DHL Stormers take Vodacom Bulls down

The DHL Stormers moved to second place on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship standings with a 37-27 win against the Vodacom Bulls at DHL Stadium on Friday.

Three quick tries after half-time saw the home side claim the bonus point and pick up a crucial win against their old rivals, which also puts them at the top of the South African Shield.

The DHL Stormers made a stirring start in front of a vocal crowd at DHL Stadium, with two penalties from Manie Libbok giving them an early 6-0 lead.

The Vodacom Bulls were down to 14 when Marco van Staden was shown yellow for a high tackle on Dan du Plessis, but they managed to get on the scoreboard with a penalty of their own from Johan Goosen.

The DHL Storers took advantage as a powerful maul was pulled down just short of the tryline and a penalty try awarded, with Vodacom Bulls No.8 Elrigh Louw sent to the bin this time.

The visitors managed a try from Nizaam Carr and added another penalty to draw level at 13-13.

The DHL Stormers ended the first half camped on the tryline, but couldn’t convert and they went into the break all square.

The DHL Stormers cut loose with three quick tries at the start of the second half.

Hooker Joseph Dweba was first to score as he barged his way over a few defenders and they followed that up with two scintillating tries from the backline.

Outside Suleiman Hartzenberg made the initial break before getting it back to score and the third was from Leolin Zas, who stepped off his wing and kept going to secure the bonus point.

There were two tries from the visitors as they tried to claw their way back into it, but another penalty from Libbok meant that they were never really close enough and the DHL Stormers ended the game with a 10-point win and a bonus point.

The scorers:

For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Penalty try, Dweba, Hartzenberg, Zas
Cons: Libbok 3
Pens: Libbok 3

For Vodacom Bulls:
Tries: Carr, Van Staden, Du Plessis
Cons: Goosen 2, Smith
Pens: Goosen 2

DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ben-Jason Dixon, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.