The DHL Stormers returned to winning ways with a 32-19 bonus point win against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
It was a gutsy performance which saw them score four tries in their final Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby of the season.
The opening exchanges were typically tense and while the home side enjoyed early territorial ascendency, they were unable to make it count as the DHL Stormers defence held firm.
The visitors were reduced to 14 men when Adre Smith was shown a yellow card for a late tackle and the resulting penalty produced a penalty try, with Ben-Jason Dixon also sent to the sin bin for collapsing a maul.
Despite being down to 13, the DHL Stormers hung in bravely and once they were back to 15 they struck immediately, as Damian Willemse waltzed through after running a great line.
The DHL Stormers had two tries from Suleiman Hartzenberg disallowed as first he put a foot in touch and in the second instance received a forward pass from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
The flyhalf made no mistake from the kicking tee just before half-time, as he landed a penalty which gave his team a slender 10-7 advantage at the break.
The DHL Stormers were first to score in the second half as a second penalty from Feinberg-Mngomezulu saw them double their lead.
They kept the pressure on and it paid off as Paul de Villiers surged over for a try from a powerful maul to make it 18-7.
They followed that up with a penalty try from another maul before the Vodacom Bulls hit back with a try from scrumhalf Zak Burger against the run of play.
The DHL Stormers wrapped up the bonus point when Hacjivah Dayimani showed incredible pace to chase down a kick ahead from Damian Willemse to score.
The Vodacom Bulls were last to score, but it was little more than a consolation as the DHL Stormers secured a comfortable win in the end.
The scorers:
For Vodacom Bulls:
Tries: Penalty try, Burger, Arendse
Con: Pollard
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Willemse, De Villiers, penalty try, Dayimani
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2
Pens: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Paul de Villiers, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Imad Khan, 22 Jonathan Roche, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
