Stormers vs Edinburgh

The Stormers will host Ulster in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship semi-finals after producing a second-half show to progress past Edinburgh in Cape ...

While the Stormers continued to throw a few jabs at their opponents, creating plenty of linebreaks, they let those opportunities go begging and could not capitalise on a yellow card to Edinburgh No 8 Magnus Bradbury for a high tackle. Suddenly, Edinburgh were back in the contest. That brought 20-year-old debutant Sacha Mngomezulu into the game.

Cape Town — The Stormers defeated Edinburgh 28-17 in their United Rugby Championship quarter-final at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday to secure their place in ...

Seeing as Edinburgh’s Hamish Watson knocked the ball out of his hands on the ground in their 22 and the try was given, the question needs to be asked as to why they weren’t shown yellow. With 10 minutes gone, the Stormers were working their way up well to the whitewash. Flyhalf Manie Libbok added the conversion to take an early lead (7-0).

Edinburgh fell away in the second half as they suffered a 28-17 defeat to the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship quarter-final.

Libbok made no mistake with the extras in front of the posts and added a penalty to open up a 10-point advantage, although he was off target after Roos picked up a loose ball to touch down and put further daylight between the sides. The visitors opted against going for goal from their next penalty and were rewarded for their bravery when Cherry touched down from a line-out drive, with Boffelli sending over the conversion from wide on the left flank. Libbok reached 150 points for the season with the conversion and scored a penalty off the left-hand post after Emiliano Boffelli had got Edinburgh off the mark with a three-pointer at the other end.

Damian Willemse has been in incredible form for their Stormers this season, largely playing at inside centre with Warrick Gelant at fullback.

“We want to raise the intensity and make sure that we are at our best for the full 80 minutes, playing the kind of rugby that has got us into this position.” “We gave Damian as much time as we could to make it for this match, but in the end it was not worth the risk, especially as we have a quality player in Rikus to start at 12,” explained Stormers coach John Dobson. “A lot of hard work has gone into securing this home quarterfinal, so we are determined to rise to the occasion,” said Dobson.

The DHL Stormers came out snorting after halftime and scored 15 points in the first 14 minutes of the second half to set up a 28-17 quarterfinal win over ...

THROUGHOUT this first season under Mike Blair, Edinburgh's rich promise has been evident. Against the strongest of opponents, however, their inexperience ...

A midfield guddle saw several players fail to control the ball, but in the end Roos seized on the loose ball to run in his team’s third touchdown of the afternoon. The Stormers continued to present more of a threat in open play, but at times they were too impatient when trying to force an opening. But then, just as Bradbury was itching to get back on to the pitch, the Stormers struck from deep inside their own half. Libbok added the two points again, and Edinburgh knew they had an uphill battle on their hands. But then the Edinburgh stand-off failed to find Chris Dean with an offload behind his own line, and Warrick Gelant seized on the loose ball to touch down. A couple of moments in there that had they swung the other way, it would have gone down to the last five minutes. Boffelli converted to draw the teams level again with quarter of an hour played. Emiliano Boffelli got Edinburgh off the mark with a penalty after Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff offended. The Stormers’ opening score was initiated by a break from loose forward Hacjivah Dayimani, who was stopped just short of the line when Kinghorn intercepted an attempted pass. “We were still in the game with five minutes to go. Even so, while there are flaws in Edinburgh’s make-up which will need to be ironed out before they can make the step up from play-off qualifiers to title contenders, they and their head coach have every right to be pleased with the progress they have made in relatively short order. Their defence was excellent for the most part, while in attack players such as Emiliano Boffelli and Mark Bennett again showed just how dangerous they can be given half a chance.

Mike Blair expressed pride at his players' efforts but was left to rue a couple of sloppy moments at the start of each half as Edinburgh lost 28-17 to the ...

We expect the way that we play that we’ll have some turnover ball to defend but maybe there were maybe just a couple too many tonight.” “And again at the start of the second half. A couple of moments in there that had they swung the other way, it would have gone down to the last five minutes.

The Stormers reminded Edinburgh that they are indeed the kings of their castle in their United Rugby Championship quarterfinal at Cape Town Stadium on ...

Twenty-year-old Sacha Mngomezulu found himself on the playing surface after just three minutes having had almost no prospect of being in the match day 23. If there was the need to restart proceedings with a spring in their step, the hosts did just that with aplomb by doubling their halftime tally inside the first 13 minutes of the second half. The visitors, to their credit, were undaunted and an Emiliano Boffelli penalty and a converted try from the back of a maul from hooker Dave Cherry levelled the score. The remainder of the first half became a battle contested at close quarters, though the Stormers looked destined to retake the lead were it not for a timely ankle tap from Boffelli on Gelant. It meant the score remained deadlocked at 10-all at the break. The hosts advanced to next weekend's semifinal and a date with Duane Vermeulen and the rest of the Ulster team, who came desperately close to upstaging the Stormers in Cape Town with a depleted team earlier in the campaign. In front of an enthusiastic crowd in excess of 20,000, the Stormers beat off stoic and crafty opposition.

The Stormers march on, and Saturday's 28-17 win over a spirited Edinburgh at Cape Town Stadium sees them book their place in the United Rugby Championship ...

Evan Roos then pounced on a ball that had gone loose after Gelant went to ground. Mngomezulu was asked to hit the ground running. Another Libbok penalty took it out to 28-17, and when Leinster conceded turnover just a couple of metres short of the Stormers line with eight minutes remaining, they were out of time. Libbok missed a simple conversion, but at 25-10, the Stormers looked to be well on their way to the semi-finals. Gelant's attempt to find a teammate was controlled by Blair Kinghorn, but his wayward pass saw the ball fall loose over the line, allowing the Stormers fullback to fall on it and score. They were overwhelming favourites heading into the contest, but with the scores locked at 10-10 at half-time, the hosts had to dig deep in the second period to get over the line in a quarter-final that had an electric atmosphere from start to finish, thanks to the 20-odd thousand that had made their way to this iconic venue.

In the shadow of Table Mountain Scottish involvement in the United Rugby Championship was ended as Edinburgh went down 28-17 to the Stormers.

The conversion reduced the Stormers’ lead to eight points and Edinburgh’s tails were up. Grant Gilchrist secured the ball and Cherry was at the back of the train to score the try. It was messy again from an Edinburgh point of view, with players slipping and sliding as they tried to deal with Libbok’s kick through. Worse was to follow when Roos notched the Stormers’ third try of the evening. Edinburgh’s response to the early setback was immediate and impressive. They responded impressively, with tries from Dave Cherry and the excellent Henry Pyrgos, but they couldn’t quite get close enough to their opponents.