A late missed conversion saw the visitors break their duck 33-32 in Cape Town, bagging a first-ever win over the inaugural winners at the DHL Stadium in the United Rugby Championship.

Despite being outscored five tries to four, the Bulls were too strong for the Stormers in their first derby battle of the URC season.

Independent Newspapers takes a look at five key moments from the derby.

Cameron Hanekom = BUILT DIFFERENT 💪🔥

This is how you set the tone for a North v South derby 💥#BKTURC #URC | #STOvBUL pic.twitter.com/bVZUrxhc8o
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) February 8, 2025

Off to a flying start

It took the Bulls exactly 1:21 minutes to score the first try after the Stormers kicked off. Player of the Match Cameron Hanekom laid the platform with a strong from the kickoff into Stormers territory.

The Bulls then spread the ball wide, with David Kriel and Sergeal Petersen making more meters for lock Cobus Wiese to barge over and get their side off to a brilliant start.

The Stormers did not expect the quickfire hit from their visitors and since minute one, the home side was under pressure and chasing the game in front of their fans.

Akker van der Merwe = The runaway train 🚂💨#BKTURC #URC | #STOvBUL pic.twitter.com/RTdnzIjCq5
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) February 8, 2025

The poaching warthog

While Hanekom performed throughout the 80 minutes, it was the cameo of replacement hooker Akker van der Merwe that kept the momentum from going entirely to the home side.

At a crucial breakdown, he took the ball out of the hands of Herschel Jantjies, raced down the field, and after being hauled in just short, the ball still came back to his side. That run laid the platform for a critical try, which ended up being the winner, by fellow replacement Ruan Vermaak.

Van der Merwe's ball steals at the breakdown were crucial when he won one important penalty.

The North-South Derby did not disappoint 🤩

It's another away win for the Vodacom Bulls in the #VURC 🐂🏉 pic.twitter.com/9sQ2j9U8h7
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) February 8, 2025

Monster scrums

In those first couple of scrums, Wilco Louw and Jan-Hendrik Wessels dominated against Sti Sithole and Frans Malherbe and laid a brilliant platform for the rest of the game.

They walked with their opponents for almost the rest of the first half and it brought penalty upon penalties for them. One of the crucial penalties came just before halftime when the Bulls were trailing 17-15 and ensured a kick at goal took them into the break leading 18-15.

The scrum swung the momentum back to the Pretoria side every time it looked like their hosts would fight back.

The celebration matches the finish 😏🔥

This one is going down to the wire at the DHL Stadium 🏉👇

📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/hKzs4vEcq3
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) February 8, 2025

Yellow card swung the momentum, again

A cynical yellow card to Gerhard Steenekamp almost cost the Bulls late in the second half.

They were leading and it looked like they did enough to secure the victory with just over 25 minutes left. This little bit of ill-discipline cost his side two tries and it turned the game on its head.

While they were down to 14 men, the Bulls' defence saw the Stormers' eighth man Evan Roos and fullback Warrick Gelant score within three minutes of each other and suddenly things took a turn and left the game in the balance again.

That missed kick and several others by the Cape side

The Cape side will look back at what would've been another victory over the Bulls if only replacement Clayton Blommetjies had stroked the ball through the poles. Instead, the late try by Ben-Jason Dixon was left unconverted after he pushed the ball wide.

How Blommetjies and Jurie Matthee fared with the boot in a critical derby cost the Stormers on the day. While the late kick was the important one, Matthee missed two relatively easy kicks – one a penalty and one a conversion – that would've meant more points to his side.

But, the conversion to seal it should've been slotted.