DHL STADIUM – New Zealand made a winning start to their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour with an emphatic 38-21 victory over the Stormers in front of a crowd of 47,130 at DHL Stadium on Friday evening.
Making the first stop of their South African tour in Cape Town, Dave Rennie’s side combined experience with exciting young talent to outclass John Dobson’s Stormers outfit in an entertaining contest.
The Stormers, meanwhile, handed 20-year-old flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed his first appearance for the franchise, partnering scrumhalf Imad Khan in an exciting new-look halfback combination.
The visitors dominated possession during the opening exchanges, immediately imposing their high-tempo style of play on the home side.
Their early pressure paid off in the fifth minute when hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho crashed over from a powerful rolling maul after sustained pressure inside the Stormers’ 22. Beauden Barrett added the conversion to hand the All Blacks a 7-0 lead.
The Stormers gradually worked themselves into the contest and finally began enjoying territory after the opening 10 minutes, with Hacjivah Dayimani carrying strongly as the hosts looked to break through the New Zealand defence.
The turning point came in the 12th minute when All Blacks centre Anton Lienert-Brown was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle. The Stormers thought they had immediately capitalised when Andre-Hugo Venter crossed from a rolling maul, but after a lengthy Television Match Official (TMO) review the try was ruled out. The visitors’ problems worsened moments later when Simon Parker was also yellow-carded, reducing the All Blacks to 13 men.
The numerical advantage eventually paid dividends for the Stormers three minutes later. Veteran flanker Deon Fourie powered over from another well-executed rolling maul before Ahmed converted to level the scores at 7-7.
The match settled into an evenly contested battle as both teams tightened up defensively, cancelling each other out for much of the remainder of the half.
However, just before the interval, the All Blacks struck a crucial blow. Exploiting an overlap out wide, Parker crossed for his side’s second try after the Stormers were caught short in defence. Barrett’s conversion restored New Zealand’s seven-point advantage as the visitors headed into halftime leading 14-7.
The Stormers started the second half with renewed purpose, camping inside the All Blacks’ 22 through a series of powerful rolling mauls. Despite dominating territory, the home side were repeatedly denied by determined New Zealand defence.
Their persistence was finally rewarded in the 55th minute. Following a turnover at the breakdown, Fourie released Seabelo Senatla with a perfectly timed pass and the winger showed his trademark pace to race away and score. Ahmed converted to bring the Stormers level at 14-14.
The All Blacks, however, quickly reasserted their authority.
Winger Rieko Ioane finished brilliantly in the corner in the 67th minute to restore the visitors’ lead before Leroy Carter added a fourth try five minutes later after overpowering the Stormers’ defence.
With fatigue beginning to show among the home side, fullback Joshua Moorby added another score to extend the advantage to 33-14 with five minutes remaining.
The Stormers earned a late penalty try in the 78th minute to reduce the deficit to 33-21, but there was still time for the All Blacks to have the final say. Replacement prop Asafo Aumua crashed over in the closing stages to seal a convincing 38-21 victory and an impressive start to their South African tour.
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