The DHL Stormers secured a hard fought 33-7 victory over Ulster in round five of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

The opening 20 minutes saw a copious amount of back and forth with opportunities for both sides.

After 20 minutes of the score being deadlocked at 0-0, Ulster finally broke through, with their captain David McCann crashing over to open the scoring and Jack Murphy securing the extras.

Ulster then smelt blood in the water and began to put pressure on the home side.

However, it was very short lived as they were then reduced to fourteen men with tight head prop Keynan Knox being sent to the bin for early engagement in a lineout.

The Stormers then took full advantage of the extra man and opened their account for the day through the likes of JD Schickerling who went in for the men from Cape Town, with Yaqeen Ahmed levelling the contest.

The home side did not stop there with Paul de Villiers going over just before the break after a brilliant charge down on the Ulster five-meter line.

The Stormers picked up exactly where they left off in the second half with Evan Roos running the ball over 60 meters to go in for a brilliant try, just six minutes into the half. Yaqeen Ahmed successfully adding the extras.

The 20 minutes that followed saw an absolute scrap, with both sides creating opportunities.

However, neither could convert these opportunities into points. The silence was then broken in the 71st minute with Yaqeen Ahmed executing a perfectly placed cross-field kick to find his captain Ruhan Nel, who scored in the corner.

The Stormers then proceeded to place an exclamation mark on their victory with Yaqeen Ahmed crashing over the whitewash two minutes before the final hooter and then proceeding to add the extras as well.

As the United Rugby Championship gets put on hold for the next few weeks, both the Stormers and Ulster managers will have a lot to work on before the season continues in the first week of December.

The Stormers will be looking to reduce the amount of handling errors before taking the trip to Durban to take on the Hollywoodbets Sharks.

Ulster will be looking to improve their defensive structure before they travel to Cardiff.

Scoresheet:

Stormers: 33

Tries: Schickerling 34’, de Villiers 38’, Roos 46’, R. Nel 71’, Ahmed 77’,

Conversions: Ahmed 35’, 47’, 72’, 78’,

Penalties:

Drop Goals:

Yellow Cards:

Red Cards:

Ulster: 7

Tries: McCann 19’,

Conversions: Murphy 20’,

Penalties:

Drop Goals:

Yellow Cards: Knox 30’,

Red Cards:

Player of The Match: Paul de Villiers

Paul de Villiers was without a doubt a standout performer as the Stormers overcame a slow start to beat Ulster 33-7 at DHL Stadium. The flanker was relentless throughout the game, combing his physicality with his huge work rate around the park.

His brilliant performance was rewarded with a try as he charged down an attempted Ulster clearance. His defensive efforts also proved to be a deciding factor and his ability to win the ball at the breakdown allowed the Stormers to establish control.

With the Stormers eventually pulling away in the second half, de Villiers’ effort assisted greatly in turning a competitive match into a bonus point victory.

Biggest Underperformer: Keynan Knox

Keynan Knox endured a very difficult afternoon as his side was unable to contain the physicality of the Stormers. The tight head prop constantly found himself under large amounts of pressure at scrum time, with the Stormers pack showing their dominance once again.

Knox was also shown a yellow card following repeated infringements, leaving his side with fourteen men.

As the match progressed, the Stormers continued to showcase their dominance, and Knox was unable to provide his side with the stability it desperately needed. It was a frustrating outing for the South African prop as the Stormers eventually managed to run away with the contest.

One to Watch: Yaqeen Ahmed

Yaqeen Ahmed continues to showcase why he is one of the most exciting young players in South African rugby.

The 20-year-old produced yet another confident performance against Ulster, scoring a try and contributing thirteen points to the Stormers’ victory.

Ahmed also showed impressive composure whilst controlling the speed of the game for the home side. His performance capped off a hard fought home victory for the Stormers and strengthened the argument that he very well could be an important player, not only for the Stormers but for South African rugby as a whole.

Player Ratings

Stormers:

1. Ntuthuko Mchunu (7)

2. Vernon Paulo (6.5)

3. Wilco Louw (7)

4. Adre Smith (7)

5. JD Schickerling (8)

6. Paul de Villiers (9)

7. Louw Nel (7.5)

8. Evan Roos (8.5)

9. Cobus Reinach (7.5)

10. Yaqeen Ahmed (8.5)

11. Leolin Zas (5)

12. Markus Muller (8.5)

13. Ruhan Nel (8)

14. Seabelo Senatla (7)

15. Damian Willemse (7.5)

Replacements: 16. Altus Rabe (6.5) 17. Vernon Matongo (6.5) 18. Neethling Fouche (7) 19. Riley Norton (7) 20. Connor Evans (6.5) 21. Wandile Mlaba (7) 22. Haashim Pead (6.5) 23. Wandisile Simelane (7)

Ulster:

1. Eric O’Sullivan (6)

2. Rob Herring (5.5)

3. Keynan Knox (3.5)

4. Ben Donnell (5)

5. Eli Snyman (5.5)

6. Cormac Izuchukwu (6)

7. David McCann (6.5)

8. Juarno Augustus (6)

9. Matthew Devine (6.5)

10. Jack Murphy (4.5)

11. Zac Ward (4.5)

12. Ben Carson (5.5)

13. James Hume (5)

14. Micheal Lowry (5)

15. Ethan McIlroy (5.5)

Replacements: 16. Henry Walker (5) 17. Tom McAllister (5) 18. Scott Wilson (5) 19. Harry Sheridan (5) 20. Martin Moloney (4.5) 21. Connor McKee (5.5) 22. Jack Flannery (4.5) 23. Chay Mullins (5.5)

Five things you missed: Stormers vs Ulster

1. The Stormers’ ball handling was not up to par

Despite securing a convincing 33-7 victory, the stormers handling was arguably their biggest disappointment of the afternoon.

Numerous promising attacking opportunities were wasted due to knock-ons, misplaced passes and unnecessary errors.

The home side had the territorial advantage and regularly breached Ulster’s defensive line, but their inability to hold possession stopped them from building momentum.

2. The Stormers’ scrum dominance was shown once again

Once again, the Stormers’ scrum proved to be a major weapon. Ntuthuko Mchunu and Wilco Louw were particularly impressive, putting the Ulster pack under large amounts of pressure throughout the contest. Their dominance resulted in many penalties which gave the Stormers a platform to attack from.

3. Ulster’s discipline ultimately cost them

Ulster made life unnecessarily difficult for themselves through a series of unnecessary penalties. The biggest example came when tight head prop Keynan Knox was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements near to their own try line.

The Stormers were able to capitalize on the one-man advantage and score just before half time. This resulted in a large momentum shift in favour of the home side.

4. Evan Roos produced one of the tries of the season

The Stormers’ eight man reminded everyone of his incredible attacking ability with a brilliant individual try early in the second half.

After Yaqeen Ahmed pounced on a loose ball and linked up with Cobus Reinach, Roos received possession and sprinted roughly 60 meters to score. It was a brilliant showing of pace, power and acceleration from the Springbok loose forward.

5. Ulster failed to score a single point after the 20th minute

After taking the lead in the 20th minute through their captain David McCann, Ulster completely lost all their momentum.

The visitors struggled to create meaningful opportunities as the Stormers tightened their defensive structure and completely controlled proceedings. Despite showing ,moments of promise, Ulster were unable to trouble affect the scoreboard again, with the Stormers eventually running away with a 33-7 victory.