Lions edge ill-disciplined Stormers at Newlands
A late try saw the Lions come from behind to claim the win against a Stormers team that was shown two yellow cards and one red card.
The Stormers came out firing early on and it was not long before they had the opening try. A chip over the top from flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis was collected by fullback Dillyn Leyds and a few phases later scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage darted over.
Pressure at scrum-time from the Stormers resulted in a penalty in opposition territory, which Du Plessis slotted to make it 10-0 after 20 minutes.
The Lions got on the scoreboard with a try from scrumhalf Nic Groom, who dummied his way over to make it 10-7.
The Stormers forwards responded with a series of powerful mauls and scrums before the ball was sent to the backline, with Raymond Rhule getting on the end of a Craig Barry grubber to score the next try.
The Stormers were reduced to 14 men just before half-time when centre Johannes Engelbrecht was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle and had a chance to extend their lead further, but Du Plessis’ penalty attempt bounced off the uprights.
The Stormers were forced to play the last 30 minutes with just 14 men after wing Raymond Rhule was shown a red card, when he collided with an Lions player in the air.
Lions replacement prop Corne Fourie got the first points of the second half when he placed the ball on the line, to reduce the Stormers lead to 17-12 with 25 minutes left.
The Stormers were down to 13 men shortly after that when replacement loose forward Jaco Coetzee was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements from his team. Fourie scored his second try from the resulting maul to give the Lions a 19-17 advantage heading into the final 20 minutes.
Despite that, the Stormers marched upfield and reclaimed the lead, with Du Plessis kicking two penalties in quick succession to put them 23-19 up.
The Lions were to strike the final blow with a late try from replacement wing Madosh Tambwe which sealed the win.
Man of the match: Francois Mostert played an integral part in his team's resurgence in the second half and he deserves the award. Special mention also goes to Corne Fourie who scored two tries in the second half.
The scorers:
For Stormers:
Tries: Duvenage, Rhule
Cons: Du Plessis 2
Pens: Du Plessis 3
For Lions:
Tries: Groom, Fourie 2, Tambwe
Cons: Jantjies 2
Red card: Raymond Rhule (Stormers, 50 – Reckless challenge)
Yellow cards: Johannes Engelbrecht (Stormers, 36 – foul play, dangerous tackle); Jaco Coetzee (Stormers, 59 – foul play, late tackle)
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Craig Barry, 13 Johannes Engelbrecht, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Chris van Zyl, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Jacobus Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Jaco Coetzee, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 EW Viljoen.
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Rohan Janse Van Rensburg, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Albertus Smith, 7 Franco Mostert (captain), 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques Van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Corne Fourie, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Rhyno Herbst, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Madosh Tambwe, 23 Shaun Reynolds.
Referee: Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Quinton Immelman (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Christie du Preez (South Africa)
@THESTORMERS
