Visitors Connacht will rightly feel they had their bravery and physical commitment rewarded but their 33-24 win over the DHL Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday was a result that the hosts might long lament as a costly one that they gave away.
Connacht defended well and also protected their possession better than their opponents to score five tries to three in what was the first ever win they have ever scored in the Cape and also the first win any overseas team has managed at DHL Stadium since the Ospreys won here almost exactly two years ago.
The Stormers looked like they were wearing down Connacht on an emotional day under moody skies as twice they went into 10 point leads after appearing to ride out an earlier storm.
The emotion of course centred around the commemoration of the life of Chippie Solomon, the Stormers’ popular and long serving team manager who died last week
Connacht get their first-ever #VURC win in Cape Town 🟢🏉#SSRugby pic.twitter.com/fhXd6muTBB
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 18, 2026
The minute of clapping held instead of a minute of silence in honour of Solomon started a game that felt like it just never really got going, with both teams ridden with errors.
However, it was Connacht who protected their possession better, while the Stormers struggled with the way the Irish team forcefully hit the breakdowns and advanced their defensive line.
PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR CONNACHT
It didn’t rain during the game but the previous night saw a lot of rainfall in Cape Town and the game kicked off with the temperature at 16 degrees and a chill in the air.
In other words, not completely unlike the conditions that might have been expected had Connacht hosted this game in Galway
And they might as well have given a strong start that saw the scoring of a try in the corner that to be honest was beyond debatable, with the yellow carding of Deon Fourie, the starting openside flank, in the fifth minute playing a big role in determining the early momentum of the game.
Connacht didn’t start well, as the kick off went long, but the Stormers weren’t rewarded when they were dominant in the first scrum, and then came the Fourie yellow card followed not long after that by flanker Shamus Hurley-Langton driving over in the left corner.
It looked like his initial touch was short and then his shoulder in touch. Let’s put it this way, it looked less of a try to these eyes than the one Ntuthuko Mchunu was denied in Toulon two weeks ago.
JUST TOO ERROR-RIDDEN AND SOMETIMES LOOSE TOO
Where the Stormers went wrong was where they arguably have for much of the bits of the season where they’ve struggled.
They did win the territory battle and were winning key aerial battles in the first half, ut they also played too loose and tried to play too much rugby given the wet conditions.
Balls were repeatedly knocked on and there were sequences of elementary errors, but the Stormers did calm the nerves of their 13 000 strong crowd that had turned up to both commemorate Solomon and watch one-club veteran Scarra Ntubeni.
For the last time in the blue and white hoops 🔵⚪
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 18, 2026
Scarra Ntubeni bids farewell to the DHL Stormers 🥹
📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/QGtLUkcr80
The Stormers were sloppy in the lineouts, but Ntubeni didn’t end his last game in the colours of the club he loves so much and has served so long without making a contribution.
It was his overhead pop pass that sent in Evan Roos for the first Stormers try after 14 minutes. He came off 19 minutes later to rapturous applause, but his job was done.
The Stormers’ job was far from done though and although they dominated territory in the last half hour of the first half they didn’t convert, often because their attempts at attacking were too elaborate for the conditions, they had to rely on a great penalty kick from inside his own half on the stroke of halftime for the Stormers to edge ahead for the first time.
They took a 10-7 lead into the break and extended that lead to 10 points six minutes into the half when Mchunu touched down after the Stormers had used the short side and Fourie in mounting their attack.
But instead of kicking on the Stormers quickly surrendered the initiative with poor exiting that set Connacht’s camp up in their own half and it wasn’t much of a surprise when Paul Boyle dotted down as his team took the pick and go route.
STORMERS HABIT OF SURRENDERING INITIATIVE FROM RESTART CONTINUES
The Stormers regained their 10 point advantage though through a good try from Feinberg-Mngomezulu as he wrong footed the defenders near their own line with a little show of the ball, and with 19 minutes to go the home supporters would have expected their team to consolidate.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu weaves his way through the Connacht defence 🌩️🏉
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 18, 2026
📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/qpsP8A3HMq
Instead they did what they have often done this season - they let a ball bounce at the restart, seemed to hesitate for a moment and their outside centre went over in the right corner for the try.
Connacht fullback Sam Gilbert was wide with his conversion attempt so it was a five point game but they went into the lead in the 70th minute when after the Stormers had kicked too deep onto them, Connacht launched a counter attack that with the help of a lucky bounce saw scrumhalf Ben Murphy into space and between the posts off the pass from the man who picked it up off his own kick, Shayne Bolton.
Gilbert couldn’t miss from in front and that left the Stormers chasing the game, which they didn’t do very well on this occasion and their challenge was killed off with three minutes to play by an intercept try to Connacht flyhalf Sam Naughton.
Scores
Connacht 33 - Tries: Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle, John Devine, Ben Murphy and Sean Naughton. Conversions: Sam Gilbert (3) and Shaun Naughton.
DHL Stormers 24 - Tries: Evan Roos, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu; Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 3; Penalty: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.