The Stormers registered their first win of the new United Rugby Championship (URC) season after beating Zebre Parma 36-5 on Saturday.
After dominating the tight exchanges right through the match, the Cape side finally got the four-try bonus point in the dying seconds of the encounter for a full complement of five points from their second tour match.
They hunted for the win, especially after last weekend’s opening defeat, and now they have one more match this coming weekend in Scotland against Edinburgh to try and get five more points for a haul of 10 on their three-week European tour.
The platform laid by the scrums, only a couple of penalties went against them in this facet of play, allowed the visitors to keep their Italian opposition under constant pressure.
They never allowed Zebre to get into the game. It was vital to keep them under wraps, especially after the home side beat former champions Munster last weekend and had the momentum on their side.
But the scrum display that brought a yellow card for the home side, coupled with dogged defence and some brilliant glimpses when they were attacking, secured the crucial win, which should give the inaugural champions a massive boost ahead of the Edinburgh clash.
All four tries were scored by the Stormers’ wingers with Leolin Zas grabbing a brace, while Suleiman Hartzenberg rounded off one in the second half, and replacement Angelo Davids ran his try in after some dodgy defence by Zebre at the death.
Zas’ first try was arguably the best one for the visitors coming off a lineout where eighthman Keke Moraba did a fake run out the back with the ball going to scrumhalf Paul de Wet instead.
Morabe’s dummy drew the defence and De Wet could run free, passing the ball on the inside for Zas to go over. It was a typical training ground move and the try before halftime was vital for the side.
Returning fullback Warrick Gelant also showed some soft hands in the build-up to Hartzenberg’s try.
While flyhalf Jurie Matthee kicked excellently off the tee to build scoreboard pressure for the Stormers, his kicking out of hand and decision-making on the attack still set his team back. But the improvement from last week was good to see.
Point scorers:
– Stormers 36 (19): Tries: Leolin Zas (2), Suleiman Hartzenberg, Angelo Davids. Conversions: Jurie Matthee, Damian Willemse. Penalties: Matthee (4).
– Zebre Parma 5 (0): Try: Simone Gesi