Stormers bash Bulls into submission at Loftus

The Stormers’ forward dominance laid the foundation for a stunning 32-19 triumph over their arch-rivals the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.

These teams came into this derby in contrasting form. The Bulls were on a four-game winning streak, while the Stormers sat on three straight defeats. But on the day, that mattered little as the Cape side swept their counterparts aside on their way to a deserved and much-needed victory.

The result sees John Dobson’s team climb four places – above Munster, Cardiff, Leinster and Ulster – from sixth to second on the URC table. Only the Glasgow Warriors are now above the Stormers in the standings.

MATCH OVERVIEW

This game was as entertaining as it was brutal, with several backs showing flashes of brilliance while the forwards engaged in an arm-wrestle in the tighter exchanges. The Bulls edge the possession stakes, number of offloads made, metres gained, clean breaks and defenders beaten. But in the end, it would be the Stormers’ dominance up front that proved decisive. They had a 100% lineout success rate, the more dominant scrum, were more compact and structured in defence and played the better tactical game.

And for all his struggles as of late, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu stood up well against the more seasoned Handre Pollard in their flyhalf battle. However, it was Damian Willemse, who was the star of the show. The utility back, who played inside centre on the day, capped off his try-scoring display with the Man of the Match award.

FIRST HALF RECAP: NOT MUCH BETWEEN THE RIVALS

The opening 10 minutes were a tight tussle, but the Bulls looked the better side in those early stages. And when the Stormers were reduced to 14 men after the sin-binning of Adre Smith, the hosts stormed forward and were rewarded with a penalty try.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu would miss a penalty to get the Stormers on the board and they conceded another yellow card to go down to 13.

But just as things looked to have gone from bad to worse, Willemse stepped into that first-receiver spot and went on an angled run to opening the scoring for the visitors. Feinberg-Mngomezulu knocked over the conversion and then a penalty on the stroke of half-time to give the Capetonians a slender 10-7 lead at the midway-mark.

SECOND HALF RECAP: STORMERS BULLY BULLS

Things went side ways pretty quickly for the Bulls after the restart. The Stormers went on a 15-point score spree via two more tries and a penalty before their opponents could even get other sniff at points.

With the game slipping away from them at 25-7, the Bulls struck when they needed to the most with replacement Zak Burger crossing for a converted effort. But any glimmer of hope they had of staging a comeback was dashed when Hacjivah Dayimani, back from a stint in France, bagged the fourth try for the Stormers to ensure they leave Loftus with the maximum points on offer.

Flyer Kurt-Lee Arendse, who looked lively throughout the 80 minutes, went over for a late Bulls touchdown, but his effort served as a mere consolation try to make the score appear more flattering.