For half an hour on Saturday afternoon, the Cape Town crowd watched dropped ball after dropped ball. Ulster, a side still looking for their first win of the season, were ahead. Then the Stormers’ pack went to work, and the afternoon turned.
The Stormers v Ulster result: Stormers 33, Ulster 7, five tries to one and a bonus point, in round five of the United Rugby Championship (URC). The hosts led only 12-7 at half-time. Those figures come from the Stormers’ own report, matched by SA Rugby magazine and Rugby365 once the game was over.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Result | Stormers 33-7 Ulster |
| Half-time | Stormers 12-7 Ulster |
| Stormers tries | JD Schickerling, Paul de Villiers, Evan Roos, Ruhan Nel, Yaqeen Ahmed |
| Stormers kicks | Yaqeen Ahmed 4 conversions |
| Ulster try | David McCann |
| Ulster kicks | Jack Murphy 1 conversion |
| Referee | Sam Grove-White |
| Venue | DHL Stadium, Cape Town |
| Competition | United Rugby Championship, round five |
An untidy start and an Ulster lead
This was not the Stormers at their slickest. Rugby365 counted 14 turnovers in the first half, 11 of them from dropped balls, and the visitors made them pay. David McCann went over from close range, Jack Murphy converted, and Ulster led 7-0.
The answer came the old-fashioned way. A scrum, then three maul penalties in a row, according to the club’s report, set up the position, and lock JD Schickerling finished it off. Ahmed’s conversion made it 7-7 around the 35-minute mark.
Then came a gift. Flank Paul de Villiers charged down an Ulster kick and scored, and the Stormers went in five points up. Ahmed missed the conversion, so the board read 12-7.
Stormers v Ulster result: Roos breaks it open
The second half was barely five minutes old when Evan Roos settled the nerves. The No 8 broke the line from inside his own 22, as the club’s report tells it, and ran in a solo try that Ahmed converted for 19-7.
The bonus point arrived with ten minutes left. Ahmed, at flyhalf, put up a cross-kick and captain Ruhan Nel finished it, with Ahmed adding the extras for 26-7.
Ahmed then took the last word himself. A late try of his own, and a fourth conversion, gave him 13 points for the afternoon and the Stormers a 26-point winning margin.
Rugby365 named De Villiers player of the match, crediting him with 15 tackles, the most on the field.
Why it matters
Five points is five points, however they arrive. The win is the Stormers’ fourth home bonus-point win in a row, all of them this month, as both the club and SA Rugby magazine noted. Last week’s win over the Scarlets, a 52-40 thriller, was the third.
The Stormers went into the round fourth on 16 points, level with the Bulls, whose game against the Scarlets at Loftus Versfeld kicked off at 17:00. This result takes the Stormers to 21. The full log has to wait for the rest of Saturday’s games.
For Ulster it is a fifth URC match this season without a win: two draws and now three defeats. They arrived 13th, as our round five preview set out, and leave Cape Town with nothing.
Our view: the handling will bother John Dobson more than the scoreline pleases him. Eleven dropped balls in a half would have cost the Stormers against Glasgow or Edinburgh. Against a winless Ulster, the set piece and a few moments of real quality were enough. The good news is that the moments came from all over the field: a lock, a flank, a No 8, a centre and a flyhalf on the scoresheet.
What comes next
The URC now takes its November break. The club says this was the Stormers’ last game at the DHL Stadium until 19 December, so the Cape Town faithful will have to wait a while for their next home bonus point. The other SA sides are still playing: the Lions lost in Scotland on Friday, as our Glasgow report told it, and the Bulls and Sharks are in action tonight.