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Cardiff break Stormers deadlock after the siren with Rhys Litterick try
By PA
A last-minute try from replacement prop Rhys Litterick earned Cardiff a thrilling 31-24 BKT United Rugby Championship victory over DHL Stormers in a pulsating game at the Arms Park.
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The home side were second best in terms of possession and territory but were the more clinical to achieve a morale-boosting bonus-point win.
Cardiff’s other tries came from Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Liam Belcher and Mason Grady with Tinus de Beer adding four conversions and a penalty.
Ruhan Nel scored two tries for Stormers, Andre-Hugo Venter the other with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicking three conversions and a penalty.
It took Stormers only four minutes to take the lead when Venter finished off a driving line-out.
Cardiff’s poor start continued when de Beer’s restart went straight into touch and they were made to pay when Nel crashed over to reward a sustained period of pressure.
The home side’s woes continued when Harri Millard was forced to leave the field to fail an HIA after being on the receiving end of a thumping tackle from Jean Luc du Plessis.
Cardiff opened their account when De Beer made amends for a couple of basic errors by creating an excellent try.
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The fly-half sliced through a gap before his well-timed kick ahead was collected by Millard’s replacement, Hamer-Webb to score.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked a penalty to extend the visitors’ lead but Cardiff roared back into contention with another impressive try.
Grady ran strongly down the left flank before Lopeti Timani made a further dent in the defence with Belcher on hand to take advantage and score.
De Beer converted before Feinberg-Mngomezulu was short with a penalty from inside his own half to leave Stormers with a 17-14 interval lead.
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Ten minutes after the restart, some skilful passing created a second for Nel but Cardiff’s response was immediate when Grady powered over from a pre-planned move following a close-range line-out.
De Beer converted before adding a penalty to bring the scores level with 17 minutes remaining with Ben Thomas missing the chance to land the knock-out blow by firing wide with a 45-metre penalty after Connor Evans had been sin-binned for a high challenge on Josh Turnbull.
It mattered little as error-ridden Stormers presented their hosts with one final opportunity with Litterick’s try being awarded after a number of TMO replays.
Latest Comments
The writer here ignores the fact that, following on from not taking the penalty kick, the All Blacks did manage to score a try a few minutes later. Not directly from the penalty awarded, but it is speculation to say that had they opted to take the koi they would have won. Even if they kicked it, which was no guarantee, they would still be trailing and would have had to start again at half-way.
Go to commentsI would be surprised if Sales Opoku Fordjour and Northampton’s Tommy Freeman are not in the team, Anthony Watson is also one that could go on the wing. One thing I must say is that the front 3 will get destroyed against a team like South Africa.
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