Lions v Stormers: Five takeaways as Springboks snubs respond while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and maul ‘shocker’ leads to a hat-trick defeat
Sacha Feinbeg-Mngomezulu with an inset of Morne van den Berg.
Following the Lions’ 24-10 victory over the Stormers at Ellis Park Stadium, here are our five takeaways from the South African derby.
Top line
The Lions made it back-to-back SA derby victories in the United Rugby Championship, running in three tries and epically botching a bonus-point score, to claim an important win over the Stormers and handing the Capetoians their third successive defeat.
The break in URC action has certainly benefited Ivan van Rooyen’s charges, who ended a three-match winless streak by beating the Sharks in Joburg last week and produced an even better performance to down the Stormers.
Sibabalwe Mahashe got the scoreboard ticking in the 21st minute, cruising through a gap after some stunning hands from his teammates, and it did not take long for the Lions to double their lead as Henco van Wyk pounced on a loose ball after a smart kick by Morne van den Berg. It was a dominant showing from the host who held the Stormers pointless in the first half, boasting a 14-0 lead at the break.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu finally got the Stormers on the scoreboard early in the second half with a penalty but again, the Lions bit back with Van den Berg offloading and sending Erich Cronje over for his team’s third try.
John Dobson rolled out his bench and the impact from the replacements threatened a late rally with Marcel Theunissen dotting down, but his five-pointer was ruled out on review but captain JD Schickerling’s try stuck not too long after.
The Lions invited even more pressure with Sibabalo Qoma and Conraad van Vuuren visiting the sin-bin, the latter having his sanction upgraded to a 20-minute red card. However, the Lions held onto secure the victory and would have walked away with a full five points had Francke Horn realised that he was over the line and didn’t need to offload.
Marvellous Morne, Sacha’s shocker
The starting halfbacks from the Springboks‘ final Test match last year were on opposing sides on Saturday and produced contrasting performances for their teams.
We start with Van den Berg, who produced another blinder, backing up his brilliance against the Sharks last weekend with another stunner. His kicking consistently put the Stormers on the back foot and allowed the Lions to exit their own half safely and effectively.
His tricky box kicks also resulted in the first two tries of the day as Angelo Davids brilliantly soared above Leolin Zas, offloaded to Horn, with Mahashe finally freed up and cantered away.
The second left the Stormers’ backfield at sixes and sevens and Van Wyk was able to capitalise and score under the sticks. A smart carry forced Ntuthuko Mchunu to bite and then an even smarter offload sent Cronje over in the second half.
Adding to that, Van den Berg did a handy job at wing when his team needed him to do so for a short period, while he pitched in with a clutch try-saving tackle in the first half and repeated it in the second. Questions are always raised when Van den Berg is named in Springboks’ matchday 23, but he is going a long way in silencing those doubters. The fact that he won the vote for Man of the Match suggests that he is starting to win over the public.
Meanwhile, it was another forgettable performance for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who was freed up for this match as he was relieved of the captaincy duties to focus on his performance. The Springboks superstar’s form has dipped in recent matches and there was no upswing at Ellis Park.
He was carrying a knock early on when he attempted a 60-metre shot at goal but missed it terribly. He then scoffed a drop goal attempt and got roasted by Schalk Burger for it. His backfield coverage was below par too, but he certainly wasn’t helped in that regard by the outside backs.
He conceded a few soft turnovers, for a player of his pedigree, and looked to force things when it really wasn’t on and when it was, his execution was simply not up to standard. His dour performance was concluded with a loose offload into touch. There is no doubting Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s ability, but perhaps fatigue is starting to set in, or he simply needs to dial it back a bit and not put it all on himself to pull a rabbit out of the hat.
The alignment camp might be precisely what he needs to refocus.
Stormers’ maul struggles
Dobson’s charges came flying out of the blocks this season, winning their opening eight URC matches, and much of that was spearheaded by their mauling brilliance. However, that came to a grinding halt when they collided with the Sharks, who had clearly done their homework on how to depower one of the Cape-based side’s most lethal weapons.
The Durbanites successfully repeated the feat of disarming them a week later as the once unbeaten Stormers suffered back-to-back defeats. The maul has been as much of a hindrance for Dobbo’s men as it has been a weapon because when the opposition has been able to stall it, they have lacked the variation to get powering forwards.
What made matters worse was the belligerent approach to try, try and try again, particularly in the first half, failing every single time to get the desired outcome but still forming the maul.
The third time was the daftest of the lot and cost the side some 60 metres, when they really needed to get some scoreboard momentum in the 34th minute.
They set the maul near the Lions’ 22m line, were stopped, then shunted backwards with the hosts obliterating the drive, winning the turnover and kicking downfield. Feinberg-Mngomezulu concedes the penalty down in his own 22. Salmaan Moerat saved the day, claiming a steal at the ensuing lineout and the pack finishing the job with a scrum penalty soon after. The pack did well to stop the Lions from increasing their 14-0 lead, but all of that unfolded from the maul failure on the opposite end of the pitch.
Into the second half and the Stormers looked to have finally got a try when Theunissen thundered over, only for TMO Marius van der Westhuizen and referee Christopher Allison to deny them the score due to an Evan Roos illegality.
URC marathon, Lions find their stride, Stormers slip
The Stormers know this better than most teams as they brilliantly overcame their poor start to the campaign to still qualify for the 2024/25 URC knockout stages, but were beaten in the quarter-finals by the Glasgow Warriors.
Dobson clearly made changes this campaign and the Stormers rampaged their way to eight straight wins in the first eight games of the season. However, their form has slipped tragically since losing three on the trot, all of those defeats coming at the hands of fellow South African teams.
There is certainly time to turn things around for the Stormers, but Dobson will be ruing the fact that the Springboks are congregating next week, with much of his squad unavailable to him.
After leading the table for early rounds of the season, the Stormers have slipped to fourth and could finish the weekend as low as sixth, just one place above the Lions, whose form has fluctuated.
The Lions endured a tough January, losing to Lyon in the Challenge Cup before draws to Perpignan and the Ospreys and a hammering from the Bulls. But February has been far kinder to the Joburgers, who have beaten the Sharks and Stormers at home. It could be a real turning point in their season.
Finally sporting a jersey sponsor, the Lions looked confident, energetic and incredibly driven – much like last weekend. They are well placed to finish the campaign in a knockout position and are perhaps bolstered by the lack of EPCR Rugby, too.
Hey Rassie, where’s my invite?
Saturday’s encounter was the first opportunity that the players had to respond to Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks alignment camp and so many Lions’ players responded positively, whilst the opposite was true for the Stormers’ men, with a few exceptions.
Starting with the home side, Van Wyk looked back to his absolute best, making cracking covering tackles, scored a try and made the right decision on both sides of the ball far more often than not. It was a classy display from the midfielder who is held in high regard by the coaching team and name-checked multiple times in 2025, with injuries denying him an opportunity to really press on.
The stocks of Canan Moodie and Ethan Hooker only rose last year, which meant that Van Wyk slipped down the pecking order, but Saturday served as a reminder of what he is capable of.
Meanwhile, Angelo Davids was superb in the air and was outrageously brilliant in being able to offload so quickly after his feet hit the ground. He hasn’t quite been at his best in recent times but against his former employers, he shone.
Outside of his botched try, Francke Horn was sublime again . Unfortunately for him, with Elrigh Louw fit again and Cameron Hanekom nearly there, his chances were always going to be slim.
Moving to the Stormers and whilst many weren’t able to really stamp their mark, Ntuthuko Mchunu did. He is another who is regularly name-checked by the Springboks coaches with injury setbacks also limiting his involvement.
However, since stepping out of Ox Nche’s shadow at the Sharks and being tasked with filling Steven Kitshoff’s void at the Stormers, Mchunu has shone. He was titanic in the scrums at Ellis Park, clearly dominating the set-piece and was effective around the park too.
In the pack and Ben-Jason Dixon had a rare underwhelming shift while Paul de Villiers was less impactful than he has been in recent times – two players who will both be at the camp next week. Roos spilt the ball twice when the Stormers looked to be threatening on attack, but his superb cover tackle on Davids won’t go unnoticed. Schickerling was solid in the second row which might shift Erasmus’ thinking around the lock depth.
Batho Hlekani and Mahashe both impressed on the red side of the scrum, the latter doing so in just his second URC start. It’s clear that Erasmus is not short on loose forward options.
