Following the Stormers\u2019 hard-fought 29-21 triumph over the Dragons in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Sunday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the thrilling action.<\/p>\n
The top line<\/p>\n
The Stormers<\/a> held the upper hand from the outset and raced into a 14-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes courtesy of two converted tries from Springboks star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Welsh region soaked up that early pressure before Seb Davies crossed for their opening try in the 25th minute which was converted by Angus O\u2019Brien and they did well to keep their hosts at bay during the latter stages of the half.<\/p>\n That meant the match was evenly poised at half-time with the Stormers holding a 14-7 lead and they went further ahead soon after the restart when Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted a penalty.<\/p>\n The visitors continued to dominate and in the 49th minute Evan Roos was rewarded with their third try off the back of a powerful scrum close to the Dragons<\/a>\u2018 try-line.<\/p>\n The Dragons needed a response and that came five minutes later when Thomas Young dotted down before Stormers secured their bonus point courtesy of a Wandisile Simelane try on the hour mark.<\/p>\n That meant the hosts held a 29-14 lead but the Dragons would not surrender and in the 72nd minute Rio Dyer crossed for their third try which added some respectability to the final score.<\/p>\n Dragons no pushovers<\/p>\n Although the visitors are lying in 15th position in the URC<\/a> standings, they came into this encounter in a confident mood as they had the best defensive record in the tournament in 2026.<\/p>\n And despite the home side racing into a 14-0 lead, the Welsh region were competitive throughout and did well to narrow the gap to seven points at half-time via Davies\u2019 try.<\/p>\n Although they endured a torrid time in the scrums, the men from Newport\u2019s forwards put up a brave fight in the other tight exchanges with the likes of Davies and Levi Douglas winning their fair share of the possession in the lineout battle.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the visitors lost the services of Harry Beddall to injury in the 21st minute which resulted in Thomas Young coming on as his replacement and he was soon in the thick of the action, especially at the breakdowns, and early in the second half he crossed for his side\u2019s second try from close range.<\/p>\n The Stormers continued to hold a slight edge as the match progressed and although Simelane\u2019s try extended their lead again, the Dragons finished stronger and were rewarded in the game\u2019s closing stages when Dyer scored the game\u2019s final five-pointer.<\/p>\n Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu leads the way for Stormers<\/p>\n The Stormers and Springboks fly-half has not been at his best in recent weeks and his poor form coincided with three successive URC defeats for the men from the Cape.<\/p>\n Stormers player ratings: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu gets hosts out of \u2018big trouble\u2019 as fellow Springboks star \u2018excellent\u2019 since injury return<\/a><\/p>\n Although there were signs of improvement in last week\u2019s victory over the Bulls, the Springboks\u2019 golden boy was not at his best, but it was a different matter against the Dragons as he delivered a superb all-round performance.<\/p>\n From the outset, the 24-year-old showed his class as he put his side on the front foot with a perfectly executed 50\/22 kick as early as the first minute.<\/p>\n He then ran a superb angle before gathering a well-timed pass from his scrum-half Imad Khan before crossing for his first try in the ninth minute.<\/p>\n Feinberg-Mngomezulu also did well to gather a deft offload from Khan for his second try before making a try-saving tackle on Rhodri Williams deep inside the Stormers\u2019 22 in the latter stages of the second half.<\/p>\n The hosts\u2019 fly-half also asked plenty of questions of the visitors\u2019 defence with his excellent playmaking skills and in the 70th minute he prevented another Dragons try when he beat Rio Dyer to the ball before dotting down behind his try-line.<\/p>\n It was not a perfect performance from the Boks star as he also missed some shots at goal but Stormers fans will be happy that Feinberg-Mngomezulu displayed the type of form which makes him one of the world\u2019s leading playmakers at the moment.<\/p>\n Dominant Stormers scrum a good attacking platform<\/p>\n After some shaky moments early on in the scrums against the Bulls last week, the Stormers showed great improvement in the set-piece as that match progressed and eventually held the upper hand in that department in Pretoria.<\/p>\n John Dobson\u2019s charges continued where they left off in that match as they had the Dragons on the back foot in the scrum on several occasions and the home side used the set-piece as an attacking platform.<\/p>\n One of those powerful shoves from the home side\u2019s pack was in the 17th minute when their scrum-half gathered the ball from the base of the set-piece on the visitors\u2019 five-metre line before delivering a deft offload to Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who had an easy run-in for his second try.<\/p>\n It was a similar story in the 49th minute when soon after replacing starting loosehead prop Vernon Matongo and hooker JJ Kotze with Ntuthuko Mchunu and Andr\u00e9-Hugo Venter, the hosts came to the fore with another huge shove at scrum-time which had their opponents back-pedalling at a rate of knots and resulted in Roos cantering in for his try.<\/p>\n