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Stormers survive red card to strike gold in Bayonne

05 December 2025 23:00
By:Gavin Rich
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They say an away win in the Investec Champions Cup is akin to striking gold and that is the way the DHL Stormers should feel after they overcame a red card to score a good 26-17 win over Bayonne at the Stade Jean Duauger in the south west of France on Friday.

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Bayonne don’t lose at home often, with their last defeat being their round of 16 EPCR Challenge Cup exit to the Vodacom Bulls back in April, and they have won 10 Top 14 games in succession.

However, the hosts struggled to get to grips with the Stormers’ physical defence and strong first phase game in the first half and fell behind by 11 points at halftime (16-5).


And the Stormers still looked well in control for the first eight minutes of the second half, coming close to scoring the try that might have killed the game there and then when Paul de Villiers knocked on as the Stormers pack was mauling its way over the line.

The arrival of the Stormers’ version of the bomb squad did not halt the dominance, or didn’t look like it would, but unfortunately one of the replacements was then guilty of a really silly act that changed the complexion of the game.

The Stormers had a penalty inside the Bayonne half when the referee was called across by the TMO Ben Whitehouse to check on an incident in which lock replacement Adre Smith appeared to deliberately tread on the leg of a prone Bayonne player.

It was the correct call, and at least Whitehouse managed to talk the ref out of the permanent red that he was suggesting it should be.

The hosts then immediately took advantage of their one man advantage to go over for a try, but fortunately for the Stormers it was chalked off because outside centre Jonathan Roche was obstructed in trying to defend the try.

Roche ended up starting the game because of the withdrawal before kickoff of fullback Warrick Gelant, which meant that Wandisile Simelane had to switch from centre to fullback.

The Stormers appeared to lose their composure in the 20 minutes that they were down to 14, and it actually became 13 later on when Leolin Zas was yellow carded for one of those unfortunate incidents where he collided with an opposing player in the air.

It was unfortunate because it definitely looked like Zas’s eyes were following the ball.

That happened in the 68th minute, just before Smith was able to be replaced, with the replacement being regular captain Salmaan Moerat, who had an impressive game both in his first stint on the field and in the 12 minutes he was on as a replacement.

However, by the time Moerat came on the 11 point lead the Stormers enjoyed when Smith was sent off had turned to a one point deficit.

FARCICAL END

The Stormers though are nothing if not hungry when they have a winning opportunity heading into the final minutes of a game, and some powerful scrumming plus a cynical defensive infringement from Bayonne soon saw them down to 13 men.

By the time Zas came back the Stormers had taken a 23-17 lead after the Stormers had opted to scrum a succession of penalties right under the Bayonne posts.

Just when their supporters might have started questioning why they didn’t just kick it over, because it was a one point game at that stage and a kicked penalty would have put the Stormers into the lead, De Villiers dotted down from another impressive drive and series of pick and gos.

The conversion made it a six point lead for the Stormers with less than five minutes left and by then they were completely dominant, just like they were towards the end of the Munster game in the URC the week before, and with a minute to go Clinton Swart, who had already kicked three penalties, lined up another three pointer with the aim of denying Bayonne a losing bonus point.

Rather bizarrely the assistants didn’t raise their flags when the ball appeared to bounce back in off the field, so there was a quite farcical end after the final whistle as the Stormers players successfully appealed for the kick to be looked at again.

It was, and it clearly passed behind the upright after bouncing off the post and into the Bayonne ingoal area.

So the Stormers achieved their objective, something they looked likely to do from the moment young scrumhalf Imad Khan crossed for his first team after an excellent kick ahead and chase within the first two minutes of the game.

Bayonne struck back 13 minutes later when centre Frederico Mori kicked ahead down the left flank and followed up to score, but Swart capitalised on the Stormers’ first phase and territory dominance by kicking the three kickable penalties his team was awarded.

It was the Stormers’ fifth away win, overseas at that, across both competitions this season and that is something they and their coaches should be delighted about as they return to South Africa to face La Rochelle in Gqeberha next weekend.

With an away win to start the competition, they have the breathing space they didn’t have after last year they opened with a home defeat against Toulon.

Scores

DHL Stormers 26 - Tries: Imad Khan and Paul de Villiers; Conversions: Clinton Swart 2; Penalties: Clinton Swart 4.

Bayonne 17 - Tries: Frederik Mori, Lucas Paulos and Arnaud Erbinartegaray; Conversion: Facundo Bosch.

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