Stormers sink Sharks with late Jean-Luc du Plessis try

Jean-Luc du Plessis’ 78th-minute try lifted Stormers to a hard-fought 24-20 victory over Sharks in the United Rugby Championship.

Despite tries from Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie and Manie Libbok, the Stormers trailed 20-17 due to scores from Yaw Penxe and Jordan Hendrikse, who also added 10 points with the boot.

But Du Plessis burrowed over from close range before Libbok added his second conversion of the game to hand the Stormers a tense derby victory in Cape Town.

The Stormers went into the match having won their last eleven home games against fellow South African franchises, but it was the visitors who took an early lead through Hendrikse’s penalty.

The Sharks were only in front for four minutes, though, as the Stormers found a response when Senatla pounced on Warrick Gelant’s deft kick-through.

Libbok missed the conversion and then hooked a penalty attempt wide and the Sharks made him pay for his profligacy through winger Penxe’s try.

Hendrikse added the extras and the Sharks turned around 10-5 in front on the scoreboard, but down to 14 men following a yellow card on the stroke of half-time to Ethan Hooker.

Fourie’s try from a rolling maul brought the home side back on level terms but a stop-start game that featured less than half an hour of ball-in-play time lumbered into the final quarter with the game still evenly poised.

Libbok eventually broke the deadlock stepped through the Sharks’ defence to score himself and then added the conversion to make it 17-10 with around 15 minutes left to play. But the Durban-based Sharks were not done yet as they hit back with a try and penalty from fly-half Hendrikse.

The Stormers were forced to dig deep in an attempt to get the result they craved, and on their tenth visit to the Sharks’ 22, the forwards softened up the defence before du Plessis crossed for the winning score.