Feinberg-Mngomezulu magic propels Stormers into play-off position 

MATCH REPORT: The Stormers survived a plucky Connacht outfit to emerge victorious in their United Rugby Championship Round 15 clash at the Cape Town Stadium by 34-29.

The opening half was a try fest, with each side dotting down four times to earn a bonus point in front of 18211 spectators.

Connacht never gave up the fight throughout the match and could count themselves unlucky to not get a winning result.

Springbok and Stormers utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s first half hat-trick helped his side to a much needed victory.

*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!

The Stormers put the defensive pressure on the visitors in the opening minute with aggressive hits and cleans.

It took the Stormers two minutes to get onto the scoreboard when Suleiman Hartzenberg popped the ball from the ground to Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

The utility back sliced through the Connacht defence and ran it into the corner for the opening try which he converted himself.

The visitors struck back in the seventh minute after the Stormers were penalised for obstruction at a line-out maul.

They shifted the ball back and forth until the space opened up on the wing for Shane Jennings who ran it in to score. Jack Carty converted to draw matters level.

The first scrum of the match comically came when referee Sam Grove-White found himself in the way of Stefan Ungerer with the Stormers on the attack outside Connacht’s 22 metre area and earned a free-kick from it.

Sacha-Feinberg Mngomezulu chipped the ball over the Connacht defensive line, forcing the visitors to carry the ball back and give the Stormers a five metre attacking scrum.

No.8 Evan Roos picked the ball up from the back of the scrum and barged over with defenders latching onto him for the Stormers’ second try of the afternoon in the 14th minute. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted.

Stefan Ungerer’s clearance kick was well taken moments later by Piers O’Connor as he got his pass to Jennings who chipped it ahead.

Warrick Gelant got back to cover and cleared the ball away five meteres from his own line for an attacking line-out to the visitors. This resulted in Connor Oliver dotting down from a rolling maul in the 17th minute which Jack Carty converted.

The Stormers struck back almost immediately when Sacha-Feinberg Mngomezulu spun out of an attempted tackle by Finlay Bealham and getting his offload away to Paul de Villiers.

The loose forward got his pass back to Feinberg-Mngomezulu who dotted it under the sticks and converted his try in the 18th minute.

A side entry at the breakdown by Paul de Villiers provided Connacht an opportunity to opt for the line-out which Carty set five metres from the Stormers’ line.

Evan Roos, however, stopped the attacking line-out maul by going through the middle and getting hands on the ball to win the turnover for his side.

The Stormers magic man Feinberg-Mngomezulu did it again off an attacking lineout when he received an offload by Reuben van Heerden and chipped the ball forward to himself and regarther to score his hat-trick and the bonus-point try in the 25th minute.

Connacht caught the Stormers back field off guard again with clever kicks to force Seabelo Senatla to carry the ball back over the line and earn a five metre attacking scrum.

The Stormers, however, earned the penalty with a dominant shove to get themselves out of jail.

An offside penalty against Evan Roos provided Connacht an attacking line-out five metres from the Stormers line off which Dylan Tierney-Martin peeled away from and dotting down in the 36th minute.

Jack Carty missed the conversion, but was also beaten by the shot clock as Connacht crept back within seven points with three minutes to play.

A kick out on the full by Warrick Gelant provided Connacht with another attacking line-out outside the Stormers 22 metre area.

They exposed the wide channels which had been fragile defensively from the Stormers as Shane Jennings grabbed a brace as the siren sounded.

The conversion was missed by Carty as the hosts held a two point lead at the break.

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The second half was a stop-start affair before Gelant collected a kick and started the counter-attack.

What followed was two offloads by Feinberg-Mngomeulu in the same sequence that saw the flyhalf getting an audacious flick away to Suleiman Hartzenberg who dotted down in the 47th minute.

Another breakdown penalty against Connacht gave the Stormers another five metre attacking line-out.

The Stormers bashed away at the line and earned another penalty. They opted to take the tap penalty through Andre-Hugo Venter.

A third offside penalty saw referee Sam Grove-White warn the visitors as the Stormers decided to repeat the quick tap.

Connacht conceded another offside penalty and Cathal Forde was sent to the sin-bin in the 54th minute.

The hosts opted for the scrum but conceded a free kick for an early shove.

Stefan Ungerer conceded a penalty for a deliberate knock on that allowed Connacht to enter the Stormers’ 22 metre area.

Another deliberate knock on this time by Warrick Gelant in the 63rd minute saw the fullback yellow-carded.

Connacht went for the line-out and broke away before being held up over the line, but there was a penalty advantage against JJ Kotze.

The visitors based away at the Stormers’ line off the tap penalty and Josh Murphy dotted down for Connacht’s fifth score as Jack Carty’s conversion hit the left upright in the 66th minute.

A scrum penalty to the Stormers on a Connacht throw in provided Feinberg-Mngomezulu the opportunity to extend the lead to five points in the 71st minute.

Hawkshaw made a line break by beating Brok Harris that saw Connacht centimeters away from the Stormers’ line before it was knocked on by Jack Aungier with five minutes to play.

The Stormers won the scrum penalty, and Jack Aungier was penalised following his knock-on, and the hosts got out of jail once again.

Another breakdown penalty gave Connacht another shot at an attacking lineout outside the Stormers’ 22 metre area.

Argentina international Santiago Cordero sliced the Stormers’ defence open and scored in the corner seconds before fulltime, but referee Sam Grove White consulted TMO Hollie Davidson for a possible obstruction.

The try was disallowed and the Stormers were awarded the penalty which Feinberg Mngomezulu tapped and kicked to touch for a hard-fought win.

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Scorers

For the Stormers:
Tries: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 3, Roos, Hartzenberg
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 3
Pens: Feinberg-Mngomezulu

For Connacht:
Tries: Jennings 2, Oliver, Tierney-Martin, Murphy
Cons: Carty 2

Yellow cards: Cathal Forde (Connacht: Cynical – repeated offside in red zone 54′), Warrick Gelant (Stormers: Cynical – deliberate knock-on)

Teams:

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Brok Harris, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Louw Nel, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Ben Loader.

Connacht: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shane Jennings, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Oisin Dowling, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Josh Murphy, 20 Joe Joyce, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Santiago Cordero, 23 Sean Jansen.

Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa) & Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)