Bulls hang on for victory over courageous Stormers

The Bulls edged the Stormers 33-32 in a rip roaring, error prone and incident-filled derby in the United Rugby Championship at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

Fortunes fluctuated wildly with neither side able to deliver a knock-out blow but crucially it was the Stormers who blinked when the game was in the balance.

They had showed bucket loads of courage and defended their fortress with a weakened side but ultimately went down for only the second time at their home ground in a URC derby match.

Flank Ben-Jason Dixon rounded off in the 78th minute but the conversion which would have handed them the win drifted wide off the boot of the always capricious Clayton Blommetjies.

To be fair, errant goal kicking had dogged the Stormers for most of the second half as flyhalf Jurie Matthee also fluffed his lines.

The Stormers will also lament drawing blanks after making several entries into the Bulls' 22 in the final quarter. The Bulls, however, deserve kudos for how they contested at the ruck when danger lurked.

While the win solidified the Bulls' position in the competition's top three, the defeat left the Stormers with much to do if they want to have a say in the knock-out stages of the tournament.

As expected the Bulls' scrum was dominant. Front rankers Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar, Wessels and Gerhard Steenekamp put the squeeze on the hosts, particularly in the first half. They helped establish a clear advantage in that facet and the rest of the herd followed.

In fact, there were times the Bulls' back row stampeded in the opening half.

Man of the match Cameron Hanekom was as involved as one expected him to be, though his hands weren't always as sure.

The Stormers, however, did well to roll with the punches. They absorbed pressure and they too put bulky men into space when they counter punched. No 8 Evan Roos made valuable, metres as did lock Ruben van Heerden, while tight head prop Frans Malherbe often had a hand in their advances.

Dixon toiled and was a popular option for the Stormers at the line-out.

It was the Bulls, however, who hit the deck running. In-form No 8 Hanekom left an early mark when he ran into a cluster of Stormers defenders only to emerge on the other side still lengthening his stride as it helped set up a try for lock Cobus Wiese.

Malherbe scored for only the second time in the URC before captain Salmaan Moerat went over in the 35th minute for a converted try to give the Stormers the lead. In the final act of the first half, however, David Kriel restored the visitors' advantage with a penalty.

The Bulls picked up where they left off at the start of the second half as they again responded to the referee's restart with appreciably more gusto. Their urgency led to a try for centre Harold Vorster.

Steenekamp was yellow-carded in the 54th minute and from the resultant penalty the Stormers cashed in when Roos made a dash for the line.

They struck again with a breathtaking effort that involved centre Dan du Plessis before tight forwards Andre-Hugo Venter and Malherbe handled it deftly allowing Warrick Gelant to stride in.

Dixon's try brought them to the cusp of an unlikely win, given their personnel, but Blommetjies wilted under the pressure.

Scorers

Stormers (17) 32 — Tries: Frans Malherbe, Salmaan Moerat, Warrick Gelant, Evan Roos, Ben-Jason-Dixon. Conversions: Jurie Matthee. Penalty: Matthee.

Bulls (18) 33 — Tries: Cobus Wiese, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Harold Vorster, Ruan Vermaak. Conversions: David Kriel (2). Penalties: Kriel (3).