The DHL Stormers opened their account in the Champions Cup with a stylish bonus-point victory over a dogged London Irish side in Cape Town on Saturday night.

A one-two punch of tries in the opening minutes of the second half saw the Stormers claim a 34-14 victory, having led 10-0 after a stop-start and sluggish first half.

The win sees the Stormers raise themselves into the playoff places in Pool B, after losing their opening fixture away to a star-studded Clermont.

The hosts dominated the first half, reflected in their half-time statistics of 65% possession and 75% territory as London Irish had to make more than double the number of tackles.

However, aside from Willie Engelbrecht’s try in the seventh minute, the Stormers were left largely frustrated as they struggled to adapt to the referee and the game was played at a snail’s pace.

That wasn’t for a want of effort as the URC champions tried to run it when they got the opportunity, but London Irish did well to contain the threat.

That was until the game exploded into life after the interval. First, Leolin Zas pounced on a kick-receipt error from Joe Powell and set Hacjivah Dayimani free on a 40m run to the tryline.

Four minutes later, a counter-attack that started from the five-metre line ended with Zas leg-driving over for a try of his own.

Just Hacjivah Dayimani shining bright like a Diamond ?

? The DHL Stormers are finally off the mark in the #HeinekenChampionsCup

FT | 34-14 pic.twitter.com/yuo3TO03Xw

— SuperSport ? (@SuperSportTV) December 17, 2022

London Irish did their best to make it a nervy finish as they grabbed two quickfire tries and had a third controversially called back for a penalty a number of phases before the ball was grounded.

However, from there, the Stormers woke up and added further glitter to the scoreline when Junior Pokomela crossed from a driving maul.

Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix