Stormers overcome red card to beat Bayonne in Euro opener
MATCH REPORT: The Stormers launched their Champions Cup campaign in style, powering to an emphatic 26-17 victory over Aviron Bayonnais at a buzzing Stade Jean Dauger.
Fresh off last weekend’s impressive United Rugby Championship triumph over Munster in Dublin, the Capetonians carried that momentum straight into Europe.
They scored two tries courtesy of Imad Khan and Paul de Villiers, while Clinton Swart added two conversions and four penalties for the victory.
*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!
To make the win more significant, the Cape Town franchise had to play with 14 men and went down to 13 at some point after Adre Smith received a red card and Leolin Zas a yellow.
The Stormers were forced into late changes just hours before kick-off after Warrick Gelant was ruled out through illness. Wandi Simelane shifted to fullback, Jonny Roche slotted in at outside centre, and Ruhan Nel moved to the bench.
Despite the disruption, the Stormers showed no signs of being unsettled.
In fact, the visitors made the perfect start, silencing the home crowd inside two minutes. Leolin Zas sliced through the defence and nudged a well-weighted chip ahead, which sat up perfectly for young scrumhalf Imad Khad to dive over for the opener.
Clint Swart added the conversion for an early 7-0 lead.
The hosts responded with a period of sustained pressure, pinning the Stormers deep inside their own 22 and repeatedly turning to their driving maul in search of points. But the Stormers’ pack held firm with a resolute defensive stand.
Their persistence eventually paid off in the 16th minute when they isolated Simelane and launched a sharp counter-attack, allowing Federico Mori to gather Arthur Ituria’s kick and score.
From there, the Stormers settled and regained control of the contest. Their attacking rhythm began to flow, with Dylan Maart looking particularly dangerous out wide. He showcased his pace but was bundled into touch just metres short of the line.
Swart remained composed from the tee, knocking over three assured penalties to extend the Stormers’ advantage to 16-5 at halftime.
The visitors brought on all six forward replacements at once early in the second half, but they were reduced to 14 for 20 minutes soon afterwards, when Adre Smith was shown a red card for intentionally stamping on an opposition player.
Bayonne looked to have scored immediately, but the try was disallowed for obstruction. They did score soon after that though, as replacement Arnaud Erbinartagaray charged down a kick in the 22 and dived in-goal to make it 16-10.
Lock Lucas Paulos forced his way over from close range and the conversion saw the home team take the lead for the first time in the match.
Zas was shown a yellow card for colliding in the air with an opponent as we went up for a high ball, but despite that setback, his team never stopped fighting.
Their forward dominance was rewarded as Bayonne were shown two yellow cards in quick succession.
The Stormers scrum had them in the ascendancy, and they made it count on the scoreboard when De Villiers scored five minutes from the end.
A late penalty from Swart put the exclamation on an impressive performance, which sees the Stormers travel home with four points ahead of their clash with Stade Rochelais in Gqeberha next week.
Player of the match: He dictated the play, and his passes from the ruck were crisp. He also scored a try, and therefore our nod goes to Imad Khan.
The scorers:
For Bayonne:
Tries: Mori, Erbinartegaray, Paulos
Con: Spring
For Stormers:
Tries: Khan, De Villiers
Cons: Swart 2
Pens: Swart 4
Yellow cards: Leolin Zas (Stormers, 68 – foul play), Facundo Bosch (Bayonne, 71 – repeated infringements), Marco Fepulea’i (Bayonne, 73 – collapsing the maul)
Red card: Adré Smith (Stormers, 49 – deliberate foul play)
Teams:
Aviron Bayonnais: 15 Yohan Orabe, 14 Tom Spring, 13 Cheikh Tiberghien, 12 Federico Mori, 11 Victor Hannoun, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Nika Lomidze, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Alexandre Fischer, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Alvaro Garcia Iandolino, 3 Marco Fepulea’i, 2 Vincent Giudicelli, 1 Ignacio Calles
Replacements: 16 Lucas Martin, 17 Swan Cormenier, 18 Pascal Cotet, 19 Manex Ariceta, 20 Facundo Bosch, 21 Raphael Marchesin, 22 Baptiste Tilloles, 23 Arnaud Erbinartegaray
Stormers: 15 Wandisile Simelane, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Jonathan Roche, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Clinton Swart, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 JJ Kotzé, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adré Smith, 20 JD Schickerling, 21 Evan Roos, 22 Dewaldt Duvenage, 23 Ruhan Nel.
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Saba Abulashvili (Georgia) & Saba Makharadze (Georgia)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
