A hat-trick of tries from Suleiman Hartzenberg and a brace from fellow wing Leolin Zas put the DHL Stormers on the path to a resounding 43-21 win over Edinburgh at the DHL Stadium on Saturday that netted them the five Vodacom United Rugby Championship they had targeted.
More than that, by preventing Edinburgh from getting a bonus point of their own it enabled the Stormers to jump from ninth to fifth on the log, with the Sharks having helped them out with a good win over Ulster earlier in the afternoon.
Ulster, tied with Edinburgh in fourth position at the start of the weekend, drop to eighth.
The DHL Stormers run riot in the Vodacom #URC against Edinburgh 🏉 pic.twitter.com/PDvNdBqRHh
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) March 23, 2024
There was never any doubt the Stormers would win once their backs, with man of the match Damian Willemse the stand-out but newcomer Wandesile Simelane also in the thick of things on attack along with the two wings and the line straightening abilities of Dan du Plessis, got into their stride.
They’d netted their bonus point try by the time halftime arrived, with both Hartzenberg and Zas having hogged the scoring to that point by crossing twice each.
.@THESTORMERS are turning it on 🔥
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) March 23, 2024
Suleiman Hartzenberg finishes off a well worked try from their own half!@Vodacom #URC |#STOvEDI pic.twitter.com/ZXPpZb26Rt
There would have been a note of concern from the Stormers for their complete dominance of possession and territory merited more than their 12 point lead at the break (26-14).
Indeed, in that first half Edinburgh made two entries into the Stormers 22, and they scored twice.
COMPLETE SCRUM DOMINANCE
And while the Stormers were never going to lose, that did put them in danger of conceding a bonus point try, which could have been invaluable for the visitors at it would have kept them ahead of the Stormers on the log and might also have been crucial later in the season.
As it turned out, Edinburgh’s best period in the game was the third quarter, where they dominated possession and territory.
They scored their third try with 14 minutes to go through reserve hooker Patrick Harrison, but that was when the Stormers provided something else in a match that had just about everything - complete scrum dominance.
indeed, it looked like the Stormers were set to hit the half century mark when they camped on the Edinburgh line in the last minutes and forced scrum penalty after scrum penalty to the point where the referee had no choice but to reduce Edinburgh to 14 men.
Somehow Edinburgh survived though, and in the end it was them trying to push for that elusive fourth try that would have put a complete false gloss on the final score.
In truth it was a day the Stormers should have hit 60 such was their dominance and the opportunities that they didn’t convert.
Edinburgh played a kicking game in the first half and it played into the Stormers hands, with the back three outstanding in withstanding the barrage and then reversing the pressure.
Not that it was just the Stormers backs that excelled, and if there was a man to challenge Willemse for his man of the match award it was blindside flank Ben-Jason Dixon.
EXCELLENT AT SHREDDING EDINBURGH'S DEFENCE
It was the Stormers No 7 in fact who applied the pressure that produced the Edinburgh error that led to the Stormers’ third and Zas’s first try in the 35th minute.
The Stormers had earlier conceded a soft try with an error in their own half not long after the Stormers had scored their first try, which was rounded off by a Manie Libbok cross kick that put in Hartzenberg in the right corner but which featured a barging run from Evan Roos.
And they were to concede another try to an error, this time after a poor clearance from Du Plessis gave Edinburgh what they most coveted, which was a lineout opportunity inside the Stormers 22.
Edinburgh made it look so easy as big No 8 Mata Viliame stormed over Libbok, in the process forcing the Stormers from the field by clipping his head with a stud, for the score that made it 19-14 with just two minutes to go to halftime.
But as poor as the Stormers were in tightening up, so they were excellent in cutting the Edinburgh defences to shreds and they attacked beautifully from a lineout near halfway with Simelane putting in a great run off a straight line from Du Plessis.
Willemse could probably have scored himself but he unselfishly passed outside for Zas to notch his second try in the corner.
Bringing up the first half bonus point in style 🫡@Vodacom #URC | #STOvEDI pic.twitter.com/E7VidKVqEr
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) March 23, 2024
Jurie Matthee was temporarily on to allow Libbok’s cut to be patched up and he kicked the conversion from the touchline to enable the Stormers to avoid the discomfort of being less than a score ahead at the break after being so dominant.
No 8 Roos was as prominent as his looseforward mate Dixon and he featured in the attack that sent in Hartzenberg for his third try and the one that put the result beyond doubt, and then his driving play netted two tries of his own to complete the rout.
A word on Nama Xaba. The flanker was playing in place of the injured Deon Fourie and produced two excellent turnover penalties before he was replaced near the hour mark.
With Simelane unlucky not to cap his own slippery performance with a try of his own in the first half, it was ruled out by the TMO but it was really marginal, it was another day where the Stormers’ depth shone through.
Scores
DHL Stormers 43 - Tries: Suleiman Hartzenberg 3, Leolin Zas 2 and Evan Roos 2 Conversions: Manie Libbok 3 and Jurie Matthee.
Edinburgh 21 - Tries: Henry Jacob, Mata Viliame and Patrick Harrison; Conversions: Ben Healy 3.