After all the hype, the R50 entry fee was perhaps fitting for this United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at a receptive but underwhelmed Cape Town Stadium.
Apart from a few illuminating moments, SA rugby's much anticipated showroom fixture delivered bargain basement fare with the Stormers running out 19-17 victors.
Sure, the Stormers and the Bulls ran into each other at breakneck speed and kicked and jumped with ferocious intent but there was very little that enthused a crowd desperate to be thrilled.
There was little by way of creativity, nuance or, dare one suggest, flair.
This was full frontal, and confrontational, areas in which the Stormers were marginally better than the Bulls but they also put their possession to more productive use.
That the Stormers prevailed is due in large part to the efforts of No8 Evan Roos, flank Hacjivah Dayimani, flyhalf Manie Libbok and fullback Damian Willemse.
Dayimani undid some of his stellar work when after an interminable passage of video replays he was yellow carded for a high tackle inside the last 10 minutes.
Though they outscored the Stormers by two tries to one the Bulls were thoroughly one dimensional.
When their most obvious path with ball in hand was obstructed they simply sent the ball heavenwards.
Their outside backs did well with the scraps they got.
Given the bulk that was assembled in their back row the Bulls did not get the gainline ascendancy some had anticipated.
The highly rated Elrigh Louw and Co mostly had to apply all hands on deck into plugging holes at close quarters.
When they were put in possession Steven Kitshoff and his mates placed the Bulls' ball carriers under immense pressure.
This was a tense, cagey affair from the outset.
It was as if the battle plans were drawn up by chess grandmasters Bobby Fisher and Anatoly Karpov.
The Stormers, though, made the most of the running but their movement was mostly lateral in the first half.
Willemse grew more influential as the shadows lengthened as did Dayimani.
The Stormers' advances were initially stymied once the ball went to ground.
Ruck penalties took the wind out of their sails and for all their endeavour they had little to show by the half-hour mark.
In fact, it was only in the 27th minute that they registered their first points when Libbok raised the flags with a long-range penalty.
The Bulls, one sensed, were at peace with playing a game that placed a high premium on seizing key moments.
As they've proved in Cape Town before, they don't need to make all the running to land the most significant punches and when lock Ruan Nortje stole another line-out, this time inside the Stormers' 22, the Bulls came knocking with a vengeance.
Their heavy hitters kept pounding away but the Stormers dug in and repelled that advance on their try line with halftime closing in.
In fact, once they got out of their 22 the hosts made significant headway up field and put the Bulls' defence under severe pressure.
They hit to the right with the move threatening to break down close to the touchline with Seabelo Senatla in possession.
They however recycled possession and were again able to transfer the ball into midfield where Dayimani tiptoed his way past one defender and handed off another to run in under the posts.
There might have been eyebrows raised when Dayimani's name appeared in the Stormers starting line-up but it was exactly for that kind of opportunity that he cracked the nod.
It was a significant body blow to the Bulls who had done much to stunt the Stormers' momentum.
The early part of the second half took much the shape of the first. With both defences holding firm, the match degenerated into an aerial contest in a game of who would blink first.
To be fair to the Bulls, Madosh Tambwe's gather and release of Zak Burger was out of the top drawer.
The scrumhalf, who had been prodding and probing for the bulk of the match finally glided into space and with the defence closing in had the wherewithal to deliver a skip pass to a replacement centre Cornal Hendricks who drew his marker before releasing right-wing Canan Moodie to an open try line.
Louw scored inside the last 10 minutes but the Stormers had by then done enough.
Scorers
Stormers (19) — Try: Hacjivah Dayimani. Conversion: Manie Libbok. Penalties: Libbok (3). Drop goal: Damian Willemse.
Bulls (17) — Tries: Canan Moodie, Elrigh Louw. Conversions: Chris Smith, Morne Steyn. Penalty: Smith.
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Stormers run out narrow winners over Bulls in the Cape
Image: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
After all the hype, the R50 entry fee was perhaps fitting for this United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at a receptive but underwhelmed Cape Town Stadium.
Apart from a few illuminating moments, SA rugby's much anticipated showroom fixture delivered bargain basement fare with the Stormers running out 19-17 victors.
Sure, the Stormers and the Bulls ran into each other at breakneck speed and kicked and jumped with ferocious intent but there was very little that enthused a crowd desperate to be thrilled.
There was little by way of creativity, nuance or, dare one suggest, flair.
This was full frontal, and confrontational, areas in which the Stormers were marginally better than the Bulls but they also put their possession to more productive use.
That the Stormers prevailed is due in large part to the efforts of No8 Evan Roos, flank Hacjivah Dayimani, flyhalf Manie Libbok and fullback Damian Willemse.
Dayimani undid some of his stellar work when after an interminable passage of video replays he was yellow carded for a high tackle inside the last 10 minutes.
Though they outscored the Stormers by two tries to one the Bulls were thoroughly one dimensional.
When their most obvious path with ball in hand was obstructed they simply sent the ball heavenwards.
Their outside backs did well with the scraps they got.
Given the bulk that was assembled in their back row the Bulls did not get the gainline ascendancy some had anticipated.
The highly rated Elrigh Louw and Co mostly had to apply all hands on deck into plugging holes at close quarters.
When they were put in possession Steven Kitshoff and his mates placed the Bulls' ball carriers under immense pressure.
This was a tense, cagey affair from the outset.
It was as if the battle plans were drawn up by chess grandmasters Bobby Fisher and Anatoly Karpov.
The Stormers, though, made the most of the running but their movement was mostly lateral in the first half.
Willemse grew more influential as the shadows lengthened as did Dayimani.
The Stormers' advances were initially stymied once the ball went to ground.
Ruck penalties took the wind out of their sails and for all their endeavour they had little to show by the half-hour mark.
In fact, it was only in the 27th minute that they registered their first points when Libbok raised the flags with a long-range penalty.
The Bulls, one sensed, were at peace with playing a game that placed a high premium on seizing key moments.
As they've proved in Cape Town before, they don't need to make all the running to land the most significant punches and when lock Ruan Nortje stole another line-out, this time inside the Stormers' 22, the Bulls came knocking with a vengeance.
Their heavy hitters kept pounding away but the Stormers dug in and repelled that advance on their try line with halftime closing in.
In fact, once they got out of their 22 the hosts made significant headway up field and put the Bulls' defence under severe pressure.
They hit to the right with the move threatening to break down close to the touchline with Seabelo Senatla in possession.
They however recycled possession and were again able to transfer the ball into midfield where Dayimani tiptoed his way past one defender and handed off another to run in under the posts.
There might have been eyebrows raised when Dayimani's name appeared in the Stormers starting line-up but it was exactly for that kind of opportunity that he cracked the nod.
It was a significant body blow to the Bulls who had done much to stunt the Stormers' momentum.
The early part of the second half took much the shape of the first. With both defences holding firm, the match degenerated into an aerial contest in a game of who would blink first.
To be fair to the Bulls, Madosh Tambwe's gather and release of Zak Burger was out of the top drawer.
The scrumhalf, who had been prodding and probing for the bulk of the match finally glided into space and with the defence closing in had the wherewithal to deliver a skip pass to a replacement centre Cornal Hendricks who drew his marker before releasing right-wing Canan Moodie to an open try line.
Louw scored inside the last 10 minutes but the Stormers had by then done enough.
Scorers
Stormers (19) — Try: Hacjivah Dayimani. Conversion: Manie Libbok. Penalties: Libbok (3). Drop goal: Damian Willemse.
Bulls (17) — Tries: Canan Moodie, Elrigh Louw. Conversions: Chris Smith, Morne Steyn. Penalty: Smith.
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