Jano Vermaak, Stormers halfback, had a good outing against his former side. Photo: Carl Fourie/Gallo Images.
In a try-fest which produced 15 tries with nine going the way of the Stormers and six to the Lions, the Stormers pulled away from the Lions in the second half to record a 57-40 victory in their pre-season Super Rugby friendly at Newlands on Saturday.
The teams had gone into the half-time break deadlocked at 21-21 after scoring three tries each in the first half, but the home side left the Johannesburg side behind as they outscored them by six tries to three in the second half.
The Stormers got on the front foot early on and drove deep into Lions territory while showing a willingness to send the ball through the hands.
However the visitors would strike first against the run of play as an interception from centre Howard Mnisi saw right wing Madosh Tambwe dot down.
They added to that soon afterwards when hooker Malcolm Marx barged his way over in the corner from a maul following a break from centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg.
The Stormers hit back with a try of their own when an attack up the left wing followed by some slick offloading saw lock Chris van Zyl burst through for a great team try.
The Lions struck back when the ball was sent wide to Tambwe from a quick line-out, giving him an easy run-in to make it 21-7 to the visitors after the opening half-hour.
The Stormers regrouped well under pressure and scored two quick tries tries just before the the half-time break to draw level at 21-21.
First a superb offload from fullback SP Marais sawcentre Dan du Plessis surge over, before some more great interplay down the left saw flank Siya Kolisi cross for the third try which levelled the scores.
The Stormers hit the lead for the first time in the match early in the second half when No 8 Nizaam Carr forced his way over from close range following a superb kick-chase from fullback Cheslin Kolbe into the corner.
The Stormers were reduced to 14 men when Carr was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle, but that did not hold them back much as they scored again through hooker Bongi Mbonambi who crashed over from a maul after a counter-attack.
The Springbok hooker bashed over in similar fashion soon afterwards to give the Stormers a commanding 40-21 advantage with 20 minutes left.
The Lions managed a maul try of their own, and followed that up with a five-pointer from flank Ruan Ackermann to cut the Stormers’ lead to 40-33.
The Stormers responded through Cobus Wiese who powered his way over to cap a period of pressure, but they were not done there as loose forward Sikhumbuzo Notshe jumped on a loose ball to score the eighth try.
There was still enough time for both sides to score again as first Lions prop Corne Fourie went over before the game was ended by a try from scrumhalf Jano Vermaak – the Stormers’ ninth of the afternoon.
The Stormers will be concerned about serious injuries to Juan de Jongh and Leolin Zas.
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