New Stormers midfield partners Rikus Pretorius and Dan du Plessis scored a try apiece as they staged a second-half comeback to beat the Lions 23-17.
Playing in their first Super Rugby Unlocked match – and also the first without any fans at Newlands – the Stormers were slow out of the blocks and were met by a Lions team that wasn’t afraid to throw the ball around.
But they tried one pass too many in the end.
Leading 10-9 with 30 minutes to go, Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies tried to get his backline away, but the young Pretorius, 21, sparked the Stormers to life when he read the attack to intercept the pass and sprint home from inside his own half.
That score gave the Stormers the lead for the first time (16-10) after entering the break at 10-6 down.
After watching his midfielder partner dot down, Dan du Plessis then crashed over from close range after spinning out of a tackle, following replacement hooker Scarra Ntubeni’s quick tap from a five-metre penalty.
While the duo – who replaced Jamie Roberts (back in Wales) and Ruhan Nel (injured) in the midfield – didn’t enjoy many opportunities on attack, they at least put their team in the driving seat with 15 minutes left to play (23-10).
It was a day for the centres, though, with Lions No.13 and Man of the Match Burger Odendaal then producing a superb piece of magic in the 71st minute, throwing two dummy passes to beat two Stormers defenders with a run from just outside his own 22 before sidestepping Damian Willemse and offloading to Jantjies to set up a nailbiting finish (23-17).
Then with one minute to play, the Lions had a chance to steal the win with an attacking lineout five metres from the Stormers tryline.
But with the hooter having gone, and after multiple phases, it was Ntubeni who displayed his scavenging skills to win a turnover for the hosts and help them escape with a win.
The Lions will be wondering how they lost the match, having made more passes (162 to 94), more metres with ball in hand (464 to 253), more clean breaks (13 to 7) and enjoying a 10th-minute 10-3 lead courtesy of a Jantjies penalty and a Rabz Maxwane try that started with a Jaco Kriel burst down the left touchline, before finding Jantjies who fed it to the wing.
The Stormers chipped away with Willemse penalty conversions to get to within touching distance, before Pretorius’ five-pointer.
The answer to the Lions’ question lies in the warning sent by Stormers captain Siya Kolisi before the clash – they won’t mind winning ugly, as long as they win.