URC Result: Mngomezulu leads Stormers to solid win over Zebre

Young Stormers inside centre Sacha Mngomezulu superbly led his side to a solid 37-20 (halftime 17-7) bonus point win over Zebre Parma in their United Rugby Championship clash at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Italy on Saturday afternoon.

Junior Bok Mngomezulu, on his first start for the Stormers, was entrusted with the kicking duties ahead of flyhalf Manie Libbok.

He duly rewarded the faith shown in him as he produced a fantastic performance to slot all seven of his shots at goal, while he also scored a try and assisted one, and ended up scoring 22 of the teams 37 points.

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The Stormers got off to a strong start in the match, with their scrum earning an early penalty, getting them into the Zebre 22m.

Another penalty allowed them to put the ball out on the 5m, secure the lineout, set up the maul, and power over, with flank Junior Pokomela dotting down and Mngomezulu converting to put them 7-0 up.

The Stormers continued to dominate, with a number of penalties against Zebre keeping them pinned in their territory, but after missing a few chances the visitors then chose to go for the three points, with Mngomezulu slotting a penalty after 16 minutes to take a 10-0 lead.

Zebre then finally managed to get a foothold in the game and enjoyed some positive territory and possession, but it was the Stormers who went further ahead in the 36^th minute.

From a lineout on Zebre’s 22m the Stormers set up a strong maul, with Pokomela breaking off and getting close, before the recycled ball then found prop Neethling Fouche on the charge to crash over for a converted score.

Zebre however had the final say of the half as straight from the kick off they earned a penalty, kicked into the Stormers 22m, attacked from the lineout, with scrumhalf Chris Cook then sniping over to score, and flyhalf Tiff Eden converting to make it 17-7 at the break.

Fast second half start

The second half then kicked off with Zebre powering into the Stormers 22m, setting up a number of pick and goes for the forwards, before prop Ion Neculai powered over to score, with Eden’s extras bringing them to within three points after 42 minutes.

In the 51^st minute the Stormers then struck back against the run of play, as big pressure on a Zebre scrum led to the hosts dropping the ball, allowing Mngomezulu to toe the ball ahead, catch it and offload to scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies to go over to score, with the conversion putting them up 24-14.

A kicking battle between Eden and Mngomezulu then took centre stage as they traded four penalties between them from the 59^th to 68^th minute, with the score 30-20 in the Stormers favour at that stage.

With the game then winding down, the Stormers attacked from a scrum in the Zebre 22m, as the ball the ball inevitably found its way to Mngomezulu to put the cherry on the cake with the fourth try bonus point, and converted it to complete a good win.

Scorers

Zebre: Tries – Chris Cook, Ion Neculai; Conversions – Tiff Eden (2); Penalties: Eden (2)

Stormers: Tries – Junior Pokomela, Neethling Fouche, Herschel Jantjies, Sacha Mngomezulu; Conversions – Mngomezulu (4); Penalties – Mngomezulu (3)