Gutsy DHL Stormers go down fighting
A 14-man DHL Stormers showed great fighting spirit, but were unable to prevent the Waratahs claiming a tense 32-30 victory at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
The home side looked to have done enough to secure victory, but a late try from Michael Hooper saw the visitors take the honours in a hard-fought battle.
It was just their third defeat of the season, but the bonus point they earned sees them keep their place at the top of Africa conference 1.
The DHL Stormers took the game to the Waratahs early on and won two penalties in opposition territory, but both attempts on goal from flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis were wide of the mark.
Instead it was the Waratahs who opened the scoring, as centre Kurtley Beale darted through to score the first try, which went unconverted for a 5-0 lead.
However, the DHL Stormers did not trail for long as a great flip pass from Nic Groom saw Schalk Burger score under the poles to put them 7-5 up.
The DHL Stormers’ second try was sparked by a break from Pieter-Steph du Toit who surged into the Waratahs 22, and the big lock was on hand to finish it off as well as he crashed over from close range shortly afterwards.
The visitors had the final say before half-time, as an Israel Folau try saw them trail the DHL Stormers 14-12 at the break.
The hosts were first to score in the second half through a Du Plessis penalty, and the Waratahs responded soon afterwards with a penalty of their own from Foley.
The flyhalves exchanged penalties once again before the DHL Stormers were struck a major blow when wing Leolin Zas was shown a red card for colliding with another player in the air.
Despite that setback, the DHL Stormers were next to score through another Du Plessis penalty, but the Waratahs would have the lead soon afterwards as wing Rob Horne crossed for their third try to put them 25-23 ahead.
However, the DHL Stormers refused to lie down and after a powerful maul had driven them into the opposition 22, Du Toit took matters into his own hands and powered over for a try between the poles.
The Waratahs would have the final say when skipper Michael Hooper forced his way over for a try at the death which saw them claim a slender victory.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Burger, Du Toit 2
Cons: Du Plessis 3
Pens: Du Plessis 3
For Waratahs:
Tries: Beale, Folau, Horne, Hooper
Cons: Foley 4
Pen: Foley
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Juan de Jongh (co-captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Frans Malherbe (co-captain), 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Oliver Kebble, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Siyamthanda Kolisi, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Huw Jones.
Waratahs: 15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Reece Robinson, 13 Israel Folau, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Jed Holloway, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Will Skelton, 4 David Dennis, 3 Tom Robertson, 2 Hugh Roach, 1 Paddy Ryan.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Sam Lousi, 20 Wycliff Palu, 21 Matt Lucas, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Matt Carraro.
Referee: Mike Fraser
