At half-time the Cape Town crowd was already checking the log. Five tries, a bonus point in the bag, a 19-point lead. Forty minutes later they were on their feet for very different reasons, because the Scarlets had pulled level and nobody in the stadium was sure how this ended.
The Stormers v Scarlets result: Stormers 52, Scarlets 40, eight tries to six, in the fourth round of the United Rugby Championship at the DHL Stadium, with the hosts 33-14 ahead at the interval. The Stormers published that score in their match report, and SA Rugby magazine and Rugby365 carried the same numbers once the game had finished.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Result | Stormers 52-40 Scarlets |
| Half-time | Stormers 33-14 Scarlets |
| Stormers tries | Yaqeen Ahmed (2), Zachary Porthen, Haashim Pead, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie, Olly Reid |
| Stormers kicks | Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 6 conversions |
| Scarlets tries | Joe Roberts (3), Ioan Jones, Macs Page, Josh Macleod |
| Scarlets kicks | Carwyn Leggatt-Jones 5 conversions |
| Yellow card | John McKee (Scarlets) |
| Referee | Robbie Jenkinson |
| Venue | DHL Stadium, Cape Town |
| Competition | United Rugby Championship, round four |
Five tries before the break
The Scarlets gave the Stormers an early opening. Hooker John McKee was yellow-carded for a breakdown offence about ten minutes in, and prop Zachary Porthen scored from a lineout move while he was off. Scrumhalf Haashim Pead, in his first start for the Stormers, added the second when Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu flicked the ball back to him, and marked the occasion with his first try in Stormers colours.
Outside centre Joe Roberts replied out wide for the Scarlets, but loosehead Ntuthuko Mchunu crashed over to make it 19-7 around the half-hour. Ioan Jones answered in the corner for 19-14. That was as close as it got for a while. Wing Seabelo Senatla finished out wide to secure the bonus point, and replacement Deon Fourie was driven over from a maul on the half-time hooter. Thirty-three points to 14, and the night looked done.
How the Stormers v Scarlets result nearly turned
It was not done. Wing Macs Page scored early in the second half, Roberts intercepted for his second, Leggatt-Jones converted both, and the lead was down to five at 33-28.
Replacement prop Olly Reid powered over from close range to make it 40-28 with about 25 minutes left. Most nights that steadies a team. Instead the Scarlets kept running, and kept finding gaps. Captain Josh Macleod stepped inside for one try and Roberts completed his hat-trick for another, and going into the last 15 minutes it was 40-40.
Then the bench delivered. Yaqeen Ahmed, on as a replacement, went under the posts to put the Stormers back in front. In the closing minutes a loose ball was hacked downfield, the Stormers chased it on the counter, and Ahmed had his second. It was 52-40, and Cape Town could breathe out.
What it means for the Stormers
A win with eight tries brings the full five log points, which lifts the Stormers from 11 points after three rounds to 16. The record survives too: the Scarlets had never beaten them in five previous meetings, and they still have not. The Welsh side take one point home for their six tries.
The worry is in the second half. A side 19 points up with a bonus point already banked should not concede 26 points in a half, and Paul de Villiers’s team will know a sharper opponent might not have let them off. The Stormers’ own report says they also lost Andre-Hugo Venter, Hacjivah Dayimani, Fourie and Senatla to injury during the game. It gave no further detail, and the medical updates will matter this week.
Saturday’s other South African result went the same way at Loftus, where the Bulls took five points from Ulster, after the Sharks won in Cardiff and the Lions lost in Edinburgh on Friday.
What comes next
Ulster are the next visitors to the DHL Stadium, on Saturday 31 October at 14:45. The Scarlets head north to Pretoria to face the Bulls the same afternoon. Keep up with both sides on our Stormers page and our Bulls page, and Sunday’s remaining games are listed in our weekend fixture guide.