Enterprising Stormers claim deserved derby win

Lady Luck did not always smile on the Bulls but they could have no complaints about the result as the impressive Stormers comprehensively outplayed them 37-24 in their Super Rugby opener at Newlands on Saturday night.

The Stormers began with terrific intensity and tempo and the Bulls were soon resembling hesitant lambs to the slaughter rather than arch-rivals and self-professed strong contenders for the knockout rounds.

The home side dominated territory and possession from the start, but were initially denied by some good defence from the Bulls.

But the wall finally cracked in the 15^th minute and it came after the Bulls had actually mounted a rare attack, wing Travis Ismaiel bursting clear into the Stormers 22.

A lack of support meant scrumhalf Rudy Paige was then turned over by lock Eben Etzebeth and a fantastic counter-attack by the Stormers saw their halfback Jano Vermaak race away before sending fullback SP Marais over on a weaving run.

The pressure never relented for the rest of the first half either as the Stormers sped up the game at every opportunity, avoiding rucks and set-pieces, even though they had a huge upper hand in the scrums.

And the Stormers made the Bulls pay as they stretched their lead to a commanding 24-0 at halftime.

Outside centre EW Viljoen put a little grubber through and Cheslin Kolbe, playing on the right wing, ghosted through like quicksilver and gathered to score the second try.

Pollard, playing his first Super Rugby match in 18 months, was having a nightmare, kicking poorly and struggling with his distribution.

It was the new captain’s double-mistake a minute before the break which gifted the Stormers their third try.

Pollard’s terrible pass inside his own 22 first of all had his backline scrambling, conceding a scrum, which led to a penalty for the Stormers.

The home side chose another scrum and centre Damian de Allende’s beautifully-delayed pass suckered Pollard into rushing out of the defensive line and eighthman Nizaam Carr stepped inside through the gap and scored.

The Bulls started the second half well though, Pollard regrouping with a lovely chip and regather, before wing Jamba Ulengo went through two defenders and offloaded for eighthman Hanro Liebenberg to stretch over and claim the visitors’ first try.

Flank Siya Kolisi, the new Stormers captain, has certainly stamped his own mark on the team as he led from the front with an outstanding display.

He powered down the blindside, bumping off fullback Jesse Kriel, to score the home team’s fourth try.

Du Plessis had spotted the gap on the blindside to set up Kolisi.

Ulengo was one of the few Bulls players to impress and another strong run by the new Springbok saw him stopped just short, but Paige was quickly on hand to recycle and send prop Pierre Schoeman crashing over for their second try.

Du Plessis kicked another penalty after a poor late-tackle call, but Liebenberg, who made his fame as the captain of the 2015 SA Under-20 side, powered down the right touchline to score.

There was perhaps a small glimmer of hope for the Bulls as they were 17-32 down with 18 minutes remaining, but Stormers wing Dillon Leyds went through a half-gap and corkscrewed over the line to settle the outcome with the Capetonians 37-17 ahead.

Bulls replacement scrumhalf Piet van Zyl jinked over during injury time, but the 37-24 scoreline wasn’t a true reflection of how the Stormers dominated.

The pack once again won the physical battle against the Bulls and the best compliment one can pay the Stormers is that they were reminiscent of the 2016 Lions.

Point scorers: Stormers 37 (24) – Tries: SP Marais, Cheslin Kolbe, Nizaam Carr, Siya Kolisi, Dyllin Leyds. Conversions: Jean-Luc du Plessis (3). Penalties: Du Plessis (2). Bulls 24 (0) – Tries: Hanro Liebenberg (2), Pierre Schoeman, Piet van Zyl. Conversions: Handre Pollard, Tian Schoeman.

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