Stormers stun Leinster to secure opening night shutout

The DHL Stormers kicked off their United Rugby Championship campaign with a thumping 35-0 win over defending champions, Leinster on Friday night.

There was an air of caution heading into their season opener, having suffered from slow starts in the past.
 
A lot of pre-season talk was centered around the new logo, a new kit sponsor and a new era for the Cape franchise and what a way to get it started. 

A victory over Leinster for any team is a big deal but to do that by scoring four tries while preventing the Irish outfit from getting on the board deserves a lot of praise. What’s more is that John Dobson wasn’t able to select from his usual group of players with a host of his stars away on Springbok duty.
 
The home side held a slender 6-0 lead at half-time but that lead could’ve been bigger had they taken their chances and been on the right end of 50-50 call.
 
The Men from the Cape came out firing in the second half, inspired by the intensity of a Man of the Match performance by Seabelo Sentala. The first try came just three minutes into the second period and the hosts smelled blood.
 
A lackluster Leinster labored and had the wind taken out of their sails with two yellow cards after the hour mark. That signalled the beginning of the end as the Stormers pounced on errors, running in a total of four unanswered tries in a convincing win to start the 2025/26 season.
 
DHL Stormers 35
Tries: Stef Ungerer, Evan Roos, Ruan Ackermann, Jurie Matthee
Conversions: Jurie Matthee (3)
Penalties: Jurie Matthee (3)
Leinster 0