The DHL Stormers showed plenty of heart, but ultimately went down 20-11 in their Vodacom URC Semi-Final against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday.
It was a committed display from the DHL Stormers, but a late try from the defending champions secured a hard-fought victory to book their place in the Grand Final.
The home side started strong and dominated both territory and possession, which eventually resulted in All Black centre Rieko Ioane going over for the opening try.
They added two penalties from flyhalf Sam Prendergast to make it 13-0 before the DHL Stormers found a foothold in the game.
After surging into the 22, the visitors launched a sustained attack and lock Adre Smith barged over for a try.
They added to that soon afterwards as a scrum penalty right in front of the poles gave flyhalf Jurie Matthee an easy three points.
Leinster finished the first half strong, but the DHL Stormers stood up to the pressure and held out. That saw the Irish side take a 13-8 lead into the half-time break after an opening 40 minutes which saw both teams cross the whitewash once.
The DHL Stormers were reduced to 14 early in the second half when Leolin Zas was shown a yellow card for an intentional knock-on, but they were the only team to score in that time as Matthee added another penalty following another dominant scrum.
That made it a two-point game and it was in the balance heading into the final 15 minutes, but replacement Ruan Ackermann was shown a red card for a dangerous clean-out, which tipped the scales in Leinster’s favour.
The DHL Stormers went down to 13 when Salmaan Moerat was shown yellow and Leinster scrumhalf Jamieson Gibson-Parke scored to secure the win for his team.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Ioane, Gibson-Parke
Cons: Prendergast, Byrne
Pens: Prendergast 2
For DHL Stormers:
Try: Smith
Pens: Matthee 2
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Wandisile Simelane, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ruan Ackermann, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Warrick Gelant.
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