URC: Stormers continue dominance over Bulls as Springboks shine

The Capetonians scored two tries en route to their win through Jean-Luc du Plessis on his 50th game while Ruhan Nel scored in the second period. Manie Libbok was faultless with the boot as he kicked two conversions and three penalties. Damian Willemse also added a well-taken drop goal in the first half.

The visitors actually scored more tries in the game as Reinhardt Ludwig, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie crossed the try-line. Johan Goosen missed the first two conversions but got the third whilst Chris Smith added a penalty late on.

This victory for the Stormers means the Cape side have beaten the Bulls seven times on the bounce.

It did not take long for the scoreboard to tick over for the first time with Libbok kicking his first penalty after just four minutes before six minutes later Springbok superstar Willemse produced a sneaky drop goal out of nowhere in open play to double the score.

The Bulls responded with a Ludwig try in the 12th minute as Goosen failed to kick the conversion. Momentum was certainly with the visitors, who pushed on attack again, with Arendse showing his world-class quality to engineer a great unconverted try off a kick in behind after just 16 minutes.

Libbok responded for the hosts with a penalty just before the 20-minute mark in what was the last points of the first period. It would be the Springbok who opened the scoring after half-time adding another penalty in the 44th minute.

Typical to the clash, the Bulls responded through Moodie, who scored in the corner after a lovely Willie le Roux skip pass. This time around, Goosen nailed the kick from the touchline.

It felt as though the Bulls were getting serious momentum before a dink over the defensive line from Willemse sparked an attack that saw Nel run in for a converted try.

The bitter rivals slugged it out, with the Bulls pushing for points and the Stormers hanging on. The visitors opted for a penalty in the 73rd minute with Smith making no mistake from the tee.

In the finals stages, the margins were so fine, but in the end, the result went the way of the host in front of a 40,000 crowd in Cape Town.

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