The Stormers were their own worst enemies in a frustrating match against the Leicester Tigers in Cape Town on Saturday, squandering several opportunities, but they eventually sealed a 39-26 Champions Cup victory effectively at the death.
They sealed a spot in the playoffs of the European tournament with the bonus-point win.
After bursting out of the blocks and looking sharp in the early exchanges, they raced into a 12–0 lead and seemingly took full control. Their tempo was high, their work at the breakdown was solid, and Leicester struggled to cope with the Stormers’ initial intensity.
JD Schickerling with the show and go 🤩🌩️
The DHL Stormers lead by six with five minutes to play ⏱️
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However, rather than building sustained pressure after the tries by eighthman Evan Roos and hooker André-Hugo Venter, the hosts inexplicably eased off the pedal, allowing the Tigers back into the contest.
Poor decision-making on the attack proved costly. Promising positions were wasted through forced passes, a breakdown in communication between players, and a lack of composure in the red zone. On several occasions, the Stormers appeared more intent on chasing highlight-reel plays than sticking to their structures, and the errors quickly mounted.
Defensively, the midfield struggled, with shoddy tackling and miscommunication opening the door for Leicester to strike twice when they were in the danger zone. Those lapses, combined with ill-discipline and a number of unforced errors, handed the visitors both momentum and belief.
Instead of being under sustained pressure, Leicester were able to capitalise on the Stormers’ mistakes and stay within touching distance.
Play-offs here we come! #STOvLEI #inittogether pic.twitter.com/ygB1EqOaTC
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) January 17, 2026
By halftime, the Stormers held a slender 15–14 advantage, a lead that felt underwhelming given their early dominance. While the scoreboard still favoured the hosts, the first half will be remembered as a missed opportunity — one summed up by the knock-on by winger Dylan Maart after a neat little kick by Feinberg-Mngomezulu into space almost on the halftime whistle.
The lead exchanged hands early in the second half when the visitors dotted down. Another poor decision by the home side to kick a goal-line dropout to the 22m area gave Leicester some attacking territory. From there, they went over after a strong rolling maul that the Stormers defence had no answer for.
Five minutes later, winger Leolin Zas crossed for the Capetonians and from there they never looked back. That score put them in the driving seat, although the English Premiership team kept fighting to stay in the game.
A crucial turnover by fetcher Paul de Villiers when on defence, seconds later ended up in another five-pointer 70 metres on the opposite side of the field when lanky lock JD Schickerling sprinted down the touchline for almost 50 metres, threw an audacious dummy to trick the last defender, to secure the bonus-point try.
The winning try was scored when the Stormers were down to 14 players after captain Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was sent off in his first game as skipper for leading with a high forearm into a defender.
Leicester scored a late try, but it was not enough to turn the game around as the sudden rain falling over the DHL Stadium made handling tough. A knock-on led to a Stormers penalty that they kicked into the corner.
From there, they milked more penalties via scrums, and replacement scrumhalf Imad Khan had the last say as he scored on the final hooter to complete a rousing victory.
Points scorers
Stormers 39 (15): Tries: Evan Roos, André-Hugo Venter, Leolin Zas, JD Schickerling, Imad Khan. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3), Khan. Penalties: Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Khan. Leicester Tigers 26 (14): Tries: George Pearson, Will Wand, Jamie Blamire, Tom Manz. Conversions: Billy Searle (3).
