URC result: Hartzenberg hattrick helps Stormers thrash Edinburgh

A hattrick from right wing Suleiman Hartzenberg helped the Stormers run rampant as they clinched a 43-21 bonus point win over Edinburgh in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday evening.

Left wing Leolin Zas and eighthman Evan Roos also scored doubles, as the home side ran in seven tries to three from the visitors for an impressive win.

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In all it was a fantastic all-round performance as the forwards laid a powerful platform up front, while the backs dazzled with a number of superb long range tries scored on the night.

Hartzenberg’s first

The hosts were first on the scoreboard in the 11^th minute when they started an attack in their own half and worked their way to just outside the visitors 22m area where flyhalf Manie Libbok received the ball and sent a perfect cross kick for Hartzenberg to pick up and dot down.

Libbok added the extras, but Edinburgh were soon level as three minutes later the seized on a Stormers error, picking up a loose ball just outside the home sides 22m, with right wing Jacob Henry getting the ball and powering over for the converted score.

The Stormers retook the lead in the 20^th minute as a scintillating counter attack ended with Hartzenberg beating the final man down the line and going over in the corner, with Libbok making it 14-7.

A scrappy 15-minute period then followed, before a frantic final four minutes to the half saw three more tries scored.

First a cross kick from Libbok wasn’t fielded by Edinburgh, which allowed flank Ben-Jason Dixon to get a toe to the ball, which saw Zas ghost through, pick it up and run away to score.

Edinburgh immediately hit back as from a lineout in the Stormers 22m the ball found rampaging eighthman Viliame Mata to power over and score, with flyhalf Ben Healy slotting a second conversion.

On the stroke of halftime the Stormers backs started another brilliant attack in their own half, with the ball going through the hands and ended with Zas running over the score, with replacement flyhalf Jurie Matthee, on temporarily for Libbok who went off for an HIA, slotting the conversion from touch for a 26-14 halftime lead.

The hattrick

Edinburgh started well in the second half, but strong defence from the Stormers kept them out and allowed them to go further ahead in the 49^th minute as Hartzenberg scored his second after superb work from outside centre Wandisile Simelane and Roos put him away.

This allowed the Stormers to effectively end the game as a contest in the 58^th minute as they set up a lineout deep in Edinburgh’s 22m, where Roos burst through the middle of the maul to power over and score to put them into a 36-14 lead.

Edinburgh may have thought they had a chance when replacement hooker Patrick Harrison forced his way over from close range after a lineout maul in the 66^th minute, with Healy’s conversion cutting the deficit to 15 points.

But Roos slammed the door four minutes later with another barnstorming effort from a lineout to smash his way over, with Libbok’s extras sealing an emphatic win.

Scorers

Stormers: Tries – Suleiman Hartzenberg (3), Leolin Zas (2), Evan Roos (2); Conversions – Manie Libbok (3), Jurie Matthee

Edinburgh: Tries – Jacob Henry, Viliame Mata, Patrick Harrison; Conversions – Ben Healy (3)