The Stormers overturned a 14-point deficit to beat the Sunwolves 44-31 in Singapore, writes SIMON BORCHARDT.
In 2016, the Stormers were fortunate to leave Singapore with a 17-17 draw. And they were given another big fright on Saturday, trailing 24-10 after 24 minutes and 31-20 early in the second half. But they fought back well to regain the lead, and two late tries against 14 men resulted in a flattering scoreline.
The Stormers have now won four consecutive matches, but will have to raise their game significantly when they come up against the Kiwi franchises later in the season.
Robert du Preez opened the scoring in this match with an early penalty, but it was the Sunwolves who scored the first try. The Stormers backs failed to come up as a line, and when the second last man shot up, it gave the hosts an overlap out wide. Willie Britz switched with Derek Carpenter, who strolled over, and to make matters worse for the Stormers, Rynhardt Elstadt was yellow-carded for a late shoulder charge on Britz.
Jumpei Ogura kicked the conversion and then added a penalty to make it 10-3 after nine minutes.
The Stormers appeared to have hit back soon after, when Dillyn Leyds’ grubber kick through the defence was collected by Bjorn Basson in the hosts’ in-goal area, but the wing lost control of the ball while attempting to ground it just before the deadball line.
However, the Stormers did level the scores in the 17th minute. An attack that began from inside their 22, and featured a strong run by Leyds, finished with a try to EW Viljoen, who did extremely well to pick up the ball after it popped out the side of a ruck.
But the Sunwolves responded with two superb tries in the space of four minutes. First, the ball went wide to Shota Emi on the right wing and he bounced off Du Preez to score. Then Sam Wykes broke through the Stormers’ defence and put lock partner Liaki Moli away to make it 24-10.
The visitors got themselves back into the game in the 34th minute when, after a patient build-up, Elstadt went over from close range. Du Preez kicked the conversion and then added a penalty to reduce the deficit to three at the break.
It was the Sunwolves, though, who started the second half strongly. From a scrum just outside their 22, they sent the ball wide to Kenki Fukuoka, whose inside pass put Carpenter away for his second.
Trailing 31-20, the Stormers got back within striking distance when Wilco Louw crashed over. They then took the lead at the end of the third quarter, with a strong carry by Du Preez followed by Dewaldt Duvenage’s show and go, which resulted in a fourth try.
The Stormers were reduced to 14 men when Oli Kebble was sin-binned for a high tackle, but didn’t concede any points while he was off, as Ogura missed a penalty that would have levelled the scores.
The visitors were controversially denied a try in the 75th minute when the referee ruled that Viljoen had been ahead of kicker Du Preez, with Kaito Shigeno yellow-carded after repeated infringements from his team.
Bongi Mbonambi then scored a try a minute later that put the result beyond doubt, before Kurt Coleman’s cross-kick saw Bjorn Basson dot down in the last play of the game.
Sunwolves – Tries: EW Viljoen, Rynhardt Elstadt, Wilco Louw, Dewaldt Duvenage, Bongi Mbonambi, Bjorn Basson. Conversions: Robert du Preez (). Penalties: Du Preez (2).
Stormers – Tries: Derek Carpenter (2), Shota Emi, Liaki Moli. Conversions: Jumpei Ogura (4). Penalty: Ogura.
Sunwolves – 15 Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, 14 Shota Emi, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Derek Carpenter, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Jumpei Ogura, 9 Keisuke Uchida, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Shokei Kin, 6 Ed Quirk (c), 5 Sam Wykes, 4 Liaki Moli, 3 Heiichiro Ito, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Koki Yamamoto.
Subs: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Shumei Matsuhashi, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Hayden Cripps, 23 Ryohei Yamanaka.
Stormers – 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Siya Kolisi (c), 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 JD Shickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Subs: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Cobus Wiese, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Dan du Plessis.
Photo: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images
