Stormers 34

Munster 19

THE STORMERS EDGED a fierce forward battle in Cape Town on Saturday to claim an inaugural win against Munster.

Both teams came into this clash with a point to prove, having lost their respective matches in round four of the United Rugby Championship. Munster went down 26-12 to Leinster in Dublin, while the Stormers rounded off a disappointing tour to Europe with a 38-7 defeat to Edinburgh.

Back at the Cape Town Stadium for the first time this season, the Stormers signalled their intent to secure a morale-boosting, bonus-point victory – and ultimately their first win against Munster since the inception of the URC in 2021.

Munster controlled the set-piece battle in the opening quarter of the contest, and spent most of this period deep in Stormers territory.
They failed to translate that dominance into points, however, and it was a wayward pass by Jack Crowley that created the opportunity for Suleiman Hartzenberg to counter-attack. The Stormers winger intercepted the ball on his own 22m line, and then raced away to score.

Crowley continued to pressure the Stormers back division via a well-directed kicking game. Munster charged down an attempted clearance, before winning a turnover via a fierce counter-ruck. Centre Tom Farrell crossed the line, and after 18 minutes of probing, the Munster attack had some reward for their efforts.

Shortly after Niall Scannell left the field for a head injury assessment, replacement Eoghan Clarke found his jumper and the Munster maul was successfully deployed. Clarke joined his team-mates as they marched toward the line, and crashed over for the second try.

But the Stormers got their revenge, first at the scrum and then at lineout, before the end of the half.

Munster conceded yet another penalty deep in their own half, and flanker Marcel Theunissen pounced, tapping quickly and driving over the line.

The Stormers had another chance to deploy their maul on the stroke of half-time, but on this occasion, the ball was spilled. The Munster players celebrated, but the Stormers would enjoy further mauling opportunities immediately after half-time.

Munster did well to contest the Stormers lineout, but the hosts still managed to shift the ball wide and beat the rush defence.
Ruhan Nel dived over in the left-hand corner, and then Damian Willemse nailed a touchline conversion to give his side an important nine-point lead.

Both teams struggled to secure possession at the lineout but Munster’s was especially poor, as they blew several opportunities to capitalise on momentum.

They had the chance to hit back in the 60th minute, after they won a penalty and kicked to touch. From the ensuing lineout, the Stormers forced a turnover and cleared their lines.

Another big defensive set culminated in a Stormers turnover, and from there, the hosts won a scrum penalty.

But Munster continued to press, and eventually breached the defence when replacement Gavin Coombes powered over in the 68th minute.

Yet another lineout steal by the Stormers led to another important scoring opportunity.

Herschel Jantjies launched a contestable kick, and the hosts regathered possession. After winning a penalty, Willemse bisected the uprights to bolster his team’s lead.

A late drop goal by the Stormers out-half sealed the result, but there was more to come from the home side.

With Munster chasing a try that would have yielded two bonus points, Nel intercepted a Crowley pass in injury time and went on to score the Stormers’ own bonus-point try.

Stormers scorers:

• Tries: Suleiman Hartzenberg,, Marcel Theunissen, Ruhan Nel (2)
• Conversions: Damian Willemse [5 from 5]
• Drop goal: Willemse

Munster scorers:

• Tries: Tom Farrell, Eoghan Clarke, Gavin Coombes
• Conversions: Jack Crowley [2 from 3]

STORMERS: Warrick Gelant, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Ruhan Nel, Dan du Plessis (captain), Leolin Zas, Damian Willemse, Paul de Wet; Sti Sithole, Joseph Dweba, Neethling Fouche, Adre Smith, JD Schickerling, Marcel Theunissen, Ben-Jason Dixon, Keke Morabe.
Replacements: Andre-Hugo Venter, Brok Harris, Sazi Sandi, Ruben van Heerden, Dave Ewers, Louw Nel, Herschel Jantjies, Jurie Matthee.

MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Conor Murray; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (captain); Tom Ahern, Alex Kendellen, Jack O’Donoghue.
Replacements: Eoghan Clarke, Kieran Ryan, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Ruadhán Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Billy Burns, Seán O’Brien.

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)