Boland dazzle with pace and skill in impressive derby win over Stormers

The Sanlam Boland Kavaliers took control early with a stunning two-try burst within the first five minutes to lay the platform for a one-sided 41-3 win over neighbours, the Stormers XXIII, in their Carling Currie Cup Cape derby in Wellington on Sunday.

Boland had their busy loose trio, for whom blindside flank Khwesi Mafu was the undeniable standout, the work rate of their entire pack and their pacy back three of fullback Domenic Smit, right wing Xavier Mitchell and left wing Jayden Bantom to thank for their six-try-to-nil romp over a Stormers team that was poor defensively and also just made too many errors and conceded too many penalties against the supremely motivated and well organised hosts.

Smit and Mitchell scored the first two Boland tries and Bantom was only a much later addition to the try scoring list but when he did he opened the floodgates as he ran in three thrilling tries to put the game well beyond the well beaten Stormers.

Boland dominated possession and territory, particularly in the second half, and were also dominant at the gainline, while Mafu’s strong carries in the midfield set up much of Boland’s go forward on their road to a win that avenges their 22 point defeat in the corresponding derby last season in Cape Town.

Back-to-back home wins for the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers 🐎💪 Wellington continues to be a fortress as they make it two from two on home soil in the 2026 Carling #CurrieCup.#WhereChampionsRise pic.twitter.com/dHc54GYOXD — The Carling Currie Cup (@TheCurrieCup) July 26, 2026

By picking up the try-scoring bonus point to go with the win, Boland have moved into second position on the Currie Cup log after two rounds. with leaders the Toyota Cheetahs the only other unbeaten team, and this win follows up their equally impressive victory over the Vodacom Bulls XV last weekend.

The Stormers team did well to be just 10 points behind at halftime (13-3), with Boland coming close to scoring off the final move of the half as desperate Stormers defence ensured that the ball was adjudged to have been held up over the line.

The Stormers themselves would have felt a little unlucky not to have cancelled out an early 10-0 deficit when after a penalty from flyhalf Dominic Malgas to open the scoring wing Gino Cupido appeared to win a contest in the air out on the left and picked up the ball on the bounce to run in a try at the left corner.

BOLAND SHOWED GREAT ABILITY TO ATTACK FROM THE BACK

However, TMO Egon Seconds, himself a former Western Province wing, ruled that the ball had come first off Cupido’s hands before going free and falling to the ground.

There was no doubt about the two tries that Boland scored in the first five minutes, with Boland showing a wonderful ability to attack from the back.

The first try came when Smit exploited a passive Stormers defensive alignment by running onto the ball from deep as it went down the line from a loose scrum and after ghosting through two would-be defenders he comfortably dotted the ball down with no defender anywhere near him.

Then from the restart both teams had turns to carry the ball before losing in contact and the referee playing advantage before another deft passing movement down the line, this time to the right, created the modicum of space that Mitchell, nephew of the late Springbok and WP great Chester Williams, needed to enable his pace to squeeze him in for a spectacular run down the right touchline.

VISITORS WERE CHASING SHADOWS


The Stormers were chasing shadows at that point and were fortunate that Jayden Bantom missed both his conversion attempts.

By the 13th minute the Stormers had missed no fewer than 13 tackles, meaning one tackle a minute, and by the time halftime arrived they had missed 28, which just isn’t good enough.

Boland always looked the more cohesive and aligned of the two teams but the Stormers team did come back into the game after those initial blows had been landed by the hosts in front of a sizeable crowd at the picturesque Boland Stadium on a lovely sunny winter’s afternoon in the Western Cape.

However, unlike themselves when they were doing the defending, Boland were strong on the gainline and gave the Stormers very little access to the space behind the first line of defenders and therefore little chance to mount any significant attacking opportunity.

POOR DISCIPLINE AGAIN COST STORMERS

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for the Stormers, as had been the case the previous week against the Suzuki Griquas, was their discipline.

The seven penalties awarded against them in the first half was a big contributing factor in their failure to get a foothold in the game.

Boland ended the first half with momentum and with the help of more poor discipline from the visitors they quickly re-established that discipline after halftime, with Boland hooker Joshuan Eras effectively ensuring that it would be a long way back for the Stormers when he ran off an offload and barged over after an attack up the middle of the field for his team’s third try and a commanding 17 point lead after 47 minutes.

The Stormers looked well beaten after that against a hungry Boland team that took another eight minutes to notch their bonus point try as wing Bantom scythed through untouched to further increase the buffer and kill the game as a contest.

SCORES

Sanlam Boland Kavaliers 41 - Tries: Domenic Smit, Xavier Mitchell, Joshua Eras, Jayden Bantom 3; Conversions: Jayden Bantom 4; Penalty: Jayden Bantom.

DHL Stormers XXIII 3 - Penalty: Dominic Malgas.