Stormers fall to last-gasp defeat in URC clash against Cardiff

By SABC Sport
25th November 2023

The Stormers suffered a heartbreaking last-minute defeat against Cardiff at the Arms Park after a late try from replacement prop Rhys Litterick handed the Welsh side a 31-24 victory.

Cardiff were second best in terms of possession and territory in the United Rugby Championship clash but were the more clinical side as they achieved a morale-boosting bonus-point win.

Cardiff's other tries came from Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Liam Belcher and Mason Grady with Tinus de Beer adding four conversions and a penalty.

Ruhan Nel scored two tries for Stormers, Andre-Hugo Venter the other with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicking three conversions and a penalty.

It took Stormers only four minutes to take the lead when Venter finished off a driving line-out.

Cardiff's poor start continued when de Beer's restart went straight into touch and they were made to pay when Nel crashed over to reward a sustained period of pressure.

The home side's woes continued when Harri Millard was forced to leave the field to fail an HIA after being on the receiving end of a thumping tackle from Jean Luc du Plessis.

Cardiff opened their account when De Beer made amends for a couple of basic errors by creating an excellent try.

The fly-half sliced through a gap before his well-timed kick ahead was collected by Millard's replacement, Hamer-Webb to score.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked a penalty to extend the visitors' lead but Cardiff roared back into contention with another impressive try.

Grady ran strongly down the left flank before Lopeti Timani made a further dent in the defence with Belcher on hand to take advantage and score.

De Beer converted before Feinberg-Mngomezulu was short with a penalty from inside his own half to leave Stormers with a 17-14 interval lead.

Ten minutes after the restart, some skilful passing created a second for Nel but Cardiff's response was immediate when Grady powered over from a pre-planned move following a close-range line-out.

De Beer converted before adding a penalty to bring the scores level with 17 minutes remaining with Ben Thomas missing the chance to land the knock-out blow by firing wide with a 45-metre penalty after Connor Evans had been sin-binned for a high challenge on Josh Turnbull.

It mattered little as error-ridden Stormers presented their hosts with one final opportunity with Litterick's try being awarded after a number of TMO replays.