DHL Stormers shut Cardiff down

The DHL Stormers scored three tries in each half to claim a convincing 40-3 Vodacom United Rugby Championship win against Cardiff at DHL Stadium on Sunday.

It was the second straight bonus-point win and third consecutive home win for the DHL Stormers, as they showed up on both attack and defence, scoring six and preventing Cardiff from scoring a single try.

The visitors opened the scoring with a penalty from Jarrod Evans, but those were to be their only points of the afternoon as the DHL Stormers responded with 40 unanswered points.

The DHL Stormers first absorbed some pressure, before they responded through their backline with three scintillating tries.

A chip and chase down the left wing from Leolin Zas created the chance for centre Ruhan Nel to open the scoring and Zas had his name in the scoreboard next as he finished off a flowing move, which saw Warrick Gelant volley the ball into the 22 to create the opportunity.

Gelant then combined with Manie Libbok and Herschel Jantjies to create the third try, finished by Libbok just before the break.

That saw the DHL Stormers go into half-time with a 19-3 advantage, just one try short of the bonus point.

The home side dominated territory and possession early in the second half, but were unable to find the killer blow, until replacement Junior Pokomela took an inside ball to score the bonus-point try.

That was followed up quickly by another loose forward try as No.8 Evan Roos burst through and turned on the pace to score.

There were some gaps appearing in the Cardiff defensive line and replacement centre Rikus Pretorius took fulladvantage as he dummined his way through before racing away for the sixth.

The scorers:

For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Nel, Zas, Libbok, Pokomela, Roos, Pretorius
Cons: Libbok 4, Swiel

For Cardiff:
Pen: Evans

DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Rikus Pretorius.

Cardiff Rugby: Matthew Morgan; Jason Harries, Max Llewellyn, Ben Thomas, Theo Cabango; Jarrod Evans, Lloyd Williams; Corey Domachowski, Kristian Dacey, Dmitri Arhip, Matthew Screech, Rory Thornton, Josh Turnbull (capt.), Ellis Jenkins, James Botham
Replacements: Keiron Assiratti, Brad Thyer, Will Davies-King, Teddy Williams, Will Boyde, Ellis Bevan, Garyn Smith, Hallam Amos