Prop Neethling Fouche went over between the posts five minutes from the end to enable the DHL Stormers to snuff out a plucky and what was shaping as a quite threatening fightback from the 14-man Emirates Lions and clinch a crucial 29-10 win at the DHL Stadium.
It was the first Stormers win in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship since they beat Munster here in October, their only previous home game played at their regular headquarters, and it breaks a four-match losing sequence spread across the URC and the Investec Champions Cup.
But while the 19 point margin between the team suggests it was an easy win for the Stormers, and it was certainly shaping as that when the Stormers scored three unconverted tries in the first half to take a 15-0 lead at halftime, you have to give kudos to the Lions for the way they fought.
Indeed, until replacement front-ranker Fouche rounded off a breakout attack that featured promising young looseforward Paul de Viliers, playing in his URC debut, as a carrier, it looked like the Lions might just get something out of the game as they had spent at least 15 minutes camped in the Stormers 22.
Salads don’t score tries… Props do 👀👏
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) December 21, 2024
Neethling Fouché storming to the try line! @Vodacom #URC | #STOvLIO pic.twitter.com/UvOTT7KbCr
NOT THE FIRST ILLEGAL HIT ON LIBBOK IN RECENT TIMES
The Stormers defence stood firm against a team that was reduced to 14 men in the 20th minute when lock Ruben Schoeman became the umpteenth player in the last few matches that Manie Libbok has played for the Stormers to smash into the flyhalf with a high element of danger.
It happened at a loose scrum not far from the Lions line with Libbok taken out high and off the ball and there won’t be too many who’d debate the fact that Schoeman deserved to see red.
It was a pity though as cards always subtract something from a game, but the Lions did well to survive with 13 men at a point in the second half when Manuel Rass was yellow carded for a tap down.
The Stormers might feel they should have made more of the advantage that they established from before Schoeman was carded.
The Stormers led 5-0 at that point after a 12th minute try to the driving figure of Joseph Dweba that effectively saw a 12 point swing against the Lions in the space of four minutes because of errors from their two centres.
After eight minutes scrumhalf Morne van den Bergh had gone over for a try that was cancelled out by the TMO because Lions skipper Maius Louw was in an offside position, and then the Stormers established their point of attack for the Dweba try from a penalty awarded against the other centre Erich Cronje for a high tackle on Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Speaking of the young Springbok, Feinberg-Mngomezulu for the second time in as many matches failed to see out the game.
This time it was a hip injury that was sustained in the buildup to the Stormers’ second try, which was set up for Suleiman Hartzenberg by a typically pinpoint Libbok cross kick.
Hold tight for a Manie Libbok festive classic 🎄🎶@Vodacom #URC | #STOvLIO pic.twitter.com/dZ2AS1s4g2
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) December 21, 2024
Feinberg-Mngomezulu went down near the posts and was in clear discomfort when the Lions restarted the game and was helped from the field looking understandably unhappy with life.
The third Stormers try was a carbon copy of the earlier one from Dweba.
With Libbok failing to convert from difficult angles with every kick in a swirling wind, with the Lions kickers also finding the conditions treacherous when they got opportunities later on, the Lions were still more in the game than maybe they should have been.
There were a couple of opportunities missed by the Stormers in the first 40 minutes of a game that produced a high handling error rate.
Solo BRILLIANCE from Edwill van der Merwe 🔥 @Vodacom #URC | #STOvLIO pic.twitter.com/rxFKvUhEB3
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) December 21, 2024
The Lions got their first points three minutes into the second half when Edwill van der Merwe gathered his own kick to score a typical Edwill van der Merwe try, but four minutes later Warrick Gelant, who would have been a big challenger for the man of the match award from the official recipient JD Schickerling (the lock did put in a mighty shift), found himself in space and shifted the ball inside for Leolin Zas to score the bonus point try and in so doing created a 17 point buffer.
The Lions made up for missing Schoeman in the lineouts by being really inventive in that phase and it was a smart move from a lineout 30 metres out that sent in reserve hooker Franco Marais for his team’s second try.
That was when the Lions started to get a sniff and they had a lot of attacking momentum after that but just couldn’t convert it.
SCORES
DHL Stormers 29 - Tries: Joseph Dweba 2, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Leolin Zas and Neethling Fouche; Conversions: Manie Libbok 2.
Emirates Lions 10 - Tries: Edwill van der Merwe and Franco Marais.