Stormers put half-century on winless Bulls to keep season alive

MATCH REPORT: The Stormers XXIII produced a clinical performance to defeat the Bulls XV by 50-26 in Round Six of the Currie Cup at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

The result gives the Capetonians an outside chance of making the play-offs ahead of their final round clash against the Lions next week.

The Bulls’ lack of discipline, ability to convert opportunities early in the game and defence were issues once again, as was the case all season long.

The Stormers looked like a new team, with the halfback combination of captain Ezekiel Ngobeni and Kyle Smith pulling the strings to perfection on the day.

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The Bulls had the Stormers under pressure from the outset with ball in hand, finding space and beating the outside defenders with relative ease and dominated possession and territory in the opening minutes.

The hosts had ample scoring opportunities but failed to capitalise on them, with the Stormers defence denying them crossing the whitewash.

It was the Stormers who struck first through Markus Muller in the 16th minute, sparked by a linebreak by Mfundo Ndhlovu. Kyle Smith added the extras.

The visitors scored their second try of the afternoon in the 22nd minute through flyhalf Smith after a sequence of offloads between the backs and forwards, having the Bulls’ defence in sixes and sevens. Smith converted his own try.

Luke Burger made a stunning break from the restart which led to the Stormers’ third try in the 26th minute by Herman Lubbe.

The Bulls responded through Junior Bok captain Siphosethu Mnebelele, who barged over the line from a line-out maul on the 30-minute mark. Keagan Johannes slotted the conversion.

The Stormers scored their bonus-point try against the run of play in the 35th minute after he gathered a ball knocked on by the Bulls and raced away to the line. Smith slotted the conversion.

The visitors had the final say in the first half after Vernon Paulo crossed the whitewash under the sticks for his side’s fifth after a tap penalty from five metres out. Smith’s conversion sent the teams into the sheds for oranges.

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The second half started in the worst possible way for the Bulls after Abongile Nonkontwana was sent to the sinbin for a dangerous tackle on Kyle Smith in the 41st minute.

The Stormers cashed in on the opportunity after several attempts through Leotlela, who grabbed a brace in the 46th minute after getting past Riyaad Bam to dot the ball down. Smith nailed the sideline conversion kick.

The Bulls grabbed one back through Demitre Erasmus, who scored an individual try after kicking a grubber and regathering the ball to get his side’s second try of the afternoon.

The Stormers were warned after conceding a series of penalties in the red zone, as the Bulls, much like last week against the Cheetahs, started to find their groove.

The Bulls scored their third through a rolling maul try by Jon Hobson in the 58th minute. Johannes added the extras.

Smith nailed a penalty in the 64th minute to stretch the Stormers’ lead to 43-19 before the visitors went down to 14 players after Cornel Smit was yellow-carded for being off his feet contesting at the breakdown in his red zone following the earlier team warning.

The Bulls made it count as Kebotile Maake crossed the line from a rolling maul to secure the four-try bonus point. Johannes added the extras with 11 minutes to go.

The Stormers sealed the deal following a rolling maul try from a five-metre line-out by replacement Eric Basson in the 74th minute. Smith’s conversion was successful.

The Stormers launched one final attack from deep, but Ndhlovu couldn’t hold onto the pass from Gino Cupido as the ball went into touch, which signalled the end of the match.

Scorers:

For Bulls XV:
Tries: Mnebelele, Erasmus, Hobson, Maake
Cons: Johannes 3

For Stormers XXIII:
Tries: Muller, Smith, Lubbe, Leotlela 2, Paulo, Basson
Cons: Smith 6
Pen: Smith

Yellow cards: Abongile Nonkontwana (Bulls XV, 41′ – Dangerous play: high tackle), Cornel Smit (Stormers XXIII, 67′ – Repeated team infringements in red zone: off feet at breakdown)

Teams:

Bulls XV: 15 Hakeem Kunene, 14 Marnus Rademeyer, 13 Demitre Erasmus, 12 Pieter van der Merwe, 11 Riyaad Bam, 10 Devon Williams, 9 Keagan Johannes (captain), 8 JJ Theron, 7 Abongile Nonkontwana, 6 Kebotile Maake, 5 Sintu Manjezi, 4 Heinrich Theron, 3 Arno Gustafson, 2 Siphosethu Mnebelele, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Jon Hobson, 17 Sandi Msengana, 18 Duwan Potgieter, 19 Johnathan Eloff, 20 Chinedu Amadi, 21 Cephas van Biljon, 22 Brooklyn Newman, 23 Christiaan Vlok.

Stormers XXIII: 15 Luke Burger, 14 Joel Leotlela, 13 Markus Muller, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Mfundo Ndhlovu, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Ezekiel Ngobeni (captain), 8 Divan Fuller, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Xola Nyali, 5 Luan Botha, 4 Tom Barnard, 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Vernon Paulo, 1 Mhleli Khuzwayo.
Replacements: 16 Altus Rabe, 17 Hencus van Wyk, 18 Danie Kruger, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Eric Basson, 21 Tiaan Fourie, 22 Dominic Malgas, 23 Gino Cupido.

Referee: Hanru van Rooyen
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Sean Muller
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen