Cape Town — The Stormers' unbeaten run in the United Rugby Championship came to an end with a disappointing 30-24 defeat to Cardiff in Wales on Saturday night.
Prior to the Round Six clash, the URC champions won 14 on the bounce and had to settle for a 16-16 draw against Ospreys in wet conditions last weekend. And at Cardiff Arms Park, Rhys Priestland was instrumental in sinking the Stormers.
The home side's tries came through Theo Cabango and Jason Harries, while Priestland slotted a conversion and six penalties.
The Stormers, meanwhile, ran in four tries through Leolin Zas, Junior Pokomela and a brace by Nama Xaba, with flyhalf Manie Libbok landing two conversions and a penalty.
There were a lot of mistakes from the Stormers side early on and it was Cardiff who scored first, getting three penalties and a good looking try, and while the Capetonians got back into it to go into half time level with the hosts (14-14), they no doubt would have wanted major improvement in the second 40.
But there wasn't much of that.
It wasn't just a messy performance at times by John Dobson's side, they also lacked in certain key areas.
Frans Malherbe became the most-capped Stormers player in history (124 appearances), surpassing the record held by Schalk Burger, but the visitors would certainly have hoped for a better collective effort from his tight five.
Malherbe's reintroduction to the squad was naturally a massive boost to Stormers front row, especially considering the scrum issues that they have encountered so far this season, but they endured their fair share of struggles.
The second row proved especially problematic at times, and while the visitors got their driving maul going a good few times, unlike last week in their 16-16 draw against Ospreys in Swansea, and managed to score from it, it should still be an area flagged.
The visitors had to finish the half a man down after No 8 Hacjivah Dayimani was sin-binned for a dubious head-on-head collision with hooker Kristian Dacey.
Cardiff struck first after the break when right wing Jason Harries went over, but the Stormers hit back with a touchdown of their own.
Anorher penalty conversion by the hosts gave them a five-point lead, but Junior Pokomela barged over from close range early in the final quarter totake back the lead.
The Welsh pivot put Cardiff back into the lead by hitting his target yet again, and Priestland’s goal at the death proved thr final blow.
With the win, Cardiff move up to 6th on the standings, while the Stormers are sitting on fourth.
The Stormers now travel back home to take on the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Point-scorers:
Cardiff 30 — Tries: Theo Cabango, Jason Harries Conversion: Rhys Priestland Penalties: Priestland (6)
Stormers 24 — Tries: Nama Xaba (2), Leolin Zas, Junior Pokomela Conversions: Manie Libbok (2) Penalty: Libbok
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