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DHL Stormers edged out in Argentina

PUBLISHED: May 4, 2019


The DHL Stormers fought hard, but went down 30-25 against the Jaguares in their Vodacom Super Rugby encounter in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

It was a brave performance from the visitors, who played hard until the final whistle and had a chance to win it at the death, but they leave Argentina with just a single bonus point to show for their efforts.

Out & About with Dillyn Leyds

The home side struck early with what was to be the only try of the first half, with flank Pablo Matera getting over following a well-worked move from an attacking scrum.

They took their lead out to 10-0 shortly afterwards as flyhalf Domingo Miotti slotted a penalty, with the DHL Stormers battling to get out of their own half.

The visitors regrouped well and won a series of penalties, with flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis pulling one wide from the halfway line, but landing three other attempts at goal to reduce the deficit to 10-9.

The Jaguares had the final say in the first half with a second penalty from Miotti following a dangerous tackle from Eben Etzebeth, which gave them a 13-9 advantage at the break.

The DHL Stormers were first to score in the second half as a powerful scrum gave Du Plessis the opportunity to kick his fourth penalty.

The Jaguares responded with a second try as left wing Ramiro Moyano scrambled over in the corner to make it 20-12.

With Du Plessis having been replaced by Damian de Allende, Damian Willemse shifted to flyhalf and took up the goalkicking duties. He slotted two penalties in succession to make it a two-point game at 20-18.

Miotti added a third penalty before the Jaguares were awarded a penalty try, with DHL Stormers outside centre JJ Engelbrecht shown a yellow card for what was ruled to be a deliberate knock-down.

Despute being up against it, the DHL Stormers refused to give in and came up with a try of their own shortly afterwards. Justin Phillips broke from the base of a scrum and found Dillyn Leyds, who put Seabelo Senatla over for the try.

The DHL Stormers had the late momentum and had a chance to win it at the death after Matera was shown a yellow card, but it was not to be as the Jaguares held on for victory.

The scorers:

For DHL Stormers:
Try: Senatla
Con: Willemse
Pens: Du Plessis 4, Willemse 2

For Jaguares:
Tries: Matera, Moyano, penalty try
Cons: Miotti 2
Pens: Miotti 3

DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Kobus van Dyk, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Jaco Coetzee , 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Johan du Toit, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 Damian de Allende, 23 Seabelo Senatla.

Jaguares: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente (captain), 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Tomás Lezana, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Rodrigo Bruni, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Sebastián Cancelliere.