Stormers go second with win
Stormers moved into second place in the Super 14 table with a bonus point victory over the Hurricanes in Cape Town.
Last Updated: 14/03/10 10:14am
Stormers moved into second place in the Super 14 table with a bonus point victory over the Hurricanes in Cape Town.
Sireli Naqelevuki, Joe Pietersen, Duane Vermeulen, Brok Harris and Jaques Fourie were all on the scoresheet for the home side, while David Smith and Tyson Keats grabbed late consolations for the visitors.
Pietersen kicked his side into an immediate lead when the Hurricanes were penalised for offside, and the first try was not far behind as Fourie's angled run allowed Pietersen space to send Naqelevuki over.
The visitors slowly began to claw their way back into the game, but Willie Ripia wasted a first penalty attempt before adding the second - Bryan Habana and Francois Louw the guilty culprits for Allister Coetzee's side.
Then came a key moment of the game for the New Zealanders when they lost Cory Jane after a nasty clash of heads with Naqelevuki.
The latter, though, suffered no injury and then turned provider when he drew four defenders and cleverly threw a pass to Pietersen for the second try - the Stormers full-back again missing the conversion.
Vermeulen then grabbed the third after the half-time hooter had sounded.
It followed a line-out on the halfway line, an excellent maul forward and a break from Schalk Burger with the ball swung wide to Habana and then coming inside for the number eight to extend the lead.
Pietersen's conversion made it 20-3 at the break and left the visitors looking short of ideas.
Tamati Ellison should have easily scored for his side shortly after the restart, but knocked on metres out to hand the hosts a reprieve.
At the other end Habana and Harris were both held up short as the Stormers tried to relieve some of the pressure.
But Harris, denied minutes earlier by the television referee, got his reward thanks to hard work via Peter Grant's initial charge-down and dash for the line.
Pietersen celebrated the bonus point by knocking over the conversion.
Plenty of changes in personnel followed for the Stormers - the visitors capitalising on that with a steal at the scrum after some miscommunication that enabled Smith to score.
But it came too late as a penalty from Pietersen followed by Fourie's late try opened up the deficit even further.
Keats slipped through close to the end when he caught the home defence napping, but it proved only a consolation - the visitors losing for the second time in five games.
