Munster ended the Stormers’ home winning run with a bonus point win in the penultimate round of the United Rugby Championship in Cape Town on Saturday night.
After the two teams went into the break deadlocked at 12-12, Munster outplayed the Stormers to claim a 26-24 win and become the first team to win in Cape Town this season, as the hosts tasted defeat on their home ground for the first time since December 2021.
It was a richly deserved victory for the Irish side, who were so much better from the last time they visited South Africa, when they conceded 50 points to the Sharks in the Champions Cup playoffs.
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The Stormers were able to snatch a late couple of points at the death when Ruhan Nel went over for his second try and the home side’s fourth, keeping their battle with Ulster for second place alive going into the final round.
While the Stormers have become accustomed to fast starts, it was Munster who were on the scoresheet within the first couple of minutes, as the visitors powered over from a maul, having shocked the hosts with a massive early breakdown contest.
The defending champions seemed to struggled with Munster’s breakdown pressure throughout the match and allowed themselves to get flustered in a key period in the first half where they had a penalty reversed, before Seabelo Senatla was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle and the away side added a second try.
While the Stormers managed to get on level terms before the break, they crucially did not score in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, when they had Munster pinned in the 22.
Munster, meanwhile, took their opportunities when they came and went ahead when Shane Daley punished a defensive misread from Suleiman Hartzenberg. No 8 Gavin Coombes then muscled over from close range to leave the hosts with too much to do in the final 10 minutes, with Libbok missing three critical kicks at goal before Nel’s late try.
This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.
