All Blacks survive Stormers scare to win Rugby's Greatest Rivalry opener

MATCH REPORT: New Zealand got their Rugby Greatest Rivalry Tour underway with a nervy 38-21 victory after putting on a disjointed performance against the Stormers at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Friday.

The All Blacks, who were ill-disciplined and at times looked out of depth, outscored the hosts by six tries to three to seal the win in the second half.

They will next face the Sharks in Durban on Tuesday with plenty to work on for Dave Rennie’s men ahead of the first test with the Springboks.

It was a frantic start to the clash, and the All Blacks played with high tempo and intensity in the opening five minutes.

The Stormers were dealt a massive blow after scrumhalf Imad Khan left the field early on to what looked like a knee injury.

*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!

The All Blacks put the Stormers under immense pressure, and talisman Beauden Barrett was pulling the strings, linking up Peter Lakai on a move that almost turned into a try.

After five minutes of resolute pressure, the All Blacks finally broke the deadlock when hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho crashed over from a rolling maul. Barrett converted the extra two.

Immediately after that try, Barrett almost scored his side’s second, but he knocked the ball just metres away from the tryline.
The Stormers won a penalty from that scrum and relieved some pressure with the boot of Yaqeen Ahmed.

The home side then got into their groove, and they started to dominate the set-piece and pinned the All Blacks inside their half.

They thought they had opened their tally after André-Hugo Venter crashed over from the back of a rolling maul, but it was disallowed for obstruction.

Minutes later, the Stormers found themselves playing against 13 men after Anton Leinert-Brown and Simon Parker were shown yellow cards for a high tackle and cynical play, respectively.

John Dobson’s men capitalised on the numbers advantage, and they used their powerful maul to effect as veteran Deon Fourie scored before Ahmed converted the try to make it 7-7.

The All Blacks had several chances to grab back the lead, and Billy Proctor squandered one of them, knocking the ball with the tryline staring at him.

The Stormers, meanwhile, continued to enjoy scrum dominance, and youngster Vernon Matongo was having the half of his life against Pasilio Tosi.

It was the visitors, however, who had the last say as Parker crashed over in the corner with two minutes remaining.
New Zealand led 14-7 at the break.

The Stormers came out firing in the second stanza and kept the ball in hand, trying to open up the All Blacks defence.
The visitors, on the other hand, continued to concede clumsy penalties, and Barrett was penalised for pulling Seabelo Senatla mid-air.

The Stormers threatened from deep inside their half.

Ahmed took a quick tap from a penalty before linking up with Seabelo Senatla, who found André-Hugo Venter on the inside, but the opportunity fizzled out.

Senatla, who had looked lively all night long, finally got his try after a lineout move with Deon Fourie saw him score under the poles untouched.

Ahmed again converted the extra two to make it 14-14 and set up a tense final 25 minutes.

The All Blacks started to gel after conceding that try and put together several phases before Rieko Ioane sliced his way through the Stormers defence to extend his team’s lead.

The Stormers lost another scrumhalf as Dewaldt Duvenage left the field with an injury.

Soon after, the All Blacks upped the ante and scored two late tries by Leroy Carter and Josh Moorby after he charged down a kick by Hacjivah Dayimani, who was covering on the wing.

Replacement flyhalf Josh Jacomb converted one of the two tries.

The Stormers were awarded a penalty try after Moorby illegally stopped Gelant from scoring in the dying seconds.

Replacement hooker Asafo Aumua, however, had the last say, scoring after the buzzer to see the All Blacks seal a 38-21 win.

Scorers:

For Stormers:
Tries: Fourie, Senatla, Penalty Try
Cons: Ahmed 2

For New Zealand:
Tries: Taukei’aho, Parker, Ioane, Carter, Moorby, Aumua
Cons: B Barrett 3, Jacomb

Yellow cards: Anton Leinert-Brown (New Zealand, 13 – foul play, high tackle); Simon Parker (New Zealand, 14 – cynical play); Josh Moorby (New Zealand, 78 – foul play).

Teams:

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Yaqeen Ahmed, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Vernon Matongo.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 Ruan Ackermann, 20 Keke Morabe, 21 Wandile Mlaba, 22 Dewaldt Duvenage, 23 Wandisile Simelane

New Zealand: 15 Josh Moorby, 14 Leroy Carter, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Anton Leinert-Brown, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Anton Segner, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Fabian Holland, 3 Pasilio Tosi, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 George Bower.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Siale Lauaki, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Ethan Blackadder, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Josh Jacomb, 23 Caleb Clarke

Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)