CAPE TOWN Feb 25 (Reuters) – Joe Pietersen marked his
Stormers return by kicking 21 points to help them begin their
Super Rugby campaign with a 39-26 win over the Wellington
Hurricanes on Saturday.
The hosts’ three-try victory at Newlands was slightly
overshadowed by what appeared to be a serious knee injury to
their South Africa flanker Schalk Burger in the first 15
minutes.
The Hurricanes had all the possession during the opening
exchanges but once it turned over their South African opponents
scored immediately.
Gio Aplon dummied expertly and then squeezed between two
players before racing more than 50 metres to land the opening
try five minutes in.
Beauden Barrett, who also scored 21 points, replied with a
penalty before Burger’s injury, with Pietersen knocking over
successive kicks to extend the lead further.
After another three points from Barrett, the New Zealanders
were reduced to 14 men when Tristan Moran was penalised for
repeated infringements after 28 minutes.
Burger’s replacement Siya Kolisi carried the ball over at
the back of a structured line-out drive from the second foul,
although Barrett again slotted over a penalty to keep the
Hurricanes in the game.
The sin-binning of Ben May for taking out the legs of an
opponent meant the visitors were down to 13 before the interval.
However, they coped admirably, and after conceding a drop
goal to Gary van Aswegen, Tim Bateman scored a try just after
the halftime siren had sounded following an angled run.
Continued…
