Sunwolves 31-44 Stormers: South Africans resist spirited home side
Last Updated: 25/03/17 2:13pm
The Stormers survived a ferocious challenge from Japan's struggling Sunwolves to maintain their unbeaten start to the Super Rugby season on Saturday, winning a 10-try thriller at Singapore's national stadium.
Trailing for most of the match after being caught out by the Sunwolves innovative attack, the South Africans needed all their extra big-match experience to wear down the tournament newcomers, who faded badly in the last quarter.
The Stormers piled on 24 unanswered points after trailing 31-20 in the second half to win their fourth match on the trot and deny the Sunwolves just their second win since they joined the competition last year.
Fresh after having a bye last weekend, the Stormers got a season-best six tries, one each from Ew Viljoen, Rynhardt Elstadt, Wilco Louw, Dewaldt Duvenage, Mbongeni Mbonambi and Bjorn Basson, while fly-half Robert Du Preez landed four conversions and two penalties.
The Sunwolves, who arrived in Singapore battling jetlag after playing in South Africa last weekend, threw caution to the wind and attacked the Stormers at every opportunity, a tactic that very nearly paid off.
They were rewarded with four tries, two from inside centre Derek Carpenter and one apiece from Shota Emi and Liaki Moli, but ran out of puff as they suffered their fifth straight loss of the season.
The Sunwolves set the tone for what was a free-flowing and highly entertaining encounter when Carpenter strolled over for the opening try in the fifth minute just moments after his team had butchered another opportunity with a wasteful pass.
The Stormers also squandered their first chance of a try when Basson clumsily dropped the ball while in the process of touching down, but made amends when Viljoen finished off a spectacular 90-metre counter-attack to score in the 14th minute.
Unfazed, the Sunwolves ran in two quick tries - the first to Moli after his fellow back rower Sam Wykes had bust through the middle of the defence - then the second when powerful winger Emi swan-dived over a would-be tackler in the right corner to put the home side 24-10 in front.
The Stormers cut the margin to seven points at the break when Elstadt, who was sin-binned early on for a foul, launched himself over the line from the back of ruck.
The frenetic pace continued after the restart with Carpenter finishing off a move that began inside the Sunwolves' half for his second try but the Japanese franchise was unable to score again.
The South Africans, also struggling in the Southeast Asian humidity, tightened up and took control with their set pieces and rolling mauls and finished with three late tries to seal the win.
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