URC result: Stormers turn up the heat in second half to win at Loftus

The Stormers scored three tries in the second half to beat the Bulls at Loftus. Picture: Gallo Images A dominant scrum and lineout, resilient defence while down to 13 men, and brilliant second-half performance secured the Stormers a bonus-point 32-19 win against the Bulls at Loftus in their United Rugby Championship clash on Saturday. While the Stormers were already set for their worst finish in the SA Shield, the result means they will leapfrog the Bulls to end third, with the Bulls finishing in a record-low fourth.

The Stormerswill also climb from fifth to second on the URC’s overall table. Discipline was crucial as both teams played with 13 men for a while. But the Stormers turned up the heat in the second half, extending their 10-7 lead at the break with three tries to two in that period.

The game followed their first leg in Cape Town two months ago, which theStormers edged 13-8, thanks to a late try after a 35-minute deadlock. The Bullswould have opened scoring in just the third minute when Canan Moodie broke the Stormers line and set up Kurt-Lee Arendse to dot down. However, the TMO found a knock-on in the build-up.

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Back-to-back scrum penalties for the Bulls led to an attacking opportunity but another knock-on four minutes later broke their momentum. A Stormers scrum penalty immediately afterwards gave them momentum, but a try on the side by Suleiman Hartzenberg was overruled when the TMO found he put a foot out of bounds. Stormers lock Adré Smith received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Handré Pollard 15th minute, and the pain compounded for the Stormers when Ben-Jason Dixon also received a yellow card for illegally collapsing a maul, and the Bulls received a penalty try in the 19th minute.

Damian Willemse found a gap to score the Stormers’ first try in the 31st minute. Back to their full complement, the Stormers found their rhythm against the Bulls and a Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty gave them a 10-7 lead at the break. The Stormers slotted a penalty kick in the 51st minute before a Paul de Villiers try from a rolling maul extended the lead to 11 points six minutes later.

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