Naughton try seals historic win for Connacht in Cape Town

Stormers 24 

Connacht 33 

Jon Cardinelli at the Cape Town Stadium reports

FLYHALF SEAN NAUGHTON scored a late intercept try to clinch a bonus-point win for Connacht in Cape Town on Saturday.

While the Stormers certainly had their chances, they were outlasted by a more determined and accurate Connacht side in the dying stages of this contest.

The upshot is that Stuart Lancaster’s charges have claimed a historic win in Cape Town, and boosted their chances of qualifying for the United Rugby Championship playoffs.

Springbok flank Deon Fourie was shown a yellow card in the fifth minute, and Connacht made their one-man advantage count moments later when openside Shamus Hurley-Langton crashed over in the corner.

The hosts hit back via their well-orchestrated kicking game, with halfbacks Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu launching the ball high into the air, and a wave of Stormers players giving chase.

Connacht did well resist the Stormers’ surge initially, before a sharp offload by hooker Scarra Ntubeni unlocked the defence and set up No 8 Evan Roos for a try under the posts.

The Stormers persisted with their kick-chase tactics, and while that translated into a massive territorial advantage, Connacht did well to thwart the hosts at the ensuing breakdowns.

When the Stormers were awarded a penalty in the middle of the park on the stroke of half-time, Feinberg-Mngzomezulu pointed to the posts.

The small crowd gathered at a wet and windy Cape Town Stadium greeted the successful goal-kick with a cheer – and at the time, it felt like a turning point in a very tight game.

Loosehead prop Ntuthuko Mchunu powered his way over the tryline in the 47th minute, and a successful conversion by Feinberg-Mngomezulu stretched the Stormers’ lead to 10 points.

When Connacht were awarded a kickable penalty in the 54th minute, they opted to put the ball into touch and set up a maul deep in Stormers’ territory. The brave decision culminated in a try for replacement Paul Boyle under the posts.

A frantic passage of play followed.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu danced his way past a couple of defenders to score a try for the hosts, before nailing a difficult conversion.

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At the ensuing restart, however, Connacht regained possession and centre John Devine raced down the touchline to finish.

There was more drama to come, though.

Shayne Bolton regathered a speculative chip kick, and found scrumhalf Ben Murphy running the perfect support line. Sam Gilbert’s successful conversion gave Connacht a two-point lead with eight minutes to play.

The Stormers went hard at the Connacht tryline in the closing stages, but were pushed back by the defence on several occasions.

The decision to throw a pass behind the gainline proved fatal for the hosts, as Naughton was awake to the opportunity.

With less than two minutes remaining on the stadium clock, the flyhalf rushed onto the ball and race more than 50 metres to score.

In the backfield, the entire Connacht team lifted their arms into the air to celebrate a famous win.

Stormers scorers:

Tries: Evan Roos, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu [3 from 3]

Penalty: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu [1 from 1]

Connacht scorers:

Tries: Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle, John Devine, Ben Murphy, Sean Naughton

Conversions: Sam Gilbert [4 from 5]

STORMERS: Warrick Gelant, Damian Willemse, Ruhan Nel (captain), Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach; Ntuthuko Mchunu, Scarra Ntubeni, Zachary Porthen, Adré Smith, JD Schickerling, Deon Fourie, Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos.
Replacements: André-Hugo Venter, Oli Kebble, Neethling Fouché, Ruben van Heerden, Marcel Theunissen, Paul de Villiers, Stefan Ungerer, Wandisile Simelane.

CONNACHT: Sam Gilbert, Harry West, John Devine, Cathal Forde, Shayne Bolton, Sean Naughton, Ben Murphy; Billy Bohan, Dave Heffernan, Sam Illo, David O’Connor, Darragh Murray, Cian Prendergast (captain), Shamus Hurley-Langton, Sean Jansen.
Replacements: Matthew Victory, Peter Dooley, Jack Aungier, Josh Murphy, Paul Boyle, Colm Reilly, Jack Carty, Hugh Gavin.

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)