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Simelane’s strut sparks Stormers’ victory drive against Ospreys

football03 October 2025 19:20| © SuperSport
By:Gavin Rich
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For a while it would have been painful for DHL Stormers fans to watch but there was nothing painful for the hosts whenever Wandisile Simelane got the ball into his hands as he provided the spark for a 26-10 Vodacom URC win over the Ospreys at the DHL Stadium on Friday night.

Although they got the better of the territory and possession battle in the first half, the Stormers stuttered in the first half and for a while it looked like the Ospreys’ status as a bogey team for the Cape team might continue. Up until this game the Stormers had won only once while one game was drawn and two were lost.

Part of the reason for that was a tendency to underestimate the Welsh team and this writer probably wasn’t the only person to nearly fall off his seat when Stormers coach John Dobson named a starting team with two of the stars of last week, Paul de Villiers and Stefan Ungerer, not in it.

Dobson clearly felt he needed to give Marcel Theunissen a start and there was also the sentimental selection of Dewaldt Duvenage for his 100th cap as the No 9. Neither of the selections worked and the Stormers were noticeably better when the changes were made, the first being the introduction of De Villiers and Ben-Jason Dixon in the 45th minute, with the former being far more present than the latter, and then Ungerer came on later.

But while it might just have cost the Stormers a try scoring bonus point that might come back to bite them when the deciding stage of the competition arrives, the Stormers were comprehensively the better team once they had got their early struggle to get quick ball and gain momentum behind them.

And while De Villiers, who should only not play when Deon Fourie is there to alternate with him, did help turn the tide and capped his impressive performance with the third Stormers try, it was man of the match Simelane who was the catalyst for the Stormers’ strong second half as they turned around a 10-8 deficit to in the end be pushing for a bonus point that only just eluded them.

Playing fullback, which is not his preferred position, Simelane wrong footed the tough Ospreys defence almost every time he touched the ball and some better finishing, one of the blips being a pass that flew over Leolin Zas’s head after he’d strutted through half the Ospreys team, might have led to a more direct contribution from him to the scoreboard.

As it was though he started the move that led to the crucial try in the 59th minute that he dotted down to effectively end a determined Ospreys challenge. He offloaded to skipper Ruhan Nel after receiving the ball inside his own half, Nel in turn sent Seabelo Senata, who has shown impressive early season form, on a little sortie down the touchline. Nel then picked up a kick ahead and transferred to Simelane to score.

LOOKS LIKE HE CAN PLAY 15 AFTER ALL

Warrick Gelant is expected back in the Stormers No 15 jersey but Simelane has certainly looked the part in the last line of defence in the first two games of this season. His unhappiness at Jake White for choosing him as a fullback was supposedly one of the reasons that Simelane moved away from the Bulls but on this evidence Jake might have been right on that one.

The Ospreys executed a close to perfect start, with scrumhalf Kieran Hardy dotting down after his team had all the momentum, and the Stormers were just way too passive, in the first two minutes. The Stormers struck back with a great try to No 8 Evan Roos, who ran onto a perfectly executed cross kick from the influential Stormers flyhalf Jurie Matthee seven minutes later. Both kickers, Dan Edwards for the Ospreys and Matthee, missed place-kicks on the night and Matthee did on that occasion.

The Ospreys’ were good at their contestable kicking game early doors, and their wing Daniel Kasende was a standout in all aspects of his play. So it was no surprise that he put in the run from a defensive position that put Hardy in for his second try, much against the run of play, that put his side back into the lead after 28 minutes.

Matthee missed a kickable penalty but then kicked a crucial one on the halftime whistle to cut the deficit to two points, and then was on target shortly after the restart to put the Stormers into a lead they would never relinquish. Simelane’s try effectively ended the contest but De Villiers’ try off a driving maul put them in the frame for a bonus point. In the end, given the amount of the play they had in the final minutes, they should be disappointed they didn’t get it but Dobson would argue, quite rightly, that a two wins in two starts sure beats the poor starts that have tended to be the trend for the Cape team in the past few URC seasons. Always remembering that there is a lot of cavalry set to return to duty in the coming weeks, not just in the form of returning Springboks but also injured players.

Scores

DHL Stormers 26 - Tries: Evan Roos, Wandesile Simelane and Paul de Villiers; Conversion: Jurie Matthee; Penalties: Jurie Matthee 3.

Ospreys 10 - Tries: Kieran Hardy 2.

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