Roche double halts Bristol fightback as Stormers win 49–12
Reduced to thirteen for a spell, the Stormers beat Bristol 49–12 in Cape Town. Jonathan Roche's second try ended the English side's fightback before a prolific finish.
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The Stormers opened their Champions Cup campaign with a bonus-point win over Bristol, 49–12, on Saturday 17 October at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town. The seven South African tries do not tell the story of a comfortable afternoon, however: the cards shown to JJ Kotze and Leolin Zas gave the visitors a chance to get back into the game. Jonathan Roche shut the door with his second try, before the replacements stretched the gap.
Senatla sets up the early lead
Seabelo Senatla opened the scoring by finding a gap in midfield and racing to the line. The winger then played a part in the second try: stopped close to the line, he passed to Zas, who finished. With two conversions from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the Stormers led 14–0.
Joe Owen replied for Bristol. The South Africans nevertheless restored their fourteen-point lead through Roche, who was put over at the end of a move involving Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Damian Willemse. At the break, the score was 21–7. Kotze's red card had already complicated matters: the hooker could not return, and his side had to wait twenty minutes before being able to replace him.
Roche halts Bristol's comeback
The start of the second half could have swung the game. A Cobus Reinach interception try was ruled out for a high tackle by Zas in the preceding phase. The winger was shown a yellow card, leaving the Stormers temporarily down to thirteen.
Bristol made the most of the extra men with a try from Sol Moody. Unconverted, it cut the deficit to 21–12: nine points then separated the two sides. The response came from Roche, who gathered a loose ball to score his second try. The conversion made it 28–12. Just as Bristol could hope to build on their comeback, they again had sixteen points to make up.
Three late tries seal the bonus point
The Stormers then got their fifteen players back and stepped up a gear in the final ten minutes. Warrick Gelant and André-Hugo Venter, both off the bench, scored before Zas completed his double. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted each of the seven South African tries, contributing fourteen points to his side's total.
The result earns the Stormers the win and the attacking bonus point. That now requires at least three more tries than the opposition: with seven tries to two, the South Africans finished beyond that threshold. The final score rewards their ability to finish chances and the contribution of the bench. It also leaves one cause for concern: before that late flurry, the sanctions against them had allowed Bristol to cut the gap considerably. The reaction after Moody's try kept Bristol at arm's length.
Photo: Stormers v Bristol at the DHL Stadium, 17 October 2026. Photograph supplied by DHL Stormers; cropped, with SNA logo.