Player Ratings: Stormers

OPINION: The Stormers didn’t just make up the numbers against the All Blacks. In the slippery conditions in Cape Town, the Stormers put New Zealand under serious pressure at set-piece time and matched their intensity in a fiercely contested first half.

In the final quarter the All Blacks managed to pull clear, but the Stormers’ scrum, lineout and impressive showing from several emerging players ensured this was anything but an easy night for the visitors. Late tries for the All Blacks made the final score look more favourable for the visitors.

15 Warrick Gelant – 7.5

He put in a great tackle in midfield early in the game as the ABs were racing toward the line, excellent tackle on Anton Leinert-Brown and winning the breakdown penalty. Put a great dink through at the start of the second to set up a lineout metres out. Almost managed to score with three minutes to go. All in all a solid performance.

14 Seabelo Senatla 7

He managed to knock the ball out of Barrett’s hand on the way to the tryline, preventing their second try; and almost grabbed the Stormers’ first try, but lost it forward over the line. He was penalised for hands over the ball and from there the ABs scored their second. He scored a beautiful try after a picture-perfect pass from Fourie from the back of a lineout. Took over the scrumhalf duties after Duvenhage departed

13 Ruhan Nel – 6

The captain was strong in defense; he ran the defensive line of the Stormers with well, combined efficiently with the team in midfield to plug the holes and limiting the ABs’ options; left the field in the 42nd minute

12 Jonathan Roche – 6.5

He got to within a metre of the ABs tryline and had quite a few strong runs. He put his body on the line throughout the game, smashing into opposition without hesitation.

11 Leolin Zas – 7

He did the basics, was steady under the high ball, and put in his tackles out wide.

10 Yaqeen Ahmed – 8

The youngster looked calm and collected at the outset against his formidable opponent, made his first tackle and cleared for touch comfortably. His clearance kicks were spot on, he nailed his first conversion, but that try was disallowed; the following one was spot on too. He looked extremely comfortable on the bigger stage and grew in confidence as the game went on.

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All Blacks dig deep to keep Stormers at bayhttps://t.co/BfDP2zAuE0

— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) August 7, 2026

9 Imad Khan – NA

He had a busy start to the game but got injured by seemingly twisting his knee in a non-contact situation and left the field in the 3rd minute.

8 Evan Roos – 6.5

He carried hard and took the physicality to the All Blacks. He did the tough work on the ground and wasn’t flashy. His performance was marred by a few knock-ons and missed tackles.

7 Hacjivah Dayimani – 7.5

The other stand-out forward in the squad. He never shied away from the physical battle, winning plenty of collisions against a powerful All Blacks pack. His handling was not flawless, but an all-round sterling performance.

6 Deon Fourie – 8

This man is an anomaly. He just gets on with it, even at the ripe age of 39. It’s like he never took a breakthrough injury. Scored the first try from a maul after the first was disallowed and consistently put in two or three tackles in a row in midfield.

5 Connor Evans – 8

He was the superior lock on the field, was a tower of strength in the lineouts and had a stormer of a game. Created multiple attacking opportunities for his side and most likely the best Stormers forward on the day.

4 Adré Smith – 6.5

He had a fair outing, nothing spectacular. But he did his job admirably, took his line-out balls and combined well with Evans in the lineouts.

3 Neethling Fouché 8

One of the stars in the Stormers pack. In tandem with his front row team members, they consistently had the better of the scrums. He made his presence felt and never backed down. He was replaced by Lubbe in he 71st minute

2 André-Hugo Venter – 7.5

His try was chalked off early on after sustained pressure by the Stormers maul. He kept his composure and had a beautiful run down the touchline. He departed in the 62nd minute.

1 Vernon Matongo – 7.5

The Stormers scrum asked a lot of questions of the Stormers and Matongo was a big part of the performance. He won a penalty for the Stormers in the first scrum, signalling his intent not to back down. He consistently got the better of his opponent (Pasilio Tosi), replaced in the 45th minute.

Replacements: As most of the replacements took the field after 60 minutes, they had not significant effect on the game, besides Dewaldt Duvenhage, who replaced Khan in the third minute and was solid before departing due to injury.