Stormers punish red-eyed Exiles

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The DHL Stormers gave their Champions Cup playoff hopes a major boost by claiming a bonus-point victory over a London Irish side that lost two players to red cards in Brentford on Sunday.

While it was a far from perfect performance, it was job done for the Stormers as a 28-14 victory saw the visitors climb into fourth place in Pool A, with one more pool fixture to be played.

However, the post-match talking points will certainly revolve around the red cards in the game as London Irish fullback Ben Loader and replacement prop Ciaran Parker became the fourth and fifth players to be sent off in the Champions Cup this weekend.

By the time Loader saw red in the 17th minute, the Stormers were already in a dominant mood, leading 14-0 thanks to a penalty try from a driving maul and intercept from Ruhan Nel, who enjoyed a classy outing on his return from injury.

The Stormers were able to stretch that lead to 21 points when Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, on for Manie Libbok after the flyhalf was concussed in Loader’s tackle, put Suleiman Hartzenberg over for a try with a lovely kick in behind the defence.

It went from bad to worse for the Exiles as they lost a second player to a red card just a couple of minutes after the restart when Parker was sent off for an awful clean out on Deon Fourie.

The Stormers were able to secure the bonus point shortly afterwards, as Angelo Davids pounced on a loose ball to score. However, the rest of the game belonged to the hosts, who refused to go down without a fight and turned it into a bit of an arm-wrestle with two tries.

The Stormers are back at home next week to host Clermont in their final Champions Cup pool fixture on Saturday night and will need just a point to secure their place in the playoffs.

Photo: Eddie Keogh/Getty Images

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