Stormers follow the Springboks’ example by scrumming their way to victory over Munster
Stormers fly-half Jurie Matthee and an inset of Munster's John Ryan.
The Stormers are now the only unbeaten team left in the United Rugby Championship after defeating Munster 21-27 at Thomond Park.
It was a match of two halves with Tadhg Beirne, John Hodnett and Jack Crowley all dotting down to give Munster a 21-6 lead at half-time.
However, the Irish outfit were held scoreless in the second half as the Stormers stormed back into the match and eventual victory.
Adre Smith started the comeback with his score in the 57th minute before Dylan Maart and Ruhan Nel wrapped up the match for the Capetoians.
The scorers
The last two unbeaten left this season squared off in a blockbuster return to the United Rugby Championship, and the fixture certainly delivered on its promise.
The Stormers were put under pressure early on as lock Connor Evans was sent to the sin bin for pulling back Tom Ahern as the Irishman was receiving a pass from Diarmuid Kilgallen. Crowley pushed his first attempt at goal wide, and despite going down a man, it was the visitors who opened the scoring.
Juree Matthee opened his account with a penalty, but their lead did not last long as Beirne crossed the whitewash minutes later as he cantered through the line after a slick pass by number eight Gavin Coombes.
The Stormers found a reply through their scrum, which earned Matthee another shot at goal, which he slotted. That, however, would be the visitors’ final contribution to the scoring in the first half.
Munster piled on the pressure with a last-ditch tackle denying Thaakir Abrahams a try while a Diarmuid Barron knock-on killed off another chance.
Hodnett did have the finishing touch, though, as he barged over from close range as the clock hit 20 minutes and Crowley found his radar with the conversion.
After a scrum penalty gave Matthee a shot at goal, but this time he was wide. Two minutes later, he was under his own sticks as Crowley finished off a stunning move for his side’s third and final try.
John Dobson’s charges came out flying in the second half and were denied a try due to an earlier infringement, and got the first five-pointer some 10 minutes later as JJ Kotze muscled his way over from close range.
Matters went from bad to worse for Munster, who were back-tracking in the scrum much like Ireland last week against South Africa, as Coombes stuck his leg and tripped up a Stormers player in the build-up to Kotze’s score. He was sin-binned for his actions, and the visitors capitalised.
First through Maart, who made his debut for the side, as he latched onto a brilliant cross kick with Matthee’s conversion making it a one-point game.
The final blow and winning score came through Stormers captain Nel, who picked off a loose pass and sprinted away to seal the victory.
Craig Casey looked to have the magic touch and winning reply for the hosts with a brilliant kick-try assist, but a knock-on by Crowley ruled out the five-pointer and the Stormers managed to hold onto their lead.
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The teams
Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Jack O’Donoghue, 6 Tadhg Beirne (c), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 John Ryan, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Ronan Foxe, 19 Edwin Edogbo, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Ethan Coughlan, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Dan Kelly
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Ruhan Nel, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Vernon Matongo
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adré Smith, 20 JD Schickerling, 21 Ruan Ackermann, 22 Dewaldt Duvenage, 23 Clinton Swart
Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off: 17.30 IRE & UK / 18.30 ITA / 19.30 SA
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 58th league game)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Cole (IRFU), Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
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