Cape Town – The Stormers showed tremendous character to stun a Springbok laden Sharks side in a thrilling coastal derby at the DHL Stadium in front of a capacity crowd of 57000 in the Mother City on Saturday.
Coach John Dobson’s men won the United Rugby Championship encounter 24-20 after the half time score was 10-5 in the favour of the Sharks.
The loss of playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the 37th minute with a clavicle injury was once again a big blow for the local side.
However, captain Deon Fourie and his men showed tremendous guts and resilience to thwart everything the Sharks threw at them.
They fought back to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying seconds of the game.
The Sharks were on the attack from the outset placing the Stormers under enormous pressure from the kick-off. The home side’s defence was strong, but they conceded a penalty in the 5th minute which was coolly slotted by Sharks flyhalf Jordan Hendrickse.
The Stormers immediately replied after Warrick Gelant – playing in his 50th game – conjured up a characteristic grubber kick in space to allow speedster Seabelo Senatla to pounce on the ball in the corner for the home team’s first five pointer.
Stormers flyhalf Manie Libbok’s goal kicking woes continued. He failed to convert the try and missed with a penalty attempt a few minutes later, which could have doubled his sides score.
Sharks scrumhalf Jaden Hendrickse crossed the the Stormers tryline halfway through the second half but the score was disallowed after the television match official (TMO) spotted a forward pass.
Jordan Hendrickse missed a longe range penalty that could have given the visitors the lead in the 28th minute.
The Stormers had two opportunities in the dying minutes of the first half to score a try. Big winger Ethan Hooker was yellow carded for pulling down a maul as Stormers captain Deon Fourie crossed the tryline. A penalty try was the obvious call, but the match officials did not see it that way.
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After being 5-10 behind at the break, the Stormers hit back immediately when replacement scrumhalf Paul de Wet crossed the line. However, the try was again disallowed because of foul play at a ruck by Jean-Luc du Plessis.
Fourie once again crossed the line from a line-out maul to allow his side to level the score. Libbok failed with the conversion, but showed why he is such a highly rated playmaker when he sliced through the Sharks defence in the 67th minute to score under the post. This time he added the extras to give the Stormers a 17-10 lead.
Libbok’s opposite number Jordan Hendrickse hit back four minutes later with a try and conversion as well as a penalty to give the men from Durban a 20-17 lead with five minutes left on the clock.
The stadium erupted when Du Plessis made up for his earlier infringement when he crashed over in the 78th minute to seal the victory.
Scorers:
Stormers 24 (5)
Tries: Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie, Manie Libbok, Jean-Luc du Plessis
Conversions: Libbok (2)
Sharks 20 (10)
Tries: Yaw Penxe, Jordan Hendrikse
Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse (2)
Penalties: Jordan Hendrikse (2)