DHL Stormers tame Bulls at DHL Newlands
The DHL Stormers scored four tries on their way to a 29-17 win against the Vodacom Bulls in their North-South derby at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
It was the DHL Stormers’ fifth straight win of the season at DHL Newlands, which came in captain Siya Kolisi’s 100th game, in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
The DHL Stormers took the game to the visitors from the outset, surging into Vodacom Bulls territory from the word go.
The first scrum saw the DHL Stormers forwards shove the Vodacom Bulls off the ball before it was spun out to flyhalf Damian Willemse who showed good pace to outstrip the cover defence for the opening try.
Willemse’s conversion from out wide made it 7-0, to the delight of the DHL Newlands Faithful, but the DHL Stormers were not done there.
They kept hammering away at the Vodacom Bulls’ defence and it was prop Wilco Louw who eventually found a way through to score in the corner and put his side 12-0 up.
The visitors had to find a way back into the game and it would come through lock Lood de Jager who broke through in the 22 to score.
A yellow card for DHL Stormers hooker Ramone Samuels for a late tackle gave the Vodacom Bulls another scoring opportunity, with flyhalf Handre Pollard kicking the resultant penalty.
That saw the DHL Stormers go into half-time with a slender 12-10 lead after a hard-hitting opening 40 minutes, with it all to play for in the second half.
The Vodacom Bulls took the lead for the first time in the match with a try from flank Jason Jenkins early in the second half, but they did not have it for long as the DHL Stormers responded immediately.
The ball was worked out to Damian de Allende who dummied his way through a gap before offloading to SP Marais who scored the third try.
Marais was on the scoresheet again shortly afterwards through a long-range penalty, which took the DHL Stormers lead out to 22-17 with 25 minutes left to play.
The DHL Stormers kept the pressure on and it paid off as the ball was sent wide in a flowing movement, which resulted in Samuels dotting down in the corner.
The touchline conversion from Willemse gave the DHL Stormers a handy 29-17 advantage heading into the final stages of the match, with the DHL Newlands Faithful finding their voice as their team closed out another win.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Willemse, Louw, Marais, Samuels
Cons: Willemse 3
Pen: Marais
For Vodacom Bulls:
Tries: De Jager, Jenkins
Cons: Pollard 2
Pen: Pollard
DHL Stormers: 15 SP Marais, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Chris van Zyl, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Seabelo Senatla.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Johnny Kotze, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Divan Rossouw, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 André Warner, 8 Thembelani Bholi, 7 Jason Jenkins, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Nqobisiwe Mxol, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19 Nic de Jager, 20 Roelof Smit, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Travis Ismaiel.
