Five-try DHL Stormers claim full house
The DHL Stormers scored five tries to claim a full house of five log points in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Zebre Parma in Stellenbosch on Saturday.
The home side got back to winning ways with what was a comfortable victory in the end at the Danie Craven Stadium.
The DHL Stormers dominated the early exchanges, camping in opposition territory as the Italian side were forced to defend for their lives.
The pressure eventually told when a powerful scrum in the 22 resulted in a pushover try for No.8 Evan Roos, with Manie Libbok slotting the conversion from wide on the right.
The rest of the first half was something of a stop-start affair, with both teams battling to keep possession for extended periods.
The DHL Stormers scroed again just before half-time as Ruhan Nel got on the end of a well-weighted grubber from Damian Willemse to score in the corner.
The visitors managed a try on the stroke of half-time, with scrumhalf Alessandro Fusco scoring between the poles to make it 12-7 at the break.
The home side started the second half with real intent and strung some passes together to put Courtnall Skosan over for the third try, which was duly converted by Libbok.
From there it was about hunting the bonus point try and after coming close a few times, the fourth try eventually came as Leolin Zas went through from a slick backline move following a line-out.
The DHL Stormers had all the late momentum and they added a fifth try as Damian Willemse finished out wide, with Libbok adding the touchline conversion in front of a grandstand that was chanting his name.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Roos, Nel, Skosan, Zas, Willemse
Cons: Libbok 3
For Zebre Parma:
Try: Fusco
Con: Montemauri
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Clayton Blommetjies, 23 Suleiman Hartzenberg.
