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The Citizen
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Can the Stormers ride terrific form into URC semifinals?
The Stormers will head into their URC quarterfinal against defending champs Glasgow with plenty of confidence after a strong end to the pool phase. Stormers wing Leolin Zas on the attack during their URC clash against Cardiff at the Cape Town Stadium over the past weekend. Picture: Ashley Vlotman/It will be a tough ask but the Stormers will be hoping to ride a wave of terrific form into the semifinals of the United Rugby Championship (URC) when they battle it out against Glasgow Warriors in their quarterfinal in Scotland next week. The Stormers have been one of the form teams in the URC down the back straight of the pool phase, after a poor start to their season had threatened to derail their campaign early on. After 11 rounds the Stormers had won just four games, while losing seven, and were languishing at 10th place on the URC log, leaving them in a massive battle to make it into the top eight for a place in the playoffs. But suddenly it seemed like a switch was flipped and the Cape side have gone on to win six of their last seven pool games to power up the log to finish in fifth place, earning them a return trip to Glasgow for another knockout. Last year the Stormers were downed 27-10 in their quarterfinal in Scotland, with Glasgow going on to upset Munster and the Bulls to lift the URC title. The defending champs will likely have to produce a similar run if they want to repeat the trick this season, but they won't be as heavy favourites against the Stormers, as they were last season. Great form Not only are the Stormers in great form, but they also seem to be more confident on the road in Europe, which is something they have struggled with immensely over the past four seasons in the URC. They were initially poor away again this season, losing three of their first four matches overseas, with just a 36-5 win over Zebre in Italy to boast about, while they went down 37-24 to Ospreys in Swansea, 38-7 to Edinburgh in Scotland and 36-12 to Leinster in Dublin. But their last overseas tour will have given them a shot in the arm as they brushed aside Scarlets 29-17 in Llanelli, before being edged 38-34 by Ulster in Belfast, as discipline cost them with yellow and red cards resulting in them playing with 13 men at a stage. But they still could have won the game at the death. The Stormers could also have been boosted by only having to focus on the URC down the back straight, as they were dumped out of the Champions Cup early after winning just one out of four games to finish bottom of their pool, knocking them completely out of the EPCR. Glasgow, however, reached the knockouts and made it to the quarterfinals, where they were unceremoniously hammered 52-0 by Leinster to end their campaign. In all it should be a thoroughly entertaining encounter, with Glasgow probably slight favourites due to them being hosts, but their poor finish to the URC pool phase, losing their last three games, will definitely have given the in-form Stormers confidence of causing an upset.
IOL News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Stormers secure hard-fought victory over Cardiff in final URC round-robin clash
Flyer Suleiman Hartzenberg celebrates scoring a try in his 50th cap for the Stormers with fellow winger Leolin Zas. Both speedsters scored twice in the home victory over Cardiff in the final round-robin URC match. Image: BackpagePix A 72nd-minute try by replacement lock Connor Evans saved the Stormers from blushes against Cardiff in their final United Rugby Championship (URC) round-robin clash in Cape Town on Friday evening. The Cape side scored five tries for a bonus point 34-24 victory in the DHL Stadium, but it wasn't the prettiest display ahead of the quarter-finals. Despite that, the Stormers will finish the league phase in fifth, but they will have to wait until Saturday evening to find out if they are traveling to Glasgow or Durban for their knockout. While they played some enterprising Stormers rugby in patches in front of the over 19 000 supporters, the plethora of changes that director of rugby John Dobson made to the side affected their overall flow. That and the red card they copped with just over 20 minutes left in the game. After the visitors scored a well-worked try in the righthand corner, fullback Damian Willemse was sent off for a head-high tackle after contact with his shoulder. Cardiff also received a red card to their prop, Danny Southworth, for a tackle to the head and played for most of the game with a man down. They did brilliantly in taking the fight to the home team and never backed down, even without a flanker on the field. He had to leave the field for a new prop to come scrum. The Cardiff attack did well to score points every time it looked like the Stormers were going to pull away with the score. Manie Libbok, who returned from injury, had a satisfying return to the field. After he was substituted in the second half, he received a standing ovation from the supporters. He had a hand in a couple of the tries and kicked a trademark crossfield dink, which led to the second score of winger Suleiman Hartzenberg. The speedster capped off his 50th appearance for the Stormers with a Player of the Match display. Libbok's excellent distribution also led to various attacking moves for the home side. Before his red card, Willemse looked steady at the back, and a neat little grubber by the Stormers' centurion led to the second try of the other flyer, Leolin Zas. as had a few ball spills in the second half – one right in front of the try line – that would've closed the game earlier and handed him a hat trick of tries Dobson warned earlier in the week that Cardiff would not go softly into the cold Cape Town night, and they showed that. If they did not receive the red card, things could've turned out tighter. After the red cards for the head contact, which spoiled the contest in many eyes, there will likely be increasing calls for a 20-minute card to be adopted into the URC. Points scorers Stormers 34 (19): Tries: Leolin Zas (2), Suleiman Hartzenberg (2), Connor Evans. Conversions: Damian Willemse (2), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Penalty: Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Cardiff 24 (12): Tries: Danny Southworth, Gabe Hamer-Webb, Harri Millard, Daffyd Hughes. Conversions: Callum Sheedy (2).
News24
16-05-2025
- Sport
- News24
Stormers' wingers dazzle in hard-fought URC win over Cardiff
The Stormers secured their place in the United Rugby Championship play-offs on Friday as they beat Cardiff 34-24 at Cape Town Stadium. Leolin Zas opened the scoring for the home side after he collected an inside pass after coming in off his wing to streak away from the Cardiff defence and cross the whitewash. Damian Willemse, however, couldn't convert, as the Stormers led 5-0 after 9 minutes. Cardiff hit back minutes later as their early scrum dominance led to a converted try for prop Danny Southworth to give the visitors a 7-5 lead. In the 23rd minute, the Stormers retook the lead after some individual brilliance from winger Suleiman Hartzenberg. Playing in his 50th game for the coastal franchise, Hartzenberg received the ball and cut inside twice as he left Cardiff defenders in his wake on the way to the tryline. Willemse popped over an easy conversion for a 12-7 lead. Cardiff were dealt a massive blow in the 28th minute when Southworth received his marching orders for a high hit on Neethling Fouche. Zas added another try for the Stormers after Cardiff couldn't deal with a ball kicked into their dead ball area in the 33rd minute, and Willemse slotted the conversion from a difficult angle to push the home side's lead out to 19-7. Cardiff would not lie down, and they scored next when winger Gabriel Hamer-Webb collected a pinpoint cross kick to score an unconverted try as the visitors cut the lead to 19-12 just before halftime. The Stormers were first to score in the second half when Hartzenberg scored his second, collecting a cross-kick from Manie Libbok to go over in the right-hand corner. While Willemse couldn't add the extras, the home side led 24-12 in the 47th minute. Cardiff, to their credit, kept themselves in the game as they were next to score through Harri Millard, after some excellent handling worked space for the centre on the right, and his pace did the rest to cut the Stormers lead to 24-17. The Stormers also lost Willemse to a red card for a high shot during the build-up to the try as both sides were now down to 14 men with 22 minutes left to play. Connor Evans gave the Stormers some breathing space in the 72nd minute after Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu put him away after the replacement flyhalf had collected his own kick-ahead. Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the conversion to give the Stormers a 31-17 lead. Again, however, Cardiff hit right back when an effective rolling maul saw Dafydd Hughes crash over for a converted try as the score read 31-17 with three minutes left. The Stormers wrapped up the points in the 79th minute as Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted a penalty to ensure the win for John Dobson's charges. The Stormers will now face either Glasgow Warriors or the Sharks away in the play-offs, depending on the Saturday's results. Scorers Stormers 34 (19) Conversions: Damian Willemse (2), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
The Citizen
25-04-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Dobson sticks with strongest Stormers combination for ‘tough' Benetton
The Cape-based side can't afford any slip-ups now as they're in eighth place on the log and being chased by four teams hot on their heels. Winger Leolin Zas is back in the Stormers team for the match against Benetton. Picture: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images With the Stormers unable to afford any late season slip-ups, coach John Dobson has picked his strongest side for the United Rugby Championship match against highly-rated Italian team, Benetton, on Saturday, at the Cape Town Stadium. The Stormers are currently in eighth place on the points table — the final quarter-finals spot — with just three regular season matches remaining. And hot on the heels of the Cape-based team are Scarlets, Ulster, Edinburgh and Connacht — all teams within five log points of eighth place (and the Stormers). After this weekend's match the Stormers face Dragons and Cardiff, all at home. Key changes in settled team But first up is the clash with Benetton, and it's must-win for the Stormers, who're coming off a close win against Connacht last weekend. And the Italian side, who beat the Lions, will be no pushovers; they're fifth on the points table. For this reason, Dobson has picked a strong side, bringing Leolin Zas back into the team on the wing, which means Suleiman Hartzenberg will play off the bench. Herschel Jantjies is a newcomer to the bench this week, as is Connor Evans, who comes in for the injured Deon Fourie. Director of Rugby John Dobson said that it was important to keep continuity in selection for what is a vital match in the context of the season. 'We know that we will have to be much better this week than we were last week, so we wanted settled combinations in place, ' said the coach. 'There was a lot we did right against Connacht and the challenge will be to ensure all aspects of our game are firing against what is a very tough Benetton side.' Stormers team: Warrick Gelant, Seabelo Senatla, Dan du Plessis, Damian Willemse, Leolin Zas, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Stefan Ungerer, Evan Roos, Marcel Theunissen, Paul de Villiers, Ruben van Heerden, Salmaan Moerat (capt), Sazi Sandi, André-Hugo Venter, Ali Vermaak. Bench: JJ Kotze, Vernon Matongo, Brok Harris, JD Schickerling, Connor Evans, Louw Nel, Herschel Jantjies, Suleiman Hartzenberg
