URC result: Stormers thump wasteful 14-man Lions in Cape Town

The Stormers ended a four game losing streak in style as they cruised to a 29-10 bonus point win over an ill-disciplined and wasteful Lions in their United Rugby Championship (URC) match at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions played for almost three quarters of the game a man less, and were even down to 13-men for 10 minutes in the second half, after lock Ruben Schoeman picked up a deserved first half red card for a desperately poor cleanout at a ruck.

The Lions got off to a great start in the match and thought they had opened the scoring in the 10^th minute, when from a scrum in the Stormers half they attacked, with scrumhalf Morne van den Berg picking up at a ruck and breaking, before beating two tackles and going over.

TMO intervention

But the TMO intervened and spotted Lions captain Marius Louw offsides at the scrum which saw the score chalked off.

That allowed the Stormers to take the lead in the 15^th minute as they received a couple of penalties in quick succession, kicked the ball into the corner, secured the lineout, set the maul and powered over for hooker Joseph Dweba to dot down for a 5-0 lead.

The defining moment then followed in the 22^nd minute as Schoeman charged into Stormers flyhalf Manie Libbok with a tucked shoulder, colliding with his head, to receive his marching orders.

The Stormers immediately kicked the ball to touch and Dweba thought he had his second, only for the TMO to rule the try out for obstruction.

The hosts however soon had their second with them back on attack in the Lions 22m, Libbok sent a perfectly weighted cross kick to wing Suleiman Hartzenberg to catch and dive over to put them 10-0 up after 26 minutes.

In the 35^th minute the Stormers were in for a third, almost a carbon copy of the first, kicking to the corner, setting the maul and Dweba dotting down, while Libbok missed his third straight conversion attempt to leave the score 15-0 which they took into halftime.

Perfect start

The Lions got off to the perfect start in the second half, starting an attack in their half, with the ball going to wing Edwill van der Merwe, who chipped ahead and fielded the ball, before going over in the corner to make it 15-5 after 45 minutes.

Six minutes later the Stormers hit back, assisted by Lions replacement Manny Rass coming on and earning a yellow card for a deliberate knock on, with the hosts using their two man advantage well as they went through the phases and finished with wing Leolin Zas scoring, converted by Libbok to push them 17 points ahead.

The back and forth half continued as the Lions struck in the 65^th minute, setting up a lineout in the Stormers 22m, where replacement hooker Franco Marais threw a short ball to eighthman Francke Horn, who passed it back and Marais went over to make it 22-10.

The Lions had a couple more opportunities which they didn’t take, which allowed the Stormers to make the game safe in the 76^th minute, attacking from their own half, with a wonderful move from the backs ending with replacement prop Neethling Fouche crashing over to seal the win.

Scorers

Stormers: Tries – Joseph Dweba (2), Suleiman Hartzenberg, Leolin Zas, Neethling Fouche; Conversions – Manie Libbok (2)

Lions: Tries – Edwill van der Merwe, Franco Marais