The Stormers survived Scarlets fightback to claim a dramatic 52-40 victory in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at DHL stadium in Cape Town.

John Dobson rang the changes from last week’s 49-12 triumph over the Bristol Bears in the Investec Champions Cup. Teenager Markus Muller started his first URC match at inside centre while Paul de Villiers captained the side for only the second time.

Former Stormers forward Alex Groves started in the second row for the visitors.

Tighthead prop Zachary Porthen opened the scoring after the Scarlets were reduced to 14 men – hooker John McKee yellow-carded for a cynical infringement at the breakdown – before Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu sparked a counter-attack for scrumhalf Haashim Pead to score his maiden try in his first Stormers start.

To their credit, Scarlets hit straight back as they worked space on the right to put centre Joe Roberts away, cutting the Stormers’ lead to 12-7.

With the Stormers starting to take control in the scrum, they were soon back on the attack and scored their third try, with Ntuthuko Mchunu collecting a loose ball from a maul and speeding away from the Scarlets’ defence to push the lead out to 19-7 in the 29th minute.

The second half started at the same frantic pace as the first, and Scarlets cut the Stormers’ lead to 36-21 when a break from loan Nicholas saw Macs Page race away to score.

The Scarlets struck twice early after the restart through Page and Roberts, then kept coming as the latter completed his hat-trick and skipper Josh Macleod crossed to level the scores at 40-40. 

Substitute prop Olly Reid restored the Stormers’ lead before Ahmed scored twice at the death. His second try, after the Stormers hacked a loose ball downfield, sealed the win.

Dobson lamented his side’s poor defence but gave the Scarlets credit for the way they fought with their style of rugby.

“Halftime there wasn’t much hope for them,” the Stormers mentor added, after his side led 33-14 at the break.

“But the way they played deserved credit. You could see they were getting hope after the break. We weren’t direct enough and a couple of years ago we would’ve lost that. I don’t want us to be a team that becomes a bit too loose because we think we might not be playing one of the best sides in the URC or it is not a local derby.”

STORMERS – Tries: Zachary Porthen, Haashim Pead, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie, Olly Reid, Yaqeen Ahmed (2). Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (6).
SCARLETS – Tries: Joe Roberts (3), Ioan Jones, Macs Page, Josh Macleod. Conversions: Carwyn Leggatt-Jones (5).

Meanwhile Vodacom Bulls earned a hard fought 34-26 win over Ulster in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.

Elsewhere Ireland beat Springbok Women in the WXV Global Series clash by 40-27, outscoring the gallant South Africans by six tries to five in front of a loud and appreciative crowd at Athlone Stadium.