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Cape Town - The Sunwolves have beaten the Stormers 26-23 in a pulsating Super Rugby encounter in Hong Kong.
As it happened: Sunwolves v Stormers
Sunwolves flyhalf, Hayden Parker was the hero, slotting a drop-goal in the 83rd minute to give his team their second win in as many weeks.
The Stormers were quickest out the blocks, scoring in the 5th minute through Dillyn Leyds who launched a brilliant solo counter-attack to go over in the corner.
Stormers flyhalf, Jean-Luc du Plessis was unable to add the conversion as the visitors led 5-0.
The Stormers then pushed their lead out to 12-0 thanks to some excellent work by centre JJ Engelbrecht who intercepted a Sunwolves pass and then muscled his way over the line for a converted score in the 21st minute.
The Sunwolves hit back almost immediately through Parker after some great handling saw the flyhalf over the whitewash for a converted score with the Stormers lead cut to just 5 points at 12-7.
Leyds then had his second try of the match in 32nd minute after he just managed to get fingertips to the ball over the tryline after a clever grubber by scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage.
Du Plessis could not add the conversion.
The Sunwolves cut the Stormers lead just before half-time as Parker slotted a penalty and the two teams went into the break with the visitors leading 17-10.
In the second half, the Sunwolves levelled up matters at 17-all in the 56th minute after a period of pressure saw their South African lock, Grant Hattingh crash over with Parker adding the conversion.
A Parker penalty saw the score at 20-17 with the Sunwolves leading for the first time in the match in the 65th minute.
The Stormers were level just three minutes later, thanks to an SP Marais penalty after a scrum infringement from the home side.
Marais then put the Stormers in a 23-20 lead in the 74th minute with an effort 5 metres inside his own half.
But the Sunwolves were not done and some excellent work over the ball on the ground saw them awarded a penalty for the Stormers not releasing.
Parker stepped up to slot the penalty to tie the scores up at 23-23.
With a minute left, the Stormers gained possession and drove upfield, keeping the ball for a number of phases in trying to gain a penalty.
A turnover, however, saw the Sunwolves launch their own counter-attack, surging into the Stormers half.
And it was that man Parker, who calmly sat back in the pocket and slotted a 35 metre drop-goal to give the Sunwolves a historic 26-23 win.
Next week the Stormers are at home to the Lions while the Sunwolves travel to Australia to take on the Reds.
Scorers
Sunwolves
Tries: Hayden Parker, Grant Hattingh
Conversions: Parker (2)
Penalties: Parker (3)
Drop goal: Parker
Stormers
Tries: Dillyn Leyds (2), JJ Engelbrecht
Conversions: Jean-Luc du Plessis
Penalties: SP Marais (2)
Teams
Sunwolves
15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Kenki Fukuoka, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Michael Little, 11 Akihito Yamada, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Edward Quirk (captain), 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Sam Wykes, 3 Takuma Asahara, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Shintaro Ishihara
Substitutes: 16 Jaba Bregvadze 17 Craig Millar, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 21 Yutaka Nagare, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Jason Emery
Stormers
15 SP Marais, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Kobus van Dyk, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Chris van Zyl (captain), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Substitutes: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Carlu Sadie, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 EW Viljoen
