A driving maul try dotted down by replacement prop Ntuthuko Mchunu less than two minutes from the end secured the DHL Stormers a nail-biting 13-8 win over their arch-rivals the Vodacom Bulls at a packed DHL Stadium on Saturday.
With the Stormers having started the game already assured of finishing the weekend on top of the log following the losses suffered by Munster and Cardiff, the win cements their place at the top. It was their eighth win in eighth starts and go into the break now for the two weeks of Investec Champions Cup action in a strong position in their quest for a top four finish.
The DHL Stormers edge a thriller in Cape Town 🌩️🏉#SSRugby | #VURC pic.twitter.com/L5gQftAq4J
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 3, 2026
Until the Stormers launched a drive from a lineout that went beyond 15 metres before the pod that Mchunu was part of broke off and drove powerfully over the line to seal the triumph in a game that, in truth, for long periods it seemed neither side was that eager to win.
That is not to say that a draw would have been a fair result, for in truth the Stormers squandered many entires into the opposition 22 and could easily have won by more than just the solitary score. But as the minutes ticked away so the mistakes mounted up and a game that started off in a test match atmosphere and was played with test match intensity and physicality in the first half went into what felt like a prolonged lull.
Rugby is a game of fine margins 🤏
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 3, 2026
Do you think he got the ball down in time? 🤔
📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/G6bGTbwv7V
For a long time it felt like the 53 600 people who filed through the turnstiles was watching one of those slow moving territory orientated games from the 1970s or 1980s. While the scoreline and aggregate number of points from the game of 21 correctly points to two teams that produced good defensive efforts, and some of the hits in the first half were massive, there were also just far too many errors.
And while the Stormers will be elated to win, as both teams always should when they win a north/south derby because this is such a storied rivalry, they might well reflect in the wash-up session after the game that their best performances of their current campaign, with the possible exception of the big opening win over Leinster, have been produced overseas.
Yoh! 😲
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 3, 2026
The referees are not messing around in 2026 🤣
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For the bulls a draw might have felt like a win for them given what they’ve been through. It would have at least broken a losing sequence that now stands at six games across two competitions and leaves them firmly routed in the bottom half now of the log.
The much anticipated scrum battle was mostly even when the two starting units were on the field, but the Stormers took control of that phase, and the physical game generally, as the game wore on.
Arguably the moment the switch was flicked for them was when the Bulls scored the first try of the match on the half hour mark. The Bulls’ best chance of scoring always looked likely to be an intercept as the Stormers were good at blunting their mauls when they did get into the Cape side’s 22, and they nearly got through a few minutes before that when scrumhalf Embrose Papier chased through a kick and dotted down on the dead ball line but the TMO called the referee Griffin Colby over to look at a possible knock-on and it was adjudged to be the case.
When the Bulls did score it was off a quickly taken tap penalty when frankly the Stormers were sleeping. But they regrouped quickly, seemed to start the process of becoming more physically ascendant, and a Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty after 33 minutes made it 5-3.
The Stormers then got themselves back into the Bulls 22 and it was No 8 Evan Roos who barrelled over for the driving maul try in the corner that made it 8-5 at halftime. From the restart to the second half the Stormers knocked the ball on and the Bulls forced a scrum penalty that Pollard kicked to level the scores at 8-all.
And that is the way it remained until the 78th minute, with the Stormers eschewing several opportunities to kick for posts, as they did quite often earlier in the game, and kicked for touch instead. Just when it started to look like a sign of madness to keep repeating the same thing when the game could be won with a kick, they got it right and the long siege on the Bulls line was ended with the try.
The Bulls had one last chance to come back to score the converted try that would win it but time was pretty much up on the clock and they had just one move to do it. When a cross kick went into touch inside the Stormers’ 22, it was game over and the hosts were the winners.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was the thorn on attack he was expected to be for the Bulls defence but both he and his fellow Bok flyhalf Pollard struggled with the wind when it came to their field kicking. Both missed kicks at posts too, though Pollard’s two penalty misses in the second half were arguably the more hurtful to his team than the two conversions missed by Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
The Stormers won the aerial battle on a windy afternoon and that contributed to their win but given the areas they were dominant in it was quite weird that it took until the 78th minute for them to win the game. Overall it was a weird watch and not the easiest game to write about because of it, but with 10 wins in 10 starts across all competitions this season the Stormers won’t be complaining. And neither will their supporters. It’s just a pity that on such a big occasion and with such a huge crowd in the ferocity and tempo of the first half wasn’t sustained through the 80 minutes by both teams.
Scores
DHL Stormers 13 - Tries: Evan Roos and Ntuthuko Mchunu; Penalty: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Vodacom Bulls 8 - Try: Handre Pollard. Penalty: Handre Pollard.