Manie Libbok scored 13 points as the Stormers kept their Investec Champions Cup hopes alive with their first win of the campaign as they defeated Sale Sharks in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Stormers, who are 0-2 in Saturday competitions this season, converted a 14-0 half-time lead into a 40-0 bonus-point win over the England visitors at the Cape Town Stadium and will face Racing 92 in the final. A round of billiards will be held at the La Defense Arena in Paris in 7 days.
Meanwhile, the Sharks are scheduled to play three-time champions Toulon next Sunday.
First-half tries from JD Schickerling, making his 50th appearance for the Stormers, and two of the Springbok flyhalf’s four conversions in the game gave the hosts a boost at the interval on Saturday.
John Dobson’s charge began in the second 40 minutes with 14 men after scrum anchor Frans Malberbe was shown a yellow card for repeated offenses at a set piece.
Also: Sacha’s return shrouded in uncertainty
But the Stormers ignored their numerical disadvantage and struck first after the restart, with loose propeller Sti Sithole pummeling in from close range for the converted touchdown.
And tourists soon found two men collapsed. Former Stormers playmaker Rob du Preez was given 10 minutes in the prank chair after impeding speedster Suleiman Hartzenberg, while full-back Joe Carpenter was pinned for a deliberate knock-on.
Sale’s Rekeiti Ma’asi-White also picked up a yellow at the death after being struck in the shoulder by fellow substitute Jean-Lu du Plessis.
Man of the Match Warrick Gelant raced into the end zone to secure a bonus point for the home side, while substitutes Paul de Wet and Andre-Hugo Venter added the finishing touches for an emphatic win over a whitewash inside the final quarter .
