Stormers happy to win ugly

The Stormers were happy to have 'won ugly', after they held on to record a hard-earned 13-6 win over the Western Force in Perth in their Super Rugby clash on Saturday.

The defence of the Stormers held up, especially in the dying seconds, as they kept the Force at bay to cling on for a win that kept them on track for the play-offs this season.

The Stormers took their record to six victories from nine games, while the Force have just one win, having lost their last eight matches, many by narrow margins.

Stormers captain Juan De Jongh said the result was more important than the way it was achieved.

"It's not pretty but I'll take the four points," he said.

"It was a tough game, the Force kept the ball very well.

"However, credit to our defence."

He said they are looking forward to being back at home.

The Stormers host the South African conference leaders, the Bulls, in Cape Town next weekend.

"A 50 percent  return from a tough tour like this isn't too bad," he said of two defeats in New Zealand and two wins in Australia.

"We're obviously looking forward to heading home after four weeks on the road."

Without a win at home this season, Force skipper Ben McCalman was a frustrated man.

"It was the same results as previous weeks," he said.

"We have worked hard and put ourselves in a position to score, but haven't been able to make it count in the gold zone.

"We are letting ourselves down in certain parts of the game, especially the gold zone."

Force coach Michael Foley praised his team, despite the loss.

"This performance has to be a benchmark in terms of physicality and attitude," Foley said.

"Last week there were decisions in the game that had to be made that were important and when Monday comes after a game like last week there's a hell of a lot of things you need to look at – there's bits and pieces we need to work on every week.

"In that game tonight there was one or two things. If we can maintain that level of attitude around the breakdown and that level of attitude in defence, we can make the good decisions regarding momentum – which I thought was exceptional."