CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - MARCH 22: Deon Fourie of the Stormers during the United Rugby Championship match between DHL Stormers and Dragons RFC at DHL Stadium on March 22, 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
Stormers captain Ruhan Nel was a satisfied man, despite his team producing a less than satisfying performance, as they battled their way to a 29-21 United Rugby Championship (URC) win over the Dragons on Sunday.
Despite the differences in position, with the Stormers second on the log and the Dragons 14th going into the match, the Welsh visitors proved to be a menace as they desperately clung to the home team throughout, not allowing them to get away.
Although it was an under par showing, the Stormers still managed to score four tries to secure the bonus point, and that could make a huge difference in their top four battle, as with other results going their way they have managed to put a bit of breathing room between them and the chasing pack.
Quality Dragons
“We always knew this was a quality Dragons side. You can easily get confused when you see where they are on the log. But we knew these guys were going to pitch up with a team that’s got nothing to lose, which makes them quite dangerous,” explained Nel after the match.
“So we are happy to get the result, but it is very frustrating. We get ourselves into great positions, but then it’s one or two soft moments with basic errors that costs us opportunities.
“Look we will take an ugly win before a beautiful loss any day of the week. We are sitting second (alone) on 46 points, where last week we were sharing the spoils with three teams, so you can’t be unhappy with that.
“There are just a couple of things we need to clean up. It’s a short week for us, playing on Saturday, but overall we are happy with the result.”
Fourie show
Veteran Stormers loose forward Deon Fourie produced a man-of-the-match performance in his second game back from a major injury, and he was just relieved to get through another 80 minutes after making his return in their win over the Bulls last weekend.
“What a great day. That wasn’t the standard that we wanted (to play at) after last weekend (win over the Bulls), but luckily we got the win,” said Fourie.
“It’s awesome to be back. Last week felt quite tough on the Highveld getting through the (whole) game (on his return), but today I felt great and I am glad I got through with no problems.
“We did enough. We shot ourselves in the foot a little, we were a bit loose, and the structures and stuff that worked for us last week went off par a bit today. But that is just something to work on going into a big game against Edinburgh.”
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