The Stormers are back in Cape Town after finishing their tour of Australasia on a high by beating the Rebels 41-24 in Melbourne on Friday.
Missing a number of their big stars, the Stormers ran in five tries to three as they claimed their first and only win on the four-match tour.
Wing Dillyn Leyds opened the scoring in the third minute of the match already, when he sliced through a non-existent Rebels defence after collecting a loose grubber by the hosts on their 10-metre line.
That individual effort signalled the Stormers’ intent to attack their hosts.
But the first half didn’t turn out to be as open as expected after that, with a penalty kick apiece making it 10-3.
The Stormers were made to defend for their lives and made 174 hits to the 59 by their hosts.
Straight after the halftime break, the Rebels got lucky when Stormers flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis flung a wild long pass that ended up in the hands of Reece Hodge, who ran in untouched for his team’s first try (10-10).
The Stormers then started making the most of their chances when Leyds again drew two players before passing to Damian Willemse, who unleashed replacement loose-forward, Juarno Augustus down the left touchline to score his first Super Rugby try (17-10).
TWICE AS NICE: Ruhan Nel. Photo: Daniel Pockett/EPA.
With Leyds coming into the flyhalf channel from a lineout just inside the Rebels half, he then broke the line and offloaded a backhanded pass to Damian de Allende to score another five-pointer (24-10).
The Stormers took full control of the match and with 25 minutes left, Quade Cooper failed to collect a Stormers cross-kick and Ruhan Nel scooped up the ball to score the first of his two tries.
The Rebels then hit back through tries by Will Genia and Campbell Magnay, before Nel got his second.
But by that time it was already all over for the Australia Conference leaders as the Stormers left Melbourne a happy team.
Of the win, coach Fleck says: “Things went our way and the passes stuck.
“The boys tackled for each other, they worked hard off the ball and that created the opportunities for us. It was a good, clinical performance from us, so we are very happy.”