1
Stormers, Bulls snatch tight victories as Springboks return to action in pre-season double-header
The Stormers edged the Sharks 21-19 in a pre-season encounter in Soweto on Sunday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Both teams scored three tries on the day with Sharks wing Makazole Mapimpi and Stormers scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies both scoring two tries.
In the end, it was only a conversion that separated the two teams.
Continue reading below…
After sustained pressure inside the Stormers’ 22 the Sharks thought they had opened the scoring in the 16th minute when wing Sibusiso Nkosi crashed over the tryline after receiving the ball on the blindside from the scrum.
However, after a few replays, the TMO decided that Nkosi lost control of the ball before he grounded it.
Instead, it was the Stormers who got the first points of the game in the 26th minute when scrumhalf Jantjies was given acres of space to run in for a try after maul inside the Sharks’ 22.
Damian Willemse added the extra two points with the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
The Sharks finally got on the board in the 32nd minute after some sensational play from their backline.
ADVERTISEMENT
The @Hurricanesrugby could have star loose forward @ardiesavea back from his significant knee injury earlier than expected.https://t.co/mtMYwmI0em
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 20, 2020
After a quick tap was taken in their own half from a penalty, the ball was spread wide to Lukhanyo Am who kicked the ball over the Stormers’ backline. The ball was then it was collected by Mapimpi, who raced over in the corner for a try.
At half-time it was 7-5 in favour of the Stormers.
The Sharks took the lead in the 49th minute when Mapimpi ran in for his second try of the game after some great running and handling from his teammates in the backline. Curwin Bosch was successful with the conversion to give his team a five-point lead.
However, their lead did not last long after Jantjies intercepted a Louis Schreuder pass to sprint in for his second try of the match. Willemse added the extras and the Stormers were in front by two points.
The Stormers extended their lead in 71st minute when replacement scrumhalf Godlen Masimla chased down a chip kick from Sergeal Petersen to score his team’s third try of the match.
ADVERTISEMENT
Jean-Luc du Plessis made it a nine-point lead with the conversion.
The Sharks kept in touch after Marius Louw gathered the ball from a chip kick to race away for a try in the 74th minute, which Boeta Chamberlain converted.
Meanwhile, a late Cornal Hendricks try helped the Bulls edge the Lions 40-35 in the follow-up match of the double-header at FNB Stadium.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ZaykoA1G9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
There were 11 tries scored in the match with the Bulls outscoring their opponents by six tries to five during the 80 minutes.
The Lions got on the board in the eighth minute when the ball was spread wide from a scrum to centre Dan Kriel who ran straight through the Bulls’ defence for an easy try.
Captain Elton Jantjies added the two points with the conversion.
The Bulls hit back in the 14th minute with Abongile Nonkontwana crossing the Lions’ tryline after a powerful driving maul.
Morne Steyn made no mistake with the conversion to level the scores.
However, the Lions regained the lead in the 23rd minute after Duncan Matthews intercepted Ivan van Zyl’s pass before racing away for a try, which was converted by Jantjies.
The Bulls were then given an advantage when Lions hooker Pieter Jansen received a yellow card for some cynical play at a ruck.
Instead, it was the Lions who added to their tally with Matthews scoring his second try after some enterprising play from the Johannesburg team out wide.
A few minutes later the Bulls were back in it with Johnny Kotze going over the whitewash in the 37th minute after some excellent passing in the Lions’ 22.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7dtgl5Ayls/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Steyn added the two points and at half-time it was 21-14 to the Lions.
The scores were level two minutes into the second half after Manie Libbok pounced on a loose ball in the Lions’ 22 before sprinting in for an easy converted try.
The Bulls found themselves in front in the 49th minute after some more sloppy play by the Lions in their 22 resulted in a loose ball being picked up by the Bulls. The ball was spread wide to Rossouw, who ran in for a score.
The Lions needed to be the next to score and they did just that when Courtnall Skosan collected pin-point kick from Elton Jantjies in the Bulls’ in-goal area to score a fantastic try in the 56th minute.
Jantjies gave the Lions a two-point lead with the conversion.
That lead was extended in the 60th minute when Morné van der Berg evaded several defenders to power his way to the tryline for Lions’ fifth try.
Another Rossouw try brought the Bulls closer before the Pretoria team took the lead with just three minutes left on clock when Cornal Hendricks picked up the ball from a loose pass to dive over for a try, which Chris Smith converted.
That was enough for the Bulls to secure the win.
Stormers 21 (Tries to Herschel Jantjies 2, Godlen Masimla; 2 conversions to Damian Willemse, conversion to Jean-Luc du Plessis) defeated Sharks 19 (Tries to Makazole Mapimpi 2, Marius Louw; conversion to Curwin Bosch, conversion to Boeta Chamberlain)
Bulls 40 (Tries to Abongile Nonkontwana, Johnny Kotze, Manne Libbok, Divan Rossouw (2), Cornal Hendricks; 2 conversions to Morne Steyn, 3 conversion for Chris Smith) defeated Lions 35 (Tries to Dan Kriel, Duncan Matthews (2), Courtnall Skosan, Morne van der Berg; 5 conversions to Elton Jantjies)
– Rugby365
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments