The Stormers survived playing with a man less for 30 minutes in the second half, to emerge with a good win over Bayonne in the end.
An ill-disciplined performance from the Stormers was luckily not punished, as they kept their stunning unbeaten start to the season intact with an impressive 26-17 win over Aviron Bayonnais in their Champions Cup opener in Bayonne on Friday night.
The Stormers played 30 minutes of the second half with a player short, after a 20-minute red card and a yellow card, but they were assisted by some ill-discipline from the hosts as well, as they picked up two yellow cards in the final 10 minutes to help the visitors secure the result.
On loan flyhalf Clinton Swart played a big role for the Stormers with the boot, slotting four penalties and two conversions for a personal haul of 16 points that made the difference in the end.
Flying start
The Stormers got off to a flying start as they opened their account with a try in just the second minute, as they took an early 7-0 lead.
The attack started in their own 22m, where the ball was sent to wing Leolin Zas, who superbly stepped and broke away, before putting the ball to boot, with scrumhalf Imad Khan chasing and dribbling ahead, before picking up and dotting down the converted try.
Bayonne however hit back in the 15th minute, as they capitalised after stealing the ball off the Stormers, the ball found its way to flank Arthur Itturia, who superbly kicked ahead, with inside centre Federico Mori chasing it to dot down the unconverted score in the corner.
The hosts were then punished for a spell of indiscipline, as over eight minutes, between the 22nd and 30th minutes, they conceded three tries in range, which allowed Swart to knock over three penalties, as they moved into a strong 16-5 lead, which they took into the halftime break.
Rocked
It was a solid start to the second half from the Stormers, as they continued their good play, but they were rocked in the 48th minute when replacement lock Adre Smith received a 20-minute red card for what the TMO and ref deemed a deliberate stamp on a Bayonne player during a maul.
The hosts immediately kicked the resulting penalty into the Stormers half and attacked off a lineout, with fullback Yohane Orabe going over to score, but the TMO intervened again, with the try chalked off due to obstruction in the build-up.
But it was a brief reprieve as in the 53rd minute Bayonne booted the ball ahead hopefully from their own half, Stormers wing Dylan Maart fielded the ball with time on his hands, but took too long to kick, as a good kick chase from replacement back Arnaud Erbinartegaray allowed him to charge down and then score, bringing them back into the game at 16-10.
Playing with an extra man Bayonne were now firmly on top, and after a good spell of pressure in the Stormers 22m, lock Lucas Paulos powered over from close range in the 60th minute, with wing Tom Spring adding the extras to put them ahead 17-16.
Another blow
Less than a minute before the Stormers were able to get back to a full complement, they suffered another blow, as Zas received a yellow card for taking a player out in the air, with captain Salmaan Moerat coming back on a few moments later as the match went into the final 10 minutes.
It was then Bayonne’s turn to lose some players as the game started becoming farcical, as first replacement loose forward Facundo Bosch was sent to the bin for cynical play at a ruck on their own line, followed immediately by tighthead prop Marco Fepulea’I after multiple scrum penalties.
The Stormers were receiving multiple penalties in front of the uprights, but kept choosing to scrum instead of slotting a penalty to lead, and were eventually rewarded after bashing away on the line, with flank Paul de Villiers crashing over under the uprights, to go up 23-17 with a few minutes left.
It was then fittingly a farcical finish, as the Stormers earned a penalty in the dying seconds, Swart slotted it with the ball coming off the uprights and over, but both linesmen under the posts missed it, allowing play to go on as Bayonne tried to run from behind their own line, before the TMO eventually came in and confirmed it had gone over.
Scorers
Aviron Bayonnais: Tries – Federico Mori, Arnaud Erbinartegaray, Lucas Paulos; Conversion – Tom Spring
Stormers: Tries – Imad Khan, Paul de Villiers; Conversions – Clinton Swart (2); Penalties – Swart (4)
