Paul Mente

TMO: Marius Jonker

Additional source: SA Rugby

📸 Anton Geyser