Late bonus for DHL Stormers at home
The DHL Stormers secured the bonus point after the hooter in their 34-14 Heineken Champions Cup win against London Irish at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
They were made to work hard for it by a determined London Irish side, but in the end secured a comfortable win, which saw them outscore the English Premiership side by four tries to two.
The DHL Stormers scored all the points in the first half through a try from Willie Engelbrecht and a penalty from Manie Libbok.
The try came early on as Engelbrecht took a pass from his captain Steven Kitshoff before powering over from close range.
The home side looked to have doubled their lead when lock Salmaan Moerat finished off a spectacular try which started in their own 22, but it was disallowed by the TMO for a forward pass.
London Irish had their moments on attack, but the DHL Stormers defence held up well and the hosts had the final say with Libbok’s penalty just before half-time giving them a 10-0 advantage at the break.
The DHL Stormers made a fast start in the second half, with two quick tries.
The first was set up by Leolin Zas and finished by Hacjivah Dayimani as the wing won a high ball to put the flank away.
The second was set up by Dayimani and finished by Zas as the flank made a break and after some good interplay it was grounded by the wing.
The visitors responded with a maul try from hooker Mike Willemse and kept the pressure on, with the DHL Stormers forced to defend in their 22 for a long time.
They had a second try from replacement Will Joseph five minutes from the end, but the home side would have the final say as a maul try from Junior Pokomela after the hooter secured the bonus point win.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Engelbrecht, Dayimani, Zas, Pokomela
Cons: Libbok 4
Pen: Libbok
For London Irish:
Tries: Willemse, Joseph
Cons: Jackson 2
DHL Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Suleiman Hartzenberg.
