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DHL Stormers claim full house against Sale

PUBLISHED: January 13, 2024


The DHL Stormers scored four tries to claim a full five log points in their Investec Champions Cup pool match against Sale Sharks at DHL Stadium on Saturday.

In an entertaining clash played in front of a lively crowd of 25 963, the DHL Stormers were never behind and now travel to Paris next week to face Stade Francais with a place in the last 16 firmly in their sights.

The home side made a convincing start, camping in opposition territory until Hacjivah Dayimani showed some fancy footwork to break through the defence for the opening try.

They kept the pressure on and centre Suleiman Hartzenberg was next to score after a charge down in the Sale 22.

The visitors responded with a try from lock Ben Bamber, but the DHL Stormers were back out to a 14-point lead when Leolin Zas was put through a gap to score under the poles.

Sale had the final say in the first half as hooker Agustin Creevy forced his way over out wide and the touchline conversion cut the DHL Stormers advantage to 21-14 at the half-time break.

The English side were first to score in the second half, with a penalty from flyhalf Rob du Preez narrowing the gap to four points.

The DHL Stormers responded with a try from their own 22 as Dayimani and Zas combined down the left to put the flying wing over for his second try and secure the bonus point.

Manie Libbok added a penalty on the hour mark to take the lead out to 14, but to their credit Sale never went away and were rewarded with a try from centre Sam Bedlow to secure a losing bonus point.

The scorers:

For DHL Stormers:
Tries:
Dayimani, Hartzenberg, Zas 2
Cons: Libbok 4
Pen: Libbok

For Sale Sharks:
Tries:
Bamber, Creevy, Bedlow
Cons: Du Preez 3
Pen: Du Preez

DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Nama Xaba, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Warrick Gelant.