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Stormers inflict 16th straight defeat on URC strugglers Dragons
By PA
Dan Lydiate’s 150th appearance in the United Rugby Championship ended in defeat as Dragons went down 48-12 to Stormers in Cape Town.
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The 37-year-old former Wales flanker, hanging up his boots at the end of the season, was replaced in the 26th minute with Dragons 7-0 behind after Wandisile Simelane’s try in the opening minute.
Seabelo Senatla added a second try before half-time which was again converted by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who also landed a penalty early in the second half after Aaron Wainwright had got Dragons on the board.
Stefan Ungerer and Damian Willemse added further scores for Stormers, Feinberg-Mngomezulu converting one, before Dane Blacker grabbed Dragons’ second try, with Lloyd Evans adding the extras.
Stormers responded immediately through Suleiman Hartzenberg, with Paul de Wet and Simelane, who bookended Stormers’ seven tries, piling on the misery in the closing stages, Willemse successful from the tee with two of them.
While Stormers boosted their play-off prospects, it was a 16th successive URC defeat for Dragons, who end the season with a trip to second-placed Bulls next Saturday.
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The ‘croc roll’ penalty against Salman Moerat was a joke. No neck roll, doesn’t fall on a lower limb, doesn’t even complete the clear out. A second stormers player makes the clean. Feels like every time a player takes longer than ‘normal’ to get to their feet a TMO looks for a reason to inject themselves and award a card. The URC has a big problem with the quality of refereeing overall. Can’t offer any solutions, but I’d like to see what rugby is like when only the on-field refs can call for a TMO review.