Northern | US

Stuart Lancaster's Connacht pull off stunning URC shock at Stormers' expense


Connacht captain Cian Prendergast during the United Rugby Championship match between DHL Stormers and Connacht at DHL Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo By Shaun Roy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Comments
13 Comments

Connacht produced a brilliant comeback in the United Rugby Championship to claim a bonus-point victory over the Stormers in Cape Town.

ADVERTISEMENT

The hosts, who would have gone top of the table with a victory, led by 10 points with 17 minutes remaining but the visitors roared back to win 33-24.

Connacht went ahead when Shamus Hurley-Langton crossed for the first try in the seventh minute after Deon Fourie was sent to the sin-bin.

VIDEO

The Stormers led at the break, though, thanks to a converted try from Evan Roos and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s penalty.

Ntuthuko Mchunu and Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored either side of a try from Paul Boyle to make it 24-14 and put the hosts seemingly in control.

But John Devine quickly pulled another try back, Connacht took the lead through Ben Murphy and Sean Naughton made sure of the victory, with Sam Gilbert adding his fourth conversion.

Prior to the game, Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster was quietly confident.

“We’ve had a good week so far in South Africa and spirits are high ahead of two very important games, and to have four players in Jansen, Heffernan, West and Gavin all return from injury is a great boost for us. We know that playing the Stormers in Cape Town means we can expect huge physicality, so we’ll have to match them in that area from the first minute while being clinical when the opportunities arise.”

ADVERTISEMENT

DHL Stormers: Warrick Gelant, Damian Willemse, Ruhan Nel (CAPT), Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Scarra Ntubeni, Zachary Porthen, Adré Smith, JD Schickerling, Deon Fourie, Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos

Replacements: André-Hugo Venter, Oli Kebble, Neethling Fouché, Ruben van Heerden, Marcel Theunissen, Paul de Villiers, Stefan Ungerer, Wandisile Simelane

Connacht Rugby: Sam Gilbert, Harry West, John Devine, Cathal Forde, Shayne Bolton, Sean Naughton, Ben Murphy; Billy Bohan, Dave Heffernan, Sam Illo, David O’Connor, Darragh Murray, Cian Prendergast (CAPT), Shamus Hurley-Langton, Sean Jansen

Replacements: Matthew Victory, Peter Dooley, Jack Aungier, Josh Murphy, Paul Boyle, Colm Reilly, Jack Carty, Hugh Gavin

ADVERTISEMENT

Referee: Federico Vedovelli

AR 1: Hanru van Rooyen (SARU) AR 2: Sean Muller (SARU)

TMO: Fillipo Russo (FIR)

Related

ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

13 Comments
u
unknown 181 days ago

It would be nice to see Connachta player ratings for this win.

J
John Breslin 181 days ago

Brilliant advert for the URC. Plenty of the scores were top quality


Stormers all but had them - twice. No chance Connacht win that a year ago. Lancaster should be getting huge credit for their improvements and ability to hang tough with teams and take their chances. The mid-point of the 2nd half was dazzling from both teams


I hadn’t heard of Solomon’s passing until the pre-match. Very sad news

E
Eric Elwood 181 days ago

This match had a potential for a shock. Although Connacht started 9th in the league most of the losses were at the start and they were 5/5 in the URC leading into this. Also, Stormers would expect next weeks match V Glasgow to be the bigger challenge and could potentially be suprised by Connachts fitness and 80 min intensity.


So a top4 team in form. I thought myself that Connacht would have to limit scrums so when Sean Naughton kicked the match start straight into touch and Connacht started handling errors after the first shower I thought they would struggle.

But Billy Bohan and Sam Illo stood up to the Stormers scrum.


You could sense frustration in Stormers that the emotional performance they were hoping for was not materializing but Connacht are a serious team and would have known that Stormers frustration would be part of todays events if things were going their way. At 7-7 Connacht botched a certain try when dropping to score too early ( a foot short) from a driving Maul. Stormers went in 10-7.

Second half was a case of Stormers not being able to put distance into the lead and Connacht being more expansive in the second half and keeping in touch. Connachts fitness started to tell later with offloads sticking. When they replied to a Stormers try immediately, they scored next to take the lead and with a couple of minutes left Naughton intercepted a long Stormers possession passage to put the match away for a 5 points with Stormers getting none.

Connacht have arguably the best coach in the league in Stuart Lancaster, have big plans for next year but could be a dark horse in the URC this year.

Lions next in Jo-burg!


Stormers didn’t get the win for Chippy Solomon but great respect shown to him before the match by all concerned.

R
Rodney Ford 181 days ago

Well done Connacht.


Stormers have no respect for rugby, their fans or their opponents. Pathetic.

H
Hellhound 181 days ago

I'm a big Bulls fan, and we hate the Stormers. No love lost there. However, that is utter BS. Neither the players, their coaching staff or fans disrespect others. You however are the pathetic one trying to besmirch others.

G
GrahamVF 181 days ago

As a Stormers supporter I’m so sorry to hear you say that. What did we do to make you think that. I think that if you had to chat to many many visting rugby people - ie people who are involved with rugby - you would hear exactly the opposite. But I am keen to hear your explanation of your views.

E
Eric Elwood 181 days ago

Why do you say that?

Thought the match was a great occasion with a great atmosphere particularly as a memorial for Chippy Solomon. Not the result Stormers wanted but a delightful mixture of niggle and respect.

Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

L
LouisJ 1 hour ago
Wallabies player ratings vs New Zealand | Bledisloe Cup II 2026

I agree with a lot of what you are saying 2Cents. The forwards are too stationary and I think they are playing too many phases, hitting the ball up with nearly no gain, this also causes fatigue because they are wrestling to try make some post contact metres. They need to hit the ball at pace, which Bell did well during the later stages of the game. The All Blacks also did well to niggle enough to keep Lonergen from getting the ball out quick but the wallabies allowed the AB’s to niggle because they weren’t clearing effectively and sometimes not at all. That’s where Tom Hooper and Tupou are missed. Communication in the midfield was lacking but it’s hard to blame 2 guys that have never really played together. I still maintain that Su needs to be left on the wing as I don’t believe his defence is up to scratch in the midfield. I think they might have been better off playing Daugunu and Henry in the midfield and Su on the wing. Hopefully Henry can have some better performances with Ikitau or Paisami inside. Having Carter, Paisami, Ikitau, Jake Gordon, Hooper and Tupou back, will make a big difference, it is just a fact. There is definitely a lack of depth in the back for Wallabies, it was positive to see Meredith step up and HMP looked good as well in the limited time he had. Jorgo had a pretty average game today but he doesn’t usually have more than one average game at a time, he made a few mistakes but he has been one of our best for a number of games since last year so I think he deserves to be forgiven. Harry Wilson was also not as ruthless as he was last week, I agree, but the All Blacks did well containing him a bit more today. Harry made a couple of mistakes today, kicking the ball away, forcing a couple of passes and also not going for 3 points when the Wallabies were a man down with Williams off with the yellow card. Jeremy Williams needs to work on his discipline, he gives away crucial penalties and yellow cards far too often, he is such an important player to have on the field. I think the Wallabies were better today and I think they will step up in the Nations Championship. Kiss is moving in the right direction with the boys. Most importantly I believe they need to get their mental game sorted, then the need to get their defence structured and organised. I think the run of 12, now 13 losses in a row against the AB’s have a massive psychological effect on the guys and they so badly want to win that they are pushing passes, making wrong decisions and making mistakes as a result. I believe they have the skills to be great.

36 Go to comments
L
LouisJ 2 hours ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Australia | Bledisloe Cup II 2026

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I also think the ratings are atleast 1 point to high across the board. Loose forwards look solid and there is certainly depth in that department. Front row is not bulletproof, there isn’t that much depth and the wallabies stood up very well in the scrum. I don’t think there is that much depth at lock either, I think Barret and Holland is a solid combination. I don’t think Tavatavanawai will be able to handle the likes of the Springboks or the French, and even the English, Irish and Scotts will run circles around him. Tavatavanawai will have a hard time against guys like Minocello and Chocobares as well. Jordy and Quin is a massive loss and Billy Proctor is missed as backup, AB’s seem to lack in depth in the midfield. DMAC played very well against the wallabies because of their terrible defence and the massive amount of space they gave him, but he will be far less effective against defensive structures like the springboks and France even probably Ireland and Scotland. I hope the Kiwi supporters stop whinging about Beauden Barret now, he just showed once again that he is still a very dangerous player. One thing that has to be said, is that Roigard is pure class. They only thing I don’t like is his whingin to the ref and TV dives, he had a couple of whinges again today, I hope he can drop that from his game because otherwise he is pure class and the other backups are far behind, I don’t think the AB’s have that much genuine depth at 9. I reckon there were some positives form the Wallabies performance today, but they would have been far more dangerous if they had Carter Gordon, Ikitau, Paisami, Hooper and Tupou in their 23 and if they can have a more solid backup at 9, like Jake Gordon or maybe one of the others coming through the ranks, they will look much better against the All Blacks.

18 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT
Copied to clipboard

Share Article close