The Stormers produced one of their performances of the season when they shocked their bitter rivals the Bulls 27-12 in an entertaining South African Super Rugby derby at Newlands on Saturday.
The Bulls beat the Stormers in their first encounter earlier this season at Loftus Versfeld, as they bullied the Cape side in the tight exchanges and ran them off their feet with some high-impact rugby.
But the Stormers returned the favour with interest in front of just under 30 000 fans at the foot of Table Mountain on a beautiful autumn day in the Cape.
The Stormers started the match with a lot of intensity after being written off for most of the week leading up to the game. The home side thought they had scored in the fourth minute when lock Jan de Klerk went over following a little pop pass by scrumhalf Dewald Duvenhage. However, the television match official decided the pass was forward.
But the Stormers did open the scoring from the resulting scrum a minute later. The Stormers pack shoved the Bulls off the ball, and it came out to flyhalf Damian Willemse who ran through the Bulls defence to score.
The Stormers found themselves 12-0 in the 11th minute when prop Wilco Louw burst over from close range following more good build-up play by the home team.
The Bulls, though, came fighting back in the second quarter of the match, as they settled into a great rhythm and got their running game going. Lock Lood de Jager opened the scoring for the Pretoria side in the 20th after running a great line to latch on to a Handré Pollard pass.
The Stormers were dealt a blow just after the half-hour mark when hooker Ramone Samuels was sent to the bin for a late tackle of Pollard. The Bulls flyhalf then dusted himself off and slotted the penalty.
The Bulls had the better start in the second half, and they were rewarded for their endeavour when flank Jason Jenkins barged over the line following some good phase play by the visitors.
However, the Stormers took control of the match in a crucial 13-minute period in the second half when they kicked a penalty and scored two tries.
The Stormers hit right back after Jenkins' try, after Stormers lock Pieter-Steph du Toit won the kickoff. The ball then came out to centre Damian de Allende who broke the Bulls line before passing to SP Marais to score.
Marais then kicked a long-range penalty three minutes later to extend the home side's lead to 22-17.
Samuels then made amends for his yellow card in the 62nd minute when he went over the line after some good work from Raymond Rhule and De Allende in the build up.
The Bulls tried hard to get back in the game and earn at least a losing bonus point. But the Stormers defence was very good in the final quarter, as they held on for a very important win.