Evan Roos in three-way shootout for URC top-tryscorer

DHL Stormers marched on towards the United Rugby Championship play-offs with six tries in their 33-14 victory over Edinburgh in Cape Town to draw within four points of league leaders Glasgow.

Two of the hosts’ tries came from Evan Roos on either side of the break, and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked for eight points.

It was not the cleanest of starts for Stormers, who were left shorthanded after loosehead prop Ntuthuko Mchunu was sin-binned in the sixth minute and Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed back-to-back penalties.

Roos broke the deadlock with a 25th-minute try, but there was an immediate reply from Edinburgh inside centre James Lang, converted by Ross Thompson to ensure the scoreline at the break was level 7-7.

Leolin Zas restored Stormers’ advantage five minutes after the restart, Feinberg-Mngomezulu missing the conversion, before Boan Venter drew Edinburgh closer with a try, converted by Thompson.

United Rugby Championship

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Glasgow

13

10

3

0

50

2

Stormers

13

10

3

0

46

3

Ulster

13

8

5

0

42

4

Leinster

13

8

5

0

41

5

Cardiff Rugby

13

8

5

0

40

6

Munster

13

8

5

0

39

7

Lions

13

7

5

1

38

8

Bulls

13

7

6

0

35

9

Connacht

13

6

7

0

35

10

Ospreys

13

5

6

2

29

11

Sharks

13

5

7

1

29

12

Benetton

13

5

6

2

28

13

Edinburgh

13

4

9

0

23

14

Scarlets

13

4

8

1

21

15

Dragons RFC

13

2

8

3

20

16

Zebre

13

2

11

0

12

Stormers pulled away with tries from Mchunu and Roos after the hour, and Deon Fourie added one of his own at the death.

Roos’ brace takes him level with Connacht’s Sean Jansen and Leinster’s Joshua Kenny as the joint top try-scorer in the BKT URC this season, with all three having touched down nine times.

Roos, who picked up the BKT URC Player of the Match, said: “I am just enjoying it and I think the team is clicking well now. It’s fun.

“We understand our roles and everyone buys into it, which is awesome. The tries are just a nice bonus for me.”

The Stormers remain second on the URC table, the game having playing out in front of the league’s biggest crowd of the weekend – with 21,487 watching at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town.

DHL Stormers: Warrick Gelant, Damian Willemse, Ruhan Nel (CAPT), Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Stefan Ungerer; Ntuthuko Mchunu, André-Hugo Venter, Sazi Sandi, Adré Smith, JD Schickerling, Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos

Replacements: JJ Kotzé, Oli Kebble, Neethling Fouché, Connor Evans, Deon Fourie, Hacjivah Dayimani, Dewaldt Duvenage, Jurie Matthee

Edinburgh Rugby: Piers O’Conor, Darcy Graham, Matt Currie, James Lang, Malelili Satala, Ross Thompson, Charlie Shiel; Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, Paul Hill, Marshall Sykes, Grant Gilchrist, Liam McConnell, Dylan Richardson, Magnus Bradbury (CAPT)

Replacements: Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, Boan Venter, Angus Williams, Glen Young, Freddy Douglas, Ben Vellacott, Mosese Tuipulotu, Jack Brown

additional reporting Simon Thomas for the URC