| Stormers (28) 34 |
| Tries: Pokomela. Dweba. Nel. Libbock ConsLibbok 3 Blommetjies PensLibbok 2 |
| Dragons (7) 26 |
| TriesJ Williams, Seiuli Hanrahan, Reynolds ConsHanrahan 2, Reed |
Stormers won the thrilling battle against Dragons, but they came up just short of a dramatic comeback.
Two driving mauls were the catalyst for early attempts by South African hosts. Junior Pokomela was first to cross, followed by Joseph Dweba with another.
Ruhan Nel also added a third effort, finishing a brilliant counterattack. Manie Libbok ran clear to secure the bonus point before halftime.
Stormers held firm despite attempts from Josh Reynolds, Aki Seiuli and JJ Hanrahan trying to retaliate.
Stormers displayed a great first-half performance for their home crowd at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in their first United Rugby Championship match (URC).
Dragons hoped to rebound from last weekend’s defeat 33-25 defeat at Lions. Their poor start caused them to suffer another loss in South Africa.
NamaXaba had a back problem during the warm-up. Pokomela was set to start for Stormers in the ninth minute.
Five metres away from the Dragons try line, Pokomela leapt out to cross the line.
Six minutes later, the second try was made in almost identical fashion. The line-out was again taken from the same spot, but it was hooker Dweba that touched down.
The wing broke down to the left and Nel finished the great initial break of Leolin Zas. Clayton Blommetjies then offloaded the wing to Nel.
After another penalty against Dragons at scrum, Libbok took advantage of it and skimmed out of two tackles to run half of the field to score.
However, the Welsh visitors were dominant from then on.
They scored the last play of the first half when Jordan Williams intercepted a Libbok passing and sprinted clear at half-way within his own half.
Prop Seiuli was the one who gave Dragons their second chance at driving a maul.
Two penalties by Libbok were applied to the Stormers, one for Sio Tomkinson’s off-the-ball tackle and one for Sio Tomkinson’s Dragons wing.
Hanrahan crossed after 10 minutes. It was a wonderful move that involved Lewis Jones and Ben Fry to make it 34-19.
Five minutes left, replacement prop Reynolds flew out from the driving maul to power through the obstacle and score a bonus point try for the Dragons.
Stormers managed to hold on for their sixth win in eight URC-games and are now second in the table. Dragons are 11th after their sixth defeat in nine URC games.
Stormers: Clayton Blommetjies; Tristan Leyds, Ruhan Nel, Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas; Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies; Kwenzo Blose, Joseph Dweba, Neethling Fouche, Salmaan Moerat (capt), Marvin Orie, Junior Pokomela, Willie Engelbrecht, Hacjivah Dayimani.
Alternatives: JJ Kotze, Brok Harris, Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, Connor Evans, Deon Fourie, Paul de Wet, Kade Wolhuter, Mnombo Zwelendaba.
Dragons: Angus O’Brien. Sio Tomkinson. Steff Hughes. Max Clark. Jordan Williams. JJ Hanrahan. Rhodri Williams. Aki Seiuli. Bradley Roberts. Lloyd Fairbrother. Matthew Screech. Sean Lonsdale. Huw Taylor. Aaron Wainwright. Ross Moriarty. (capt.
Replacements: James Benjamin, Josh Reynolds Chris Coleman, Harrikeddie, Ben Fry Lewis Jones Will Reed Aneurin Owen
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU).
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron & Christopher Allison (SARU)
TMO: Ben Blain (SRU)