Connacht v Stormers: Five takeaways as Springboks rookie ‘leads the way’ in visitors’ bonus-point win while Mack Hansen shines on comeback
Stormers hooker Andre-Hugo Venter and Connacht wing Mack Hansen (inset).
Following the Stormers’ 29-15 triumph over Connacht, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter at Dexcom Stadium in Galway on Friday.
The top line
The men from the Cape had the better of the early exchanges and after Jurie Matthee opened the scoring courtesy of an early penalty, they held a 10-0 lead midway through the opening half when Warrick Gelant crossed for a converted try after gathering a grubber kick from Andre Warner.
The rest of the half was closely contested but Connacht were slowly gaining the upper hand and were eventually rewarded for their efforts. In the 38th minute, Mack Hansen narrowed the gap when he barged over the whitewash from close quarters before Josh Ioane also dotted down in injury time to give the home side the lead.
Sam Gilbert slotted one those two conversions which meant the match was evenly poised at half-time with Connacht holding a 12-10 lead. After the interval, the Stormers were fastest out of the blocks again and they were camped inside Connacht’s half inside the opening 10 minutes of the half.
There was no reward for them, however, and Connacht eventually extended their lead via a Gilbert penalty in the 52nd minute. However, they were reduced to 14 men shortly afterwards when Paul Boyle was yellow carded and the Stormers made full use of their numerical advantage when Sazi Sandi crossed for their second try in the 57th minute.
Matthee was successful with the conversion attempt, which gave the Stormers a 17-15 lead, and the final quarter was a tense affair as both sides went in search of victory.
The Stormers finished stronger and secured the result, as well as a bonus point, with two tries in the game’s dying moments from debutant replacements Vernon Paulo and Ezekiel Ngobeni.
Andre-Hugo Venter leads the way for the Stormers
The visitors’ entire forward pack deserves credit for this result as they got through plenty of hard work in the tight exchanges and provided an excellent platform for their backs. However, rookie Springboks hooker Andre-Hugo Venter deserves special praise as he led the way with an outstanding all-round performance.
The 25-year-old was a vital cog in the Stormers’ scrum, which proved solid throughout, while he was also at the forefront of his team’s attacking and defensive efforts for the entire game.
Venter took the fight to Connacht as a ball carrier which resulted in him gaining 71 metres while he also put his body on the line in defence where he completed 17 tackles. It was no surprise that his efforts were eventually rewarded with the official man-of-the-match award after the game.
Mack Hansen shines on his comeback
After spending over 11 months on the sidelines due to a serious foot injury, the Ireland star and 2025 British & Irish Lions tourist made his comeback in this clash and he delivered an impressive all-round performance. From the outset, Hansen was in the thick of the action and he showed no ill effects of his injury as he was on the field for the full 80 minutes.
The 28-year-old was good in the air, especially at kick offs where he put plenty of pressure on the Stormers’ catches and he won one ball from a restart during the game’s early stages.
However, Hansen is renowned for his attacking play and that is where he made his biggest impact in this encounter. He proved a real threat with ball in hand and eventually crossed for a deserved try late in the opening half.
Hansen eventually finished with a team-high 56 metres gained and although he ended on the losing side, he showed his class throughout on attack and should be happy with his all-round efforts.
Stormers debutants do the trick
Although this Stormers triumph was down to an excellent all-round effort, head coach John Dobson will be delighted with the efforts of two of his debutants Paulo and Ngobeni.
Both came on during the latter stages of the game with regular hooker Paulo replacing flanker Louw Nel while Ngobeni took over the scrum-half duties from Warner, who also shone on his debut after joining the Stormers on loan from the Major League Rugby outfit, Seattle Seawolves.
With the score 17-15 in their favour, the Stormers were hammering away at Connacht’s try line and the hosts’ defence eventually capitulated when Paulo powered his way over the try-line.
Another Stormers rookie Yaqeen Ahmed’s conversion attempt struck an upright, which meant Connacht could still draw the game if they scored a converted try in the game’s dying moments. But that wasn’t to be as Ngobeni sealed his side’s win with his five-pointer after the full-time hooter had gone.
This was after he gathered a kick ahead from Seabelo Senatla and the young number nine outpaced the cover defence before dotting down under the posts to the delight of his team-mates.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
Connacht’s ill discipline proves costly
After Stormers dominated the early exchanges, Connacht came back strongly during the latter stages of the first half and had their tails up at half-time with Hansen and Ioane giving them the lead courtesy of their two tries.
The visitors came out firing after the restart again but, despite dominating proceedings, they did not score points and Connacht soon held a 15-10 lead when Gilbert was successful with a penalty attempt after 52 minutes.
With a five-point lead, it was a perfect opportunity for the home side to kick on but they lost their way instead when Boyle was sent to the sin bin for a cynical defensive indiscretion and that allowed the Stormers to regain the initiative.
Sandi’s try came soon after Boyle’s temporary departure but Connacht’s ill discipline did not end there as they continued to concede needless penalties as the match progressed.
While Boyle was in the sin bin, Sean O’Brien was also penalised for tackling Stormers scrum-half Warner at a ruck while he was trying to feed his back line.
In the game’s latter stages, Gilbert also conceded a penalty when he made head contact with Hacjivah Dayimani while executing a tackle and the visitors were soon on the attack inside Connacht’s 22 and Paulo eventually crossed the whitewash.
Connacht’s discipline let them down at a crucial stage of this game and they will have to improve in that department if they want to be one of the contenders in this season’s URC.
READ MORE: Scotland and Edinburgh suffer massive blow as Darcy Graham ruled out until the New Year