DHL Stormers leave Dragons behind
The DHL Stormers scored 15 unanswered points in the second half to claim a deserved 24-10 Vodacom United Rugby Championship win against the Dragons at Rodney Parade in Newport on Friday.
Two tries from wing Leolin Zas and a herculean defensive effort, coupled with a g\huge performance in the set-pieces from the forward pack saw the DHL Stormers claim their first win of the competition and end their tour on a high.
The DHL Stormers were forced to defend manfully in the early stages as the home side threw absolutely everything at them. However, it was the visitors that came up with the first points as flyhalf Manie Libbok kicked a penalty after 15 minutes.
The big hits kept coming from the DHL Stormers and one of them resulted in them reduced to 14 men as captain Salmaan Moerat was shown a yellow card for a tackle which was called high.
The Dragons took advantage with a try and a penalty soon after, to put them 10-3 up.
The DHL Stormers refused to drop their heads and took the game to the Dragons, roaring back with two more Libbok penalties which saw them go into half-time trailing by just one point.
The visitors dominated territory and possession after the break, putting the Dragons under pressure in the set-pieces and it finally paid off as Leolin Zas ran onto a grubber from Gelant to score.
A breakdown penalty soon afterwards saw the DHL Stormers open up a seven-point advantage and they doubled that lead with Zas’second try which came at the death.
An attacking scrum for the Dragons was turned into a second try for the wing as the turnover ball was kicked long and chased down.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Zas 2
Con: Libbok
Pens: Libbok 4
For Dragons:
Try: Lewis
Con: Davies
Pen: Davies
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Justin Basson, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Juan de Jongh.
Dragons: Jordan Williams, Jonah Holmes, Jack Dixon, Aneurin Owen, Jordan Olowofela, Sam Davies, Gonzalo Bertranou, Greg Bateman, Elliot Dee, Mesake Doge, Will Rowlands, Ben Carter, Ross Moriarty (CAPT), Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Taylor Davies, Aki Seiuli, Chris Coleman, Joe Davies, Joe Maksymiw, Ollie Griffiths, Rhodri Williams, Josh Lewis.
