Stormers put down pre-season marker against Sharks
WRAP: A Stormers XV scored five tries on their way to a hard-fought 33-21 pre-season win against the Sharks in George on Friday.
That followed a convincing 52-12 win against SWD Eagles by a different Stormers XV combination earlier in the day at Outeniqua Park.
In the final match of the day against the Sharks, the Stormers XV dominated the early exchanges, camping in the opposition 22 without any reward.
The pressure eventually told when fullback Warrick Gelant came up with a sensational kick-pass to find Dan du Plessis to score.
👨🏫 Finishing school from Angelo Davids. #STOvSHA #iamastormer #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/x5jo7jnfWf
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) October 6, 2023
The Sharks scored against the run of play, with Werner Kok finishing a counter-attack in the corner.
The Durban side would take the lead into half-time as Phepsi Buthelezi scored from close range to make it 14-7 at the break.
Kok got his second try early in the second half, claiming a high ball in the 22 to score.
The Stormers XV regrouped and hit back with two quick tries.
Angelo Davids claimed a cross-kick from Clayton Blommetjies to score in the corner and they followed that up soon afterwards with a try from Ruhan Nel who took a well-timed pass from Gelant.
Davids pounced on a loose pass and kicked it through to score his second under the poles and the final say came from Evan Roos, who forced his way over to seal the win.
It’s just @WarrickGelant with the kick-pass assist. This guy is special. #STOvSHA #iamastormer #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/mpOOuQLskj
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) October 6, 2023
Meanwhile, in the game against SWD Eagles, there were six tries in the first half and three in the second as all 24 players got a good work-out in the warm-up clash.
After absorbing some early pressure, the Stormers XV got on the front foot, with the forwards going close before the space opened up out wide for centre Chris Hollis to score the opener.
The Stormers maul was impressive throughout the first half, underlined by the fact that hooker Andre-Hugo Venter scored a hat-trick, the last try from a maul that started outside the 22.
Lock Hendre Stassen also crossed the tryline twice to give the Stormers XV a commanding 38-0 advantage at half-time.
Hollis got over for his second try early in the second half before the home side got on the scoreboard with two tries of their own against the run of play.
The Stormers XV maul continued to work for them and they earned a penalty try after another dominant effort.
There was time for one more maul try as Jarrod Taylor went over to cap a dominant performance.
Stormers XV 57-12 SWD Eagles
The scorers:
For Stormers:
Tries: Hollis 2, Venter 3, Stassen 2, penalty try, Taylor
Cons: Blommetjies 6
For SWD Eagles:
Tries: Hollis 2
Con: 1
Stormers XV: 15 Leolin Zas, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Chris Hollis, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Godlen Masimla, 10 Clayton Blommetjies, 9 Herschel Jantjies (captain), 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Hendre Stassen, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Leon Lyons, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 Keenan Opperman, 21 Jarrd Taylor, 22 Tom Bursey, 23 Brendan Venter 24 Bingo Ivanisevic.
Stormers XV 33-21 Sharks
The scorers:
For Stormers XV:
Tries: Du Plessis, Davids 2, Nel, Roos
Cons: Blommetjies 4
For Sharks:
Tries: Kok 2, Buthelezi
Cons: Bosch 3
Stormers XV (v Sharks): 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Hendre Stassen, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 24 Clayton Blommetjies.
