The Stormers heaped more misery on Australian rugby Saturday - a day in which all of their teams were beaten on the road - with the Cape Town franchise smashing the Waratahs 27-6 at Newlands.
The Stormers' impressive three tries to nil win follow earlier humbling experiences for Aussie sides - with the Hurricanes destroying the Western Force 47-22 and the defending champion Bulls recording an even more impressive 50-32 victory over the Brumbies.
And the Stormers' win against a highly-rated Waratahs outfit ensured that this year they are living up to all the pre-season hype and expectations ... at least in the early stages.
With another four home matches to come, the Stormers is handily placed and joins the table-topping Bulls, the Hurricanes and Chiefs in the top four.
The only concern for the home team will be the hamstring injury that forced captain Schalk Burger to leave the field in the first half.
More to follow...
The scorers:
For the Stormers:
Tries: F Louw, Habana 2
Cons: Pietersen 3
Pens: Pietersen 2
For the Waratahs:
Pens: Barnes 2
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 JC Kritzinger.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Eusebio Guinazu, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 Lionel Cronjé, 22 Sireli Naqelevuki.
Waratahs: 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Tom Carter, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Will Caldwell, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Damien Fitzpatrick, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Hendrik Roodt, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Josh Holmes, 21 Daniel Halangahu, 22 Rory Sidey.
Referee: Keith Brown (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Jonathon White (New Zealand)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
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