The DHL Stormers signed off their 2023-24 campaign preparations victoriously in a thrilling double-header in George on Friday.
A DHL Stormers XV scored five tries on their way to a gutsy 33-21 pre-season win against the Sharks in George at Outeniqua Park.
That followed a convincing nine-try 52-12 win against SWD Eagles by a different Stormers XV combination earlier in the day.
Against the Sharks, the Stormers dominated the early exchanges, camping in the opposition 22 without any reward.
The pressure eventually told when fullback Warrick Gelant came up with a sensational kick-pass to find Dan du Plessis to score.
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šØāš« Finishing school from Angelo Davids. #STOvSHA #iamastormer #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/x5jo7jnfWf
ā DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) October 6, 2023
The Sharks scored against the run of play, with Werner Kok finishing a counter-attack in the corner. The Durbanites would take the lead into half time as Phepsi Buthelezi scored from close range to make it 14-7 at the break.
Kok got his second try early in the second half, claiming a high ball in the 22 to score. The Stormers regrouped and hit back with two quick tries.
Angelo Davids claimed a cross-kick from Clayton Blommetjies to score in the corner and they followed that up soon afterwards with a try from Ruhan Nel, who took a well-timed pass from Gelant.
Davids pounced on a loose pass and kicked it through to score his second under the poles and the final say came from Evan Roos, who forced his way over to seal the win.
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Earlier, there were six tries in the first half and three in the second as all 24 Stormers players got a good workout in their warm-up clash against SWD.
After absorbing some early pressure, the visitors got on the front foot, with the forwards going close before the space opened up out wide for centre Chris Hollis to score the opener.
The Stormers maul was impressive throughout the first half, underlined by the fact that hooker Andre-Hugo Venter scored a hat-trick, the last try from a maul that started outside the 22.
Lock Hendre Stassen also crossed the tryline twice to give the Stormers a commanding 38-0 advantage at half time.
Hollis got over for his second try early in the second half before the home side got on the scoreboard with two tries of their own against the run of play.
The Stormers maul continued to work for them and they earned a penalty try after another dominant effort. There was time for one more maul try as Jarrod Taylor went over to cap a dominant performance.
Photo: @THESTORMERS/Twitter