News24.com | Stormers sizzle at electric Cape Town Stadium, down Bulls to book home URC semi-final

The Stormers are one win away from competing in back-to-back United Rugby Championship (URC) finals after they beat Bulls 33-21 in front of 44 000 spectators in a riveting North/South derby at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday. 

The defending champions will now host Irish side Connacht in next weekend's semi-final, continuing a superb run of form that has now included six straight URC wins over the Bulls. 

This was the largest crowd ever seen in South Africa for a URC game, and while tensions were high for much of a contest in which referee Jaco Peyper commanded attention throughout, the Bulls can have no complaints at losing to a side that was simply better on the day. 

The Bulls showed immense fight to stay in the match even when they were being outplayed, but it was the Stormers who had more incisive capability with the ball and they ultimately got enough reward. 

The hosts had a 17-7 lead at half-time and the sides scored three tries each. 

Manie Libbok was superb for the Stormers, sparking everything, while he was also flawless off the kicking tee with three conversions and four penalties. It was an incredibly mature and skillful performance from the 25-year-old flyhalf, who has surely taken another significant step towards Springbok 2023 World Cup selection. 

There was a clear big-match feel about this one and in the hours leading up to kick-off, jovial fans streamed through the gates. This, after all, is South African rugby's premier derby that has provided some hugely entertaining contests in recent years. 

Few have meant more than this one. 

Friday night's shock result that saw Connacht down Ulster in the first URC quarter-final raised the stakes, with both sides knowing that victory on Saturday would give them a home semi-final against Connacht next weekend and a fantastic opportunity to compete in the tournament final. 

The tension was palpable throughout the warm-ups, and not even Bob Marley's Everything's Gonna be Alright blaring through the stadium speakers could change that.  

The Bulls were not helped by Canan Moodie's late withdrawal after an injury picked up at Friday's training session. They had prepared all week with Johan Goosen at flyhalf, but then had to shift him to fullback as Chris Smith came into the No 10 jersey. 

That left Kurt-Lee Arendse starting on the wing as Moodie's replacement, but the Bulls had lost a huge x-factor presence and were forced into a significant tactical reshuffle.

By the time Smith kicked the Bulls - in pink - off, Cape Town Stadium was rocking.

The Stormers were quick out the blocks, making a bright start as they set up back-to-back 5m lineouts. The maul defence on both occasions was strong from Bulls as Deon Fourie, back in the Stormers starting line-up, lost control trying to reach over the line to score. 

The reprieve was short-lived for the visitors, though, and when Libbok sliced through the Bulls defence, there were numbers for the Stormers and the ball was launched out left where Hacjivah Dayimani gathered and completed the simplest finish. 

Libbok added the extra, the Stormers were 7-0 up and the Bulls were up against it. 

The state of the turf had been a talking point in the build-up to the game, with the slippery surface not conducive to scrummaging. The Stormers would have been pleased, then, to see their front row win the first battle against the Bulls on 17 minutes - it looked a strange call, with Steven Kitshoff seemingly first to hit the deck - before Libbok knocked over an impressive strike from 40-plus meters to make to 10-0. 

Against the run of play, the Bulls were then given a mini-lifeline on 22 minutes when Marvin Orie was penalised for a shoulder charge, but Goosen then missed a regulation kick at goal from 40m out. 

It just wasn't happening for the Bulls, who could not look after the ball when they had it in promising positions. 

Libbok had the crowd on their feet once more on 26 minutes with another superb run that was matched only by his distribution. His pass found Angelo Davids on the right wing, but the speedster was stopped just short of the line as he got away a pass in-field. 

Television replays showed, however, that Bulls flank Cyle Brink had cleared out Dayimani without the ball. Brink was yellow-carded, but no penalty try was awarded, and the Bulls survived the resulting onslaught as Joseph Dweba was held up after breaking off the maul. 

As uninspiring as they were on attack, the Bulls were defending heroically, trying desperately to keep themselves in the contest as the Stormers threatened time and time again to score. 

They were stretched with a man down, though, and had no answer to another Stormers break that was orchestrated by Libbok and ended with Leolin Zas going over down the left. 

Libbok, again, knocked it over from the left touchline and with a 17-0 lead, the Stormers looked to be home and dry already and the Bulls buried. 

But the men from Pretoria were nowhere near done and hit back brilliantly. They recieved a penalty, kicked it into the corner and then, with his first involvement since being back on the field, Brink went over for the try. 

It was a much-needed injection of hope for the Bulls, who had been woeful on attack for the entire first half. Yet, through a combination of their defensive heroics and some poor Stormers handling in the red zone, the Bulls went into the break 17-7 down and still in with a sniff. 

That, surely, was a scoreline they would have been satisfied with given how poorly the half had gone for them until the Brink try, while the Stormers might have felt they had done enough to be even further ahead. 

The refereeing was a major talking point already at the break, and tensions were at an all-time high when the second period kicked off. 

The Bulls were dealt another blow when Goosen was stretchered off the park shortly after the restart having suffered a head knock, and an early Libbok penalty stretched it out to 20-7. 

As was the case at the start of the match, it was the Stormers making all of the play. 

Damian Willemse was growing increasingly influential with ball in hand, and the Stormers were beginning to string together some crisp, silky passing.

Zas then knocked over Embrose Papier in a tackle to send the home crowd delirious, and from the resulting attack the Stormers went right where Angelo Davids completed the Stormers' third and most aesthetically pleasing score of the day. 

Another Libbok conversion - the Stormers flyhalf was unflappable - took it out to 27-7 and, again, the Bulls looked buried in the Cape Town turf. 

But, again, they hit back. Or so it had initially seemed. This time, it took a moment of individual brilliance from Arendse, who gathered an up-and-under and set off with electric pace, making a superb run that resulted with skipper Ruan Nortje going over. The Bulls celebrated, but replays showed Nortje had lost control of the ball. 

It was a devastating moment in the contest for the Bulls, but they did get their second shortly after that when - after a sustained period of attack that had sucked in the Stormers defence - Papier found space to score down the right. 

The Bulls were penalised for offsides straight after that, though, which allowed Libbok to restore some breathing room with his third penalty kick of the night as the hosts took it out to 30-14 with 18 minutes to play. 

Both sides were emptying their benches, and the Bulls needed to score next if they were going to pull off an unlikely escape. 

It was not be. As the minutes ticked on, the inevitability of another defeat to the Stormers grew. 

There was time for one last Libbok penalty and a Bismarck du Plessis try, but the fixture already over as a contest by then.

This will be tough to take for the Bulls, and supporters will no-doubt feel aggrieved at some of the inconsistencies in the officiating. 

But for the Stormers, this was another magical day of what is proving to be another magical season. 

Scorers:

Stormers 33 (17)

Tries: Hacjivah Dayimani, Leolin Zas, Angelo Davids

Conversions: Manie Libbok (4)

Penalties: Libbok (2)

Bulls 21 (7)

Tries: Cyle Brink, Embrose Papier, Bismarck du Plessis

Conversions: Johan Goosen, Chris Smith (2)