Key moments from the Stormers victory over the Sharks

Stormers 39-22 Sharks, United Rugby Championship, DHL Stadium

The Stormers beat the Sharks 39-22 in Cape Town in round three of the URC.

Here are five key moments, according to the data.

1. Feinberg-Mngomezulu runs the kicking game. The Stormers’ flyhalf kicked 19 times from hand for 606 metres. He found touch 17 times, 213 metres of that from penalties to touch. He also landed the 12' penalty, but missed 3 of 6 conversions (5', after Zas’s second-half try, and 63').
2. Paul de Villiers dominates the breakdown. The Stormers’ No. 6 made 12 tackles at 100% and won 3 turnovers, the most in the match. Senatla (tackle turnover, 6 tackles at 100%) and Kolisi (tackle turnover plus a turnover won) also made turnover tackles. Dayimani stole a lineout, though he also missed 3 tackles.
3. The yellow-card window decides the game (34'-50'). Romao was carded at 34' and Tshituka at 40'. The Stormers went from 8-8 to 34-8 with four tries: Dayimani 35', Venter 41', Zas just after the restart and Dayimani 46'. That’s 26 unanswered points while the Sharks were a man or two down. The Sharks’ tackling collapsed: 60% success, 21 missed, and 22 offloads allowed.
4. The Stormers’ maul is a weapon. They won 6 of 7 mauls for 33 metres and scored 3 maul tries (Dayimani, Venter, Kotze at 62'). Schickerling was involved in 3 of the mauls, including both of the maul tries credited to him. The Stormers won 94% of their lineouts, while the Sharks lost 3 of 14 (Mnebelele lost 3 of 7).
5. Lombard keeps the Sharks in it. Replacing the injured Moyo at 18', he went 3 from 3 off the tee (29' penalty, then conversions at 51' and 57'). He also put 235 metres of kicks from hand, with 8 finds of touch. His conversions followed Romao’s maul try at 50' and Buthelezi’s try at 56', cutting the gap to 34-22 before Kotze’s try at 62' ended the comeback.