The Capetonians blanked defending champions Leinster 35-0, while the Bulls recovered from a slow start to beat the Ospreys 53-40, both on home soil.
The Sharks and Lions weren’t as fortunate as they went down abroad. The Durbanites fell to a 35-19 defeat to the Warriors in Glasgow, and the Lions lost 33-20 to Cardiff in the Welsh capital.
Seven Stormers made our South African Team of the Week, with three Bulls, three Sharks, and a pair of Lions completing our line-up.
15: Yaw Penxe (Sharks)
Equally strong on attack and defence. Good early break, strong on his feet, made a vital one-on-one tackle on Stafford McDowall and bravely stuck his head into a ruck to win a penalty in his 22 to shut down a scoring opportunity.
14: Seabelo Senatla (Stormers) – Player of the Week
Hit the ground running with an excellent all-action display. The most dangerous player on the pitch in Cape Town, including making a brilliant run and offload that resulted in the opening try. Exemplary kick chasing and a big hit on Jordan Larmour added to his Man of the Match performance.
13: Lukhanyo Am (Sharks)
A promising performance from the decorated centre looking to get back to his best following his injury battles. The highlight of his night saw him start and finish the try of the game (time-stamped below) to put the Sharks right back in it.
12: Richard Kriel (Lions
The wing-turned-centre was a powerful presence in the midfield and combined well with Henco van Wyk. Big and strong, he made good post-contact metres and made a try-saving tackle on Josh Adams.
11: Edwill van der Merwe (Sharks)
A dream Sharks debut from an individual perspective. Showed his finishing ability to score the opening try, provided the momentum for the next one with a probing run and did exceptionally well fending off two defenders and offloading to put Am in for his try. Made a try-saving tackle on Kyle Rowe as well.
10: Jurie Matthee (Stormers)
Controlled the game with aplomb, both with his boot, including a classy 50:22, and his distribution. Beautiful show and go to score the bonus point try and finished with a personal tally of 20 points.
9: Stefan Ungerer (Stormers)
Played a pivotal part in the Capetonians’ win, primarily with the boot, but also produced the watershed moment when he did well to dot down the opening try.
8: Evan Roos (Stormers)
Revved his V8 engine. Beastly with ball in hand, breaking tackles and rumbling over for a brace of tries, and got stuck into Leinster on defence, showing good intensity and physicality.
7: Ruan Venter (Lions)
The muscle man for the Lions. Provided much-needed punch, powered over for the Pride’s first try and nearly scored a second when he charged down Johan Mulder’s kick.
6: Marcell Coetzee (Bulls)
Boosted by the birth of his son on the eve of the game, the Bulls captain went big. Got his team into the match after they’d conceded two quick tries with a breakdown penalty, from which he eventually scored their opening try, and dotted down their second minutes later. Kept leading by example.
5: JF van Heerden (Bulls)
The 21-year-old was absolutely relentless, matching his captain with a match-high 15 carries. As physical as he was mobile, he did good work on defence as well (seven tackles).
4: Adre Smith (Stormers)
Influential in all aspects of the game. Physical in the tight loose, won a breakdown penalty in the 12th minute and commanding in the lineout, where he stole two of Leinster’s throw-ins.
3: Neethling Fouche (Stormers)
Pure class. Impressive mobility, which made him an industrious defender, and flexed his scrummaging muscles, particularly teaching Paddy McCarthy a brutal lesson.
2: Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls)
Scored crucial tries just before and after halftime that changed the complexion of the game, and completed his hat-trick in the 58th minute. Stellar in the set pieces and busy in open play as well to walk away with the Man of the Match award.
1: Vernon Matongo (Stormers)
A statement performance as he absolutely destroyed the visitors from Dublin at scrum time, winning penalty after penalty.
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