Flyhalf Morne Steyn kicked 20 points to help the Bulls clinch their third Super 14 title in four years as they beat South African rivals the Stormers 25-17 in the final at the Orlando Stadium Saturday. Steyn kicked six penalties and converted Francois Hougaard's brilliant individual try to make sure the holders were always clear of a Stormers team that fought back bravely in the second half from a 16-3 deficit at the break. The Bulls enjoyed a telling advantage at scrum time, with three of Steyn's penalties coming after the retreating Stormers had infringed in that set-piece. Hougaard's try came in the 25th minute as he sped through a gap in the Stormers' defensive line between locks Andries Bekker and Adriaan Fondse, running from the 10-meter line before sidestepping fullback Joe Pietersen in the last line of defense. The try capped a thoroughly dominant first half for the Bulls, who looked well in control as Steyn added three penalties to the try, so it came as a surprise when the home side made a scrappy start to the second half and allowed the visitors from Cape Town back into the game. Wing Bryan Habana scored an opportunist intercept try in the 54th minute when Steyn passed straight to his former teammate after the Bulls won messy ball from a ruck on their own 10m line. Habana scored under the poles to give flyhalf Peter Grant an easy conversion, putting the Stormers back into contention at 16-10 down. But with a capacity crowd of 36,000 providing a sea of light blue support, with the noisy accompaniment of plastic horns known locally as “vuvuzelas”, the Bulls remained composed and shut out the Stormers by playing in their territory and earning penalties. The Stormers, in their first Super 14 final, did claim a second try with just two minutes remaining when sniping scrumhalf Enrico Januarie was stopped just short of the line, but Pieter Louw picked up the ball and scored. The sense of sporting fever has only been exacerbated by South Africa hosting the Football World Cup from June 11. Leicester English champion Dan Hipkiss scored a match-winning try two minutes from time as Leicester edged Saracens 33-27 to win a breathless Premiership final Saturday to be crowned English champion for the ninth time. Leicester, defending champion and appearing in the final for the sixth successive season, trailed by a point as Saracens, whose only previous silverware was the national Cup 12 years ago, eyed glory. But Leicester showed all the nous that had kept them at the forefront of the European game for so long as replacement Hipkiss seized on a moment's hesitation to decide the match. Clermont wins in France Clermont struck it lucky at the 11th time of asking by recording a 19-6 victory over Perpignan to claim the French Top 14 title for the first time at the Stade de France in Paris Saturday. The club from central France was finally able to shake off its perennial “chokers” tag after three straight final losses, which included a 22-13 loss to Perpignan in last year's showdown.
