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Sacha and dominant pack keeps the Stormers powering on

rugby18 October 2025 21:22
By:Gavin Rich
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Thanks to another powerful performance from the forwards and the brilliance of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at the back the DHL Stormers made it four out of four wins so far in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign as they beat Zebre 31-13 in Parma on Saturday night.

It was the third time in four games that the Stormers managed to add the four-try bonus point to the match points, so the Cape Town team were able to retain their position at the top of the log after the fourth round.

They have the same number of points, 19, as Munster, but have a vastly superior points differential to the team that upset Leinster earlier in the day.

The Stormers win was never really in doubt from the moment they were able to recover from a mistake from the kick-off that gave Zebre an early opportunity and transfer play back to the other side of the field, where another of what is now becoming the customary impressive Stormers driving mauls sent flanker Paul de Villiers in for his third try of the season.

The lineout was set up from a scrum penalty, and the Stormers’ complete dominance of the scrums was also nothing new.

Indeed, so superior were the Stormers, who had No 8 Evan Roos in barnstorming form again en route to yet another Man of the Match award, that it would not have been a misrepresentation of how the game went had the visitors reached 50 points.

Several times in the first half they were over the line only to be held up, and then Ruben van Heerden appeared to power his way over shortly after the break only for referee Andrew Brace and the television match officials to be unable to find conclusive evidence that it had been dotted down.

SACHA'S WIZARDRY

Feinberg-Mngomezulu came close to scoring not long after the De Villiers try and the Stormers were completely dominant in the first quarter, so it came as a bit of a surprise when a long pass from Warrick Gelant, playing his first game of the season at fullback, was intercepted by Zebre wing Mirko Belloni and he ran through to score.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu had missed the conversion of De Villiers’s try so when Giacomo De Rea converted Belloni’s effort it meant that Zebre took a 7-5 lead.

And to their credit, the hosts did make it really hard for the Stormers to convert their dominance and were tigerish on defence, in their attempts to spoil, throughout the 80 minutes.

It looked like Zebre might even hold onto their narrow lead until halftime as the Stormers kept getting near and yet so far, such as when lock Adre Smith was held up over the line.

However, it was soon Sacha time, as a high kick was spilt and Feinberg-Mngomezulu came through to pick it up and weave over to score between the posts.

He nearly did it again just before the halftime hooter but again it wasn’t to be and the Stormers held a five point lead (12-7) at the halfway point.

The Stormers placed enormous pressure on Zebre at the start of the second half and although Van Heerden’s claims for a try were denied, it was inevitable the dam wall would break at some stage.

When it did it was Feinberg-Mngomezulu again who got the five pointer, this time driving over from close range as the Stormers attacked near the Zebre line.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu didn’t kick the conversion but in the 58th minute his playmaking wizardry was to the fore as he sent Gelant in for the try with a pinpoint long pass.

This time he converted and at 24-7 with a quarter of the game left, and with Zebre having lost reserve prop Matteo Nocero for 10 minutes to a yellow card, expectations would have been for the score to mount considerably.

However, Zebre never gave up and actually drew six points back with two De Rea penalties to ensure the Stormers remained honest until the end, with captain Ruhan Nel making the gap a more fitting representation of the difference between the teams when he scored an intercept try off the final move of the game.

It was the second win of the three-game tour for the Stormers and they will feel they have hit their target but having got this far they will go all out to make it three out of three when they face Benetton in Treviso in their final tour game next weekend.

When De Rea kicked his first penalty in the 61st minute it was the first successful penalty kick against the Stormers of the season.

Belloni’s intercept try was just the third try scored against the Stormers in four games.

The Stormers team was different to the one announced on Friday as Seabelo Senatla was a last-minute withdrawal and was replaced by young JC Mars on the wing.

Scores

DHL Stormers 31 - Tries: Paul de Villiers, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2, Warrick Gelant and Ruhan Nel; Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 3.

Zebre 13 - Try: Mirko Belloni; Conversion: Giacomo de Rea; Penalties: Giacomo de Rea 2.

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