The Stormers survived a Lions rally to record a 34-21 win in the second Super Fan Saturday match on 26 September.
Super fan Saturday: Lions vs Stormers – Match report
The Lions came out of the gate strong and had the Stormers pinned in their 22 in the opening exchanges.
Elton Jantjies produced one of his patented cross-kicks to find Courtnall Skosan who seared in for the first try just four minutes into the game. Jantjies also added the two afterwards to give the Lions a 7-0 lead.
Damian Willemse kicked the Stormers onto the board with a ninth-minute penalty and the first shot at goal from a penalty on the double-header Saturday. The Bulls beat the Sharks 49-28 earlier with neither side looking to goal a penalty in that match.
The Stormers turned the tide with a slick backline move that saw Dan du Plessis cross for their first try to give the Cape side the lead.
Marvin Orie was sent to the sinbin as the Lions repeatedly infringed to stop the Stormers rolling maul and missed the final ten minutes of the first half.
With a man down the Lions were powerless tp stop the Stormers driving over and Scarra Ntubeni scored the second try for the men from Cape Town. Willemse missed the conversion but the Stormers still held a 15-7 lead with the Lions looking keen to go into the shed.
The Stormers skipper made the pressure pay late in the first half fending off a defender before going over in the corner to make it 20-7 in favour of the Stormers.
Half-time
At scrumtime, the Stormers continued to dominate in the second half even if a raft of changes affected the rhythm of both sides.
Warrick Gelant created something from nothing finding a hole between two Lions frontrankers to steal in under the posts and extend the Stormers lead. Willemse added the two to stretch that lead to 27-7.
On 50 Minutes the Lions brought on a full 15 substitutes hoping to spark a comeback.
After fully five minutes of pressure, Jamba Ulengo crossed the line for the Lions after a big skip pass from the halfback Smit left him with a short run in to touch down in the corner. Gianni Lombard added the two with a superb kick from the touchline.
The Lions closed to within one score after Pelser powered over following a driving maul and Lombard converted to make it Lions 21-27 Stormers with 17 minutes to play.
Those changes allowed the Lions to gain the edge at the scrum and turn the momentum of the match in their favour.
Lombard sliced through the Stormers defence but the Lions were called back for crossing much the relief of the Cape outfit.
Tristan Leyds couldn’t hang on to a bouncing ball moments later with the try-line at his mercy following a chip ahead, although the Stormers would have been relieved to get out of their own half.
The Stormers brought Frans Malherbe back on to anchor their scrum and it worked a treat allowing them to seize control of the match once more.
Paul de Wet scored in the dying stages of the match to make the game safe for the Stormers after a break by Salmaan Moerat.
