Hacjivah Dayimani crossed twice as the Stormers ran out 39-22 winners over the Sharks at home on Saturday, collecting all five log points in a performance built around a dominant setpiece and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu's man-of-the-match display at flyhalf.
The result was a direct response to last week's loss to Edinburgh, with the Stormers fixing the lineout issues that had undermined them in that defeat and adding scrum dominance to make the platform complete. Nthuthuko Mchunu consistently got the better of Thomas du Toit, with four of the first five scrums penalised against the Sharks tighthead. Wilco Louw was equally influential in that battle.
Three of the Stormers' six tries came from lineout drives, with Dayimani also claiming a pushover try as his second of the afternoon. Seabelo Senatla opened the scoring after a powerful driving maul created the platform before quick hands put him over in the corner. While Damian Willemse and Kolisi both contributed to the effort, Feinberg-Mngomezulu was the orchestrating presence throughout, his post-Rugby Championship confidence visibly transferring to those around him.
The Sharks' afternoon unravelled before halftime. Matt Ramao received a yellow card for a drop-knee tackle — a sanction World Rugby had reaffirmed this week — and Manu Tshituka followed him to the bin shortly afterwards as the Stormers scored their third try. The two yellows came on top of early injury losses for Eben Etzebeth and Vusi Moyo, leaving the visitors badly undermanned during the critical period. The Stormers also had two tries disallowed, underlining how one-sided the contest was for long stretches.
The Sharks' loose trio each scored to give the scoreline some respectability and there was a brief second-half rally, but Edwill van der Merwe and Ethan Hooker were largely confined to defensive duties — a telling indicator of how little ball the visitors generated in attack. The performance followed a similar pattern to last week's loss to Leinster and confirmed the Sharks have not yet rediscovered the form that saw them do the double over these same Stormers last season.
The Stormers had been without Evan Roos, who was ruled out before kick-off with a hamstring niggle.