The DHL Stormers continued a run of success in Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby matches with a 25-21 win over the Hollywoodbets Sharks at Kings Park that was much more emphatic than that scoreline might suggest.
The Sharks kept fighting back and a Bongi Mbonambi try just under four minutes from time made the last few minutes a bit nervy for Stormers supporters but in truth had the Sharks managed to score the try that would have clinched it you could have called it daylight robbery.
Not that ever looked likely to happen, as the Stormers are really good at late game management and it is one of the reasons they so often get across the line in games of fine margins.
This time they did give away a penalty with a minute to go that gave the Sharks one final roll of the dice but the Sharks didn’t help themselves with a poor throw that fell into Stormers hands and that was the game.
The DHL Stormers beat the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban ⛈#SHAvSTO | #OriginRound pic.twitter.com/vSafSFuM6j
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) February 17, 2024
Based on the Stormers’ dominance of the first half the only surprise was that the visitors never picked up a try-scoring bonus point.
A five point haul looked strongly in prospect when they scored two tries in the opening 22 minutes to take a 12-0 lead.
The Stormers were so dominant in the first quarter that the Sharks had to wait until the 26th minute before getting into the Stormers’ 22 for the first time. That came off a penalty kick.
DWEBA SCORED THE FIRST
The first Stormers try was scored by hooker Joseph Dweba who rampaged over the line out wide off a clever little kick from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu onto wing Ben Loader, who was held up in the tackle but was able to pass to the storming Dweba who had too much momentum to be stopped from there.
Joseph Dweba, you beauty! 😍
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) February 17, 2024
The former HTS Louis Botha schoolboy shows pace, power and timing to open the scoring for @TheStormers ⚡️@vodacom #URC | #OriginRound | #GrassrootToGreatness | #SHAvSTO pic.twitter.com/uGJUqoWouc
That score came in the 17th minute and the Stormers might have felt it took longer to come than it should have given how much time they spent camped in Sharks territory.
With the Stormers forwards carrying the ball strongly and the backs mixing it up with their passing and angles of running, it looked likely to be a long evening for the Sharks’ defence.
Even more so when another little chip kick over the defenders worked perfectly for the Stormers, this time fullback Warrick Gelant executing the kick and gathering himself before transferring to scrumhalf Paul de Wet.
The Stormers starting No 9 has the pace of a wing so with very few black jerseys in front of him he was always going to score from there.
The Stormers’ early dominance silenced the 30 000 crowd that turned up to enjoy the game and the Sharks Festival that ran concurrently.
The Durbanites finally found their voices on the half hour mark which was when the early territory gain into the red zone was rounded off by Ox Nche barreling over the line for the first of three Sharks tries.
That Nche was playing in the game at all certainly raised Stormers’ eyebrows. They believed he’d be resting subject to the Springbok resting protocols, and ditto Sharks No 9 Jaden Hendrikse.
With the Stormers going without their Boks and also stung by an injury to stalwart centre Dan du Plessis, the almost full strength Sharks team - they were just missing the injured Eben Etzebeth and Vincent Koch - did appear to even up the odds in the Sharks’ favour.
Yet while the Sharks have galactico stars, the Stormers showed again that they are more than the sum of their parts and also under-wrote the impressive depth that has been built up by John Dobson over the past two years.
Jurie Matthee might be the third choice flyhalf behind Manie Libbok and Feinberg-Mngomezulu but he certainly looks like he belongs at this level and Dobson has done well to sign him up for another two years.
He outplayed his opposite number Curwin Bosch who sadly is at the heart of so much that is going wrong at the Sharks.
Forget the ground the Stormers made through his channel every time they ran at the former Gqeberha schoolboy star, Bosch’s habit of standing in the pocket just doesn’t bring the players around him into the game on attack.
SHARKS MORE POTENT WITH CHANGE AT PIVOT
Certainly the Sharks looked far more potent as an attacking team once Siya Masuku, the former Cheetahs player, came onto the field to take up pivot.
The Sharks scored two tries while he was on the field but in truth they had just left themselves with too much to do against a Stormers team that stabilised after conceding the Nche try by kicking a long range Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty to make it 15-7 to the Stormers at halftime.
Wing Ben Loader crossed in the right corner eight minutes into the second half to make it 22-7 to the Stormers after Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s good conversion from the touchline.
A James Venter converted try near the hour mark brought the Sharks back to 22-14 but another Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty pushed the Cape team back to a point where Mbonambi’s try in the 76th minute just came too late to make any difference.
The Stormers have not lost to another South African team since December 2021 which is a good record to take with them into their next away derby against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus in two weeks' time.
SCORERS
DHL Stormers 25 - Tries: Joseph Dweba, Paul de Wet and Ben Loader;
Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2;
Penalties: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2.
Hollywoodbets Sharks 21 - Tries: Ox Nche, James Venter and Bongi Mbonambi;
Conversions: Curwin Bosch and Siya Masuku 2.