DHL Stormers warm up on Varsity Day

The DHL Stormers squad got a good work-out in sweltering conditions on Varsity Day at Florida Park in Ravensmead on Saturday.

An extended 28-man squad was tested in four 20-minute games, which made up their first pre-season outing of the year in front of a vibrant and enthusiastic crowd.

Maties, UCT, CPUT and the DHL WP XV made up of local club players all put up a spirited fight, which made for compelling viewing throughout the day.

DHL Stormers 10-5 CPUT

Wing Sihle Njezula got on the scoreboard early on and hooker Schalk Erasmus followed up with a maul try in sweltering conditions.

The free-running CPUT scored one of their own against the run of play and showed that they are a significant threat on the counter-attack.

DHL Stormers 10-15 DHL WP XV

Five tries in an action-packed 20 minutes as the local club players gave absolutely everything in the heat of the day.

There were tries from DHL Stormers scrumhalf Deon Carstens and centre Cornel Smit, but they were outscored by the DHL WP XV, with wing Sinethemba Mapaqa from Hamiltons, Jayden Hanlso from Tygerberg and No.8 Joel Paarwater from UWC all crossing the whitweash in a spirited display.

DHL Stormers 5-0 UCT

Wit the wind starting to play more of a role at Florida Park towards the end of the day, the DHL Stormers had their defence tested against UCT.

A break from fullback Abner van Reenen set up field position for a maul try in the corner from hooker Schalk Erasmus.

While UCT enjoyed most of possession, the DHL Stormers defence held out well under pressure.

DHL Stormers 10-5 Maties

The DHL Stormers started on the front foot and the pressure on the Stellenbosch side told as Leolin Zas grabbed an intercept to race away.

Maties got over for a try of their own when DHL Stormers prop Neethling Fouche was shown a yellow card, but the DHL Stormers took control of the final stages, with centre Matt Moore crashing over the line for the final five-pointer of the day.

DHL Stormers Varsity Day results:

Maties 15-10 CPUT
DHL Stormers 10-5 CPUT
DHL WP XV 15-10 DHL Stormers
UCT 15-5 DHL WP XV
Maties 10-5 UCT
DHL WP XV 25-0 Maties
DHL WP XV 0-0 CPUT
UCT 15-0 CPUT
DHL Stormers 5-0 UCT
DHL Stormers 10-5 Maties