The DHL Stormers put on a strong second half performance to secure a 30-16 victory over ASM Clermont Auvergne at the DHL Stadium in the Heineken Champions Cup on Saturday.

The Cape team went into the game in a good position to make it to the next round, and they made sure of it by breaking away in the second half to win with a bonus point and boost their morale.

Both teams attacked hard in the first half, but neither came close to scoring a try. The only points scored came from penalty goals, which ASM Clermont Auvergne made two to one over the DHL Stormers.

But in the second half, the home team won because they scored four tries to the visitors’ one.

Kade Wolhuter had a chance to score the first points of the game with a penalty kick in the 10th minute, but it went wide. Meanwhile, Clermont’s Anthony Belleau kicked two points in 12 minutes to give his team a 6-0 lead in the 26th minute.

As the game went on, the DHL Stormers showed that they wanted to attack, but mistakes and a strong defense kept them from doing so. Wolhuter’s penalty goal in the 37th minute was the only point they got in the first half. They were behind 6-3 at the break.

Four minutes into the second half, Wolhuter kicked his second penalty goal for the Capetonians, tying the score at 6-6. Soon after, Belleau kicked his third penalty goal to cancel this out.

Soon after, ASM Clermont Auvergne took a hit when Belleau was given a yellow card for a deliberate knockdown. Springbok No. 8 Evan Roos, who came on as a replacement for the hosts, took advantage of this by scoring a try with a strong leg drive from a maul, giving the DHL Stormers the lead for the first time in the game.

In the 51st minute, wing Suleiman Hartzenberg broke through on the outside and passed the ball to replacement scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, who ran over the chalk. Minutes later, center Dan du Plessis ran through a hole in the defense to give the home team a 25-9 lead.

The visitors closed the gap when Argentinean wing Bautista Delguy broke through the defense. With the successful conversion, their score went up to 16 points, but the home team responded strongly with a try from a rolling maul by utility forward Deon Fourie for their bonus point try.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, a replacement back for the hosts, was given a yellow card in the last few minutes, but neither team was able to add to their score in the last few minutes of the game. The DHL Stormers won 30-16, giving them their third win in four games.

Photo by Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix