Stormers storm past Benetton

MATCH REPORT: The Stormers sent a strong message in their Round 16 United Rugby Championship clash when they beat Benetton 56-5 in style in Cape Town on Saturday evening.

The Stormers’ game management, kicking, and defence were all so much better than last week.

They were slick in attack and ruthless in defence.

Deft hands by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu handed Sazi Sandi his first URC try, a mere three minutes into the game. The conversion was good, and the Stormers were ahead early.

Minutes later, the No. 10 landed an easy penalty kick to stretch the lead to 10-0.

The Stormers flyhalf was on fire and banged a massive drop goal through the uprights for another three-pointer for the homeside.

More magic from Feinberg-Mngomezulu followed as he took a quick tap from being taken in the air and caught the Benetton defense napping. The ball was offloaded to Dan du Plessis, who had the legs to dive over the line for the try.

After 15 minutes, it was Stormers 20, Benetton 0.

Then Stefan Ungerer almost reached the tryline but lost the ball in trying to dot down.

The Stormers’ onslaught was deafening, and Benetton was frazzled. They conceded another penalty for a late sack, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu added three more to their tally.

The visitors eventually had a scoring opportunity after a kick through the defense forced the Stormers to carry the ball back over their line.

They won a penalty from the scrum and opted for another.

The Stormers were again penalised for collapsing the scrum, and Sandi got a talking to by the referee.

The visitors had a go at the tryline but lost the ball and conceded possession.

Saebela Senatla added his name to the tryscorers after an intercept sent Suleiman Hartzenberg at pace through, sending the winger who reached out to score the try.

The referee finally had enough of the scrum woes and showed Sandi a yellow.

Sixth try and it’s No. 6 Paul de Villiers. #STOvBEN #iamastormer @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/eClV10tUuu

— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) April 26, 2025

The teams went for a breather and after an entertaining first 40, the homeside were leading 30-0.

The visitors started the second half with a quick try as Jacob Umaga got over and converted after they retained possession from the kick-off to catch the Stormers defense napping.

The homeside hit back immediately when Marcel Theunissen was not held in the tackle, got back onto his feet, pumped his legs, and scored.

The Stormers’ defence was top class, putting a lot of pressure on Benetton.

The Stormers sustained pressure near the Benetton endzone to force the ball to be carried over their line, and the Stormers had the chance set-piece on the 5m. But Benetton’s defense did well to get the goal-line drop-out.

*To recap all the drama, CLICK HERE!

With 15 minutes to go, Damian Willemse was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle as play resumed with a scrum to Benetton near the Stormers 5m.

But the homeside were not undone by as Leolin Zas got hold of a Benetton pass on the halfway line and ran it for their fifth of the night.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu upped his tally to 19 points and stretched their lead to 44-5.

Siua Maile got his second yellow in so many games for a high tackle, joining Willemse fieldside.

With Maile on yellow card duty, the Stormers’ maul helped Paul de Villiers over the whitewash for their sixth try.

Bentton had their full complement of players back for the last try 90 seconds before full-time.

Evan Roos broke away from the scrum, gave a short pass out to Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who scored under the posts to close out the game.

Scorers:

For Stormers:
Tries: Sandi, Du Plessis, Senatla, Theunissen, Zas, De Villiers, Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 6
Pens: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2
DG: Feinberg-Mngomezulu

For Benetton:
Tries: Umaga

Yellow cards: Sazi Sandi (for Stormers – collapsing the scrum, 37’), Damian Willemse (for Stormers – high tackle, 62’), Siua Maile (for Benetton – high tackle in 67’)

Teams

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 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 Connor Evans, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Suleiman Hartzenberg.

Benetton: 15 Leonardo Marin, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Eli Snyman, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Rhyno Smith.

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Craig Evans (Wales)