The Stormers recovered from their loss to the Crusaders last week by beating the Reds 13-23 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

The result provisionally moves the Stormers back into the top spot in the Super Rugby standings as the Chiefs still have a match to play this weekend.

The Stormers victory was set up by an impressive first half performance that put the visitors from Cape Town into a 3-17 lead.

The Reds fought their way back into the match in the second half and won the second half 10-6.

The Reds appeared shell shocked in the first half as they faced a rampant Stormers, who attacked from everywhere with their back three of Gio Aplon, Gerhard van den Heever and Joe Pietersen dangerous every time they touched the ball.

The Reds were also rocked by the loss of flyhalf Sam Lane and outside centre Ben Tapuai to injury inside the first 10 minutes.

The Stormers defended solidly throughout and counter-attacked whenever they had the chance, keeping the home side under enormous pressure.

The Stomers were switched on from the outset and opened the scoring in just the second minute with a Peter Grant penalty.

The Reds then suffered a huge blow almost off the restart when Lane injured his knee and had to be replaced.

Gio Aplon then crossed the line after a length-of-the-field counter-attack which also saw Tapuai injured.

The Reds held on desperately as the Stormers looked to assert their dominance, and were next to score through a penalty from replacement flyhalf Ben Lucas, himself returning after a four-week injury break.

But just as the Reds began to claw their way back the Stormers scored again when Grant crossed after another full-pitch counter-attack to send the visitors into the break leading 17-3.

The hosts needed to score first after halftime and went desperately close when lock Rob Simmons barged over only to lose the ball as he was attempting to touch down.

A second Grant penalty put the visitors out to a commanding 20-3 lead, but the Reds were working their way back into the match and were rewarded when skipper James Horwill took a wayward Stormers lineout throw and crossed for a converted try with 20 minutes to go.

Queensland threw everything at the Stormers but couldn't breach their superb defence despite having most of the territory and possession.

A penalty from Mike Harris got them within a converted try with three minutes left, but Grant's third penalty right on fulltime put the gap back to 10 points to deny the defending champions a bonus point.

Final Score Reds 13 (3) Stormers 23 (17)

Scorers

Reds
Tries - J. Horwill
Pen - B. Lucas, M. Harris
Con - M. Harris
Drop -
Cards -

Match Officials
Referee: Steve Walsh
Assistant Ref 1: Angus Gardner
Assistant Ref 2: Rohan Hoffman
TMO: Steve Leszczynski

Teams

Reds

1. Ben Daley, 2. James Hanson, 3. James Slipper, 4. Rob Simmons, 5. James Horwill (c), 6. Scott Higginbotham, 7. Beau Robinson, 8. Radike Samo, 9. Will Genia (vc), 10. Sam Lane, 11. Dom Shipperley, 12. Mike Harris, 13. Ben Tapuai, 14. Rod Davies, 15. Luke Morahan.

Replacements: 16. Albert Anae, 17. Greg Holmes, 18. Van Humphries, 19. Jake Schatz, 20. Liam Gill, 21. Ben Lucas, 22. Nick Frisby.

Stormers

15. Joe Pietersen, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Bryan Habana, 12. Juan de Jongh, 11. Gio Aplon, 10. Peter Grant (vice-captain), 9. Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. De Kock Steenkamp, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1. Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: 16. Deon Fourie, 17. Frans Malherbe, 18. Nick Koster, 19. Nizaam Carr, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Burton Francis, 22. JP du Plessis.