Centre Ruhan Nel scored late try after the hooter to help the Stormers to a much-needed 34-19 bonus-point win over Munster in their United Rugby Championship match at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.
The Stormers, who were rooted to the bottom of the table after only one win from three matches on their European tour, bounced back in front of their home fans to move up to 11th spot on the table.
It still wasn’t vintage Stormers, as their lineout again malfunctioned. The scrum was also a bit of a toss-up between the two teams, with both winning penalties throughout the match.
But the Stormers will take the win after going into the halftime break 14-12 in the lead.
The Stormers went in front fifth minute after wing Suleiman Hartzenberg intercepted a loose Munster pass before running in the try from his own 22.
Suleiman Hartenzburg tuns on the gas 😤![CDATA[]]>🔥
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Centre Tom Farrell, and replacement hooker Eoghan Clarke hit back for the visitors to give them a 12-7 lead. However, flank Marcel Theunissen took a quick tap and barged over the line from close range to hand the advantage back to the home side.
The Stormers had one of their best periods of the match after the break. Nel scored his first try of the in the 47th minute when the Stormers produced a wonderful passage of play, highlighted by lovely passing and offloads.
Munster, who has never lost to the Stormers before in the URC, than ramped up the pressure and were rewarded in the 67th minute when flank Gavin Coombes rounded off a good team try from close range.
But the Stormers, especially their Springbok fyhalf Damian Willemse, managed the last 10 minutes of the game really well.
DAMIAN WILLEMSE 🤯
A master in the DHL Stadium kitchen 😤![CDATA[]]>🔥
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Willemse kicked a penalty and drop goal to give the Stormers some breathing space heading in the dying stages of the game.
He did miss kick to touch from a penalty, which could have seen the Stormers miss out on the four-try bonus point. However, as Munster went in search of a couple of bonus points themselves, they threw a pass straight to Nel, who gleefully accepted the gift to five the Stormers a crucial five-point win.
Point-scorers:
Stormers - Tries: Suleiman Hartzenberg, Marcel Theunissen, Ruhan Nel (2). Conversions: Damian Willemse (4). Penalty: Willemse. Drop goal: Willemse.
Munster - Tries: Tom Farrell, Eoghan Clarke, Gavin Coombes. Conversions: Jack Crowley (2).
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