DHL Stormers shut down at Loftus
The DHL Stormers went down 40-3 in their opening encounter of the 2019 Vodacom Super Rugby season against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
It was a tough start to the campaign for the DHL Stormers, as their hosts in Pretoria scored all four tries to secure the win.
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The home side struck first at left wing Rosko Specman stepped through a gap to skip through for the opening try.
The DHL Stormers got on the scoreboard soon afterwards when their hosts shot up offsides and SP Marais slotted the penalty.
Specman went in for his second try which came as the result of a well-timed pass and the Vodacom Bulls followed that up with a third try from right wing Jonny Kotze.
The DHL Stormers were dominant in the scrums, but were left frustrated in the line-outs, with the Vodacom Bulls able to put the set-piece under pressure.
That saw the DHL Stormers go into half-time trailing 21-3, leaving them with it all to do in the second half.
The Vodacom Bulls struck early in the second half as outside centre Jesse Kriel collected a chip over the top to go in for their fourth try and make it 28-3.
They followed that up with four consecutive penalties from flyhalf Handre Pollard, which put them out of reach and sealed a dominant performance from the home side.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers:
Pen: Marais
For Vodacom Bulls:
Tries: Specman 2, Kotze, Kriel
Cons: Pollard 4
Pens: Pollard 4
DHL Stormers: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 JJ Engelbrecht, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 SP Marais, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Kobus van Dyk, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Dan du Plessis.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Johnny Kotzé, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Lood de Jager (captain), 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Thembelani Bholi, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Dylan Sage.
