Force flattened by Stormers

The Stormers produced a power-packed second half to run away to an emphatic 51-16 victory over Western Force in their Super Rugby clash.

The unbeaten Stormers ran in six tries at Newlands to win their fifth match out of five, with Springboks centre Jaque Fourie and hooker Deon Fourie each going in twice.

Skipper Jean De Villiers also crossed as did lock Andries Bekker, while fly-half Peter Grant was a perfect nine from nine with the boot to kick 21 points.

Fly-half James O'Connor was the only man to get on the board for the Force, as he scored and converted their only try of the game, while also adding three penalties.

The Australians actually kept it relatively close in the first half in Cape Town as they went in at the break just 27-16 down, but they failed to score in the second 40 minutes as the hosts powered away to victory.

Fourie crashed over in the corner after just two minutes as the hosts made a quick start to the game, after a slick backline move involving Bryan Habana and De Villiers.

Deon Fourie then popped out of a rolling maul for the second try on 22 minutes, before O'Connor answered with the Force's only try when he ghosted past three would-be tacklers to go over.

Another forwards surge allowed De Villiers to grab his try, but O'Connor's late kick at least kept the visitors in touch just 11 points behind at 27-16.

Any hopes the Force had of getting back into the game were quickly washed away with two tries for the Stormers in the opening 15 minutes of the half.

Hooker Fourie pulled out a rare chip and chase to score after just 40 seconds of the restart, before namesake Jaque also grabbed his second try when powering in down the right.

Even the 64th-minute sin-binning of flanker Francois Louw for the Stormers could not help the Force get on the scoreboard in the second half, and when back to the full 15 the hosts wrapped up the win with a sixth try from Bekker.

The win sends them back to the top of the overall table in Super Rugby above the Queensland Reds as the only team in the competition still unbeaten.