The Stormers beat the Blues 37-20 at Newlands, Cape Town, scoring four tries to three in a clinical performance in the Western Cape sunshine.
It was the Stormers sixth victory in the last seven matches against the Blues.
EW Viljoen and JJ Engelbrecht starred for the Stormers. Dillyn Leyds and Pieter-Steph du Toit were excellent in broken play while the Stormers locks were beasts in tight phases.
Viljoen grabbed a brace, but it was Engelbrecht, with two assists, who caused the Blues all manner of problems with his scything runs and magical offloads.
Raymond Rhule and Dewaldt Duvenage scored before half-time as Robbie Fleck’s team.
The home team were struck down by a midweek virus but took a commanding 24-3 lead at the break.
The Blues hit back with three tries from the Ioane brothers and Michael Collins, but it was not enough.
Viljoen’s second try and two penalties from Damian Willemse kept the Stormers two scores ahead.
Willemse was flawless with the boot, kicking three penalties and four conversions for a match haul of 17 points.
Fast start for the Stormers.
The home side got off to the perfect start when Viljoen and Engelbrecht combined for the opening try of the game in the second minute.
Leyds took the ball at first receiver before unleashing a long pass to Englebrecht, who gave the inside ball to Viljoen, on his shoulder and the winger was in for his first.
Carlu Sadie, Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Justin Phillips made way for Neethling Fouche, Jaco Coetzee and Paul De Wet because of the midweek virus.
Both teams played in blue jerseys which might have accounted for some of the misplaced passes.
Leyds was at it again, this time with a little burst inside the Blues’ 22.
The winger ran across the field, broke the line and played Du Toit on the touchline.
The flanker broke a tackle, stayed in play, fed Rhule on his inside shoulder and the wing sped away for his 21st Super Rugby try.
Bryn Gatland kicked a 17th-minute penalty to get his team on the scoreboard.
Nizaam Carr thought he scored, but his try was chalked off for offsides after a charge-down.
On the half-hour, Willemse kicked his first penalty to make it 17-3.
Stormers take a commanding 21-point half-time lead.
The Stormers were searching for another score before the break, and they got it.
Dewaldt Duvenage picked up from the base of a ruck and darted under the posts.
Du Toit got the go-forward ball after winning the collision with Gatland which opened up space around the fringe of the breakdown.
The Blues came out firing after the interval.
A massive tackle by Ramone Samuels and Engelbrecht on Antonio Kiri Kiri saved the day. The hooker and winger held up Kiri Kiri over the line.
Akira Ione scored from the resulting scrum. The No 8 picked up from the base of the set-piece and ran over Engelbrecht to get his team’s first five-pointer.
The visitors were starting to ramp up the intensity, but it was the home side who scored next.
It came from Sonny Bill Williams’ misplaced pass to Rieko Ioane.
Engelbrecht, who was involved in everything, gathered the loose ball inside his 22 and raced 60 metres before being tackled by Melani Nanai.
However, the winger popped to the supporting Viljoen for a 29-8 lead.
It was too big a lead for the Blues to overcome.
Collins pulled a try back, however, on 65 minutes, Willemse’s second penalty extended the score to 34-15.
The Ioane brothers combined for Rieko’s score, four minutes’ later.
Rieko, a day before his 21st birthday, took Akira’s inside pass and beat Duvenage for the Blues’ third.
Stephen Perofeta missed his second conversion attempt, consequently, keeping the scores at two goals.
It did not matter. Willemse completed the perfect game with another penalty, ensuring the 17-point victory.
Final score: Stormers 37 (24) Blues 20 (3)
Scorers
Stormers
Tries – Viljoen (2), Rhule, Duvenage
Pen – Willemse (3)
Con – Willemse (4)
Drop –
Cards –
Blues
Tries – A. Ioane, Collins, R. Ioane
Pen – Gatland
Con – Perofeta
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Nic Berry
Assistant Ref 1: AJ Jacobs
Assistant Ref 2: Cwengile Jadezweni
TMO: Christie du Preez
Teams
Stormers
15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Johannes Engelbrecht, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian De Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Chris van Zyl, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Dean Muir, 17 Jacobus Janse van Rensburg, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Cobus Wiese, 21 Jaco Coetzee, 22 Paul De Wet, 23 Craig Barry.
Blues
15 Michael Collins, 14 Matt Duffie, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Bryn Gatland, 9 Sam Nock, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Antonio Kiri Kiri, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 James Parsons (captain), 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Leni Apisai, 17 Ross Wright, 18 Mike Tamoaieta, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 Murphy Taramai, 21 Jonathan Ruru, 22 Stephen Perofeta, 23 George Moala.
