The Lions were unable to lay the Stormers ghost to rest and suffered another defeat at the hands of the men from Cape Town in a URC match on Saturday afternoon. 

The Lions last beat the Stormers in the 2021/22 season but have not been able to win a match in five subsequent matches. The Stormers scored five tries to beat the Lions by 29-10, after leading by 15 points to 0 at the break.

The Stormers scored within the first 15 minutes when hooker Joseph Dweba crossed the whitewash. But the Lions ran into trouble after twenty minutes when lock Ruben Schoeman was shown a red card for a dangerous clear-out on Manie Libbok.  The team from the Highveld were reduced to 14 men for the rest of the game.

Shortly after, Suleiman Hartzenberg scored wide for the hosts, before Dweba scored his second try just before the break.

The Lions finally got points in the board early in the second half when Edwill van der Merwe chipped ahead. But then the Lions were reduced to 13 men when centre Manny Ras was shown a yellow.

The Stormers capitalised with a bonus point try, courtesy of Leolin Zas.  But the Lions were not done yet and replacement hooker Franco Marais went over the line to salvage some pride for the visitors. However, the hosts had the final say with Neethling Fouche scoring to seal the win.

The Lions will now go into a two-week break before travelling to France to face Montpellier early in January in the EPCR Challenge Cup. The Stormers will have to refocus to host the Sharks next Saturday in Cape Town.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger