DHL Stormers fight back for draw in Singapore
The DHL Stormers showed great character to fight back to secure a 17-17 draw against the Sunwolves in Singapore on Saturday.
Having trailed for most of the match, a last-gasp try from replacement prop Vincent Koch saw the two teams share the spoils in the end.
The DHL Stormers had the home side under pressure early on, winning an early penalty from a scrum in front of the poles which Jean-Luc du Plessis kicked over to open the scoring.
However, the Sunwolves took the lead soon afterwards as a penalty from their flyhalf Tusi Pisi was followed up by a try in the corner from wing Akihito Yamada to put them 8-3 up.
The DHL Stormers took the ball deep into opposition territory, but could not find reward, and the Sunwolves were able to stretch their lead out to 14-3 at the half-time break with another two penalties from the boot of Pisi.
The Japanese side looked to have scored another try early in the second half, but it was disallowed by the TMO after Yamada was ruled to have played the ball on the ground in the act of scoring.
The Sunwolves were next to score however, when Pisi kicked another penalty soon afterwards which took their lead out to 17-3 with 30 minutes left to play.
The DHL Stormers regrouped well and took the game to the Sunwolves who gave away three penalties in their 22 before Pieter-Steph du Toit forced his way over from close range for a try which cut the deficit to 17-10 once converted by Du Plessis.
The Sunwolves poured the pressure on in response, but the DHL Stormers showed great composure to work their way from their own 22 to put Koch in position to barge over at the death, with the conversion from replacement flyhalf Brandon Thomson securing the dramatic draw.
The scorers:
For Sunwolves:
Try: Yamada
Pens: Pisi 4
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Du Toit, Koch
Cons: Du Plessis, Thomson
Pen: Du Plessis
Teams:
Sunwolves: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Derek Carpenter, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa (captain), 11 John Stewart, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Atsushi Hiwasha, 8 Ed Quirk, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Liaki Moli, 5 Faatiga Lemalu, 4 Timothy Bond, 3 Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 2, Takeshi Kizu, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements: 16 Shota Horie, 17 Ziun Gu, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Yoshiya Hosoda, 20 Taiyo Ando, 21 Yuki Yatomi, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Mifiposeti Paea.
DHL Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Johnny Kotze, 13 Juan de Jongh (co-captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kobus van Wyk, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Frans Malherbe (co-captain), 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Huw Jones.
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
