Super Rugby: Stormers 31-24 Cheetahs
Last Updated: 28/05/16 9:56pm
The Stormers ended a three-game winless streak with a 31-24 victory over the Cheetahs at Newlands on Saturday.
Sons of former Springboks Carel and Michael du Plessis made telling contributions as the Stormers beat the Cheetahs 31-24 Saturday in a niggly Super Rugby clash.
Debutant centre Daniel du Plessis, the son of Michael, scored the try that gave Stormers a first-half lead they never surrendered at Newlands stadium in Cape Town.
Du Plessis cut inside one Cheetah and held off the challenges of two others to dot down 36 minutes into the South African derby.
Fly-half Jean-Luc du Plessis, a son of Carel, added to a reputation as a rising star of South African rugby by kicking 16 points and raising his season tally to 88.
The match delivered five tries, including one after a superb catch from Cheetahs winger Sergeal Petersen, and some ugly off-the-ball forward confrontations that went unpunished.
Two Springbok locks, Stormer Eben Etzebeth and Cheetah Lood de Jager, squared up during the first half and they eventually fell to the ground wrestling.
Cheetahs hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld and Stormers substitute flanker Rynhardt Elstadt were also involved in a fracas but New Zealand referee Glen Jackson showed extreme tolerance when no one could have complained had yellow cards been shown.
It was the fourth loss in five matches for Cheetahs since scoring 92 points in Bloemfontein against the Japanese Sunwolves.
In a first-half penalties shootout, fly-half Fred Zeilinga kicked Cheetahs ahead three times and Jean-Luc du Plessis levelled three times.
The Daniel du Plessis try gave Stormers a 14-9 half-time lead that was stretched to 12 points when winger Leolin Zas grabbed an intercept try that Jean-Luc du Plessis converted.
Flanker Paul Schoeman and Petersen scored tries, one of which Zeilinga converted, either side of a Jean-Luc du Plessis penalty.
That scoring burst left Stormers 24-21 ahead on the hour, then winger Kobus van Wyk chased a long kick from No. 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe to score a try that Jean-Luc du Plessis converted.
A penalty from Cheetahs substitute fly-half Niel Marais narrowed the gap to seven points and a line-out 'steal' by Stormers and a knock-on robbed the visitors of late chances to snatch a draw.
