Young Leinster outfit show grit but are ultimately outgunned against ...

They are still in second on the standings and in a home play-off position, but failing to take any points from the South African tour has left Glasgow in prime position to end the regular season top of the standings.

Given that it was a Leinster team missing every first-choice player and a raft of second-choice stalwarts too, the outcome was no surprise.

But with next weekend’s Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton as the priority, something had to give. The experience gained by youngsters such as fullback Henry McErlean, hooker Gus McCarthy, and others, will be an invaluable long-term gain.

In fact, for much of a tight first half, Leinster made the home team work hard for their points.

And after half time, the youngsters showed some grit and fight as they scored 12 unanswered points with two tries in two minutes.

Tries from No 8 Max Deegan and wing Rob Russell within 90 seconds of each other, briefly silenced the 23630 fans on a balmy night at the DHL Stadium.

It also briefly ignited hopes of an unlikely comeback from 30-0 down, and when the Stormers were reduced to 14 men, with No 8 Evan Roos sin-binned for repeated infringements, that belief grew even more.

But the home side shut the door with two more late tries for a bonus point, which moved them to fifth on the standings.

The Stormers’ final two tries had a touch of magic with the soft hands of flank Hacjivah Daymani setting up Willie Engelbrecht, and the outrageous show-and-go by fullback Warrick Gelant setting up, well, himself, for the final score.

The Stormers’ opening try, scored in the fourth minute by English wing Ben Loader, came from a midfield mistake. Centre Charlie Ngatai spilled a slightly wayward pass from out-half Sam Prendergast and Damian Willemse pounced with speed before offloading with panache to the alert Loader.

But for the next 35 minutes the Stormers had less possession and territory but were good enough to eke out three more penalties, which Manie Libbok slotted to build scoreboard pressure. He ended the game with 17 points from the boot.

Leinster only threatened the Stormers' line once, when it appeared they had scored, but the try was struck off after wing Liam Turner tackled Willemse early in the build-up.

Unfortunately for the young Leinster unit, the Stormers, earning their fourth scrum penalty of the half, set up a try for lock Salmaan Moerat on the stroke of halftime. It blew the score to a margin that eliminated any realistic hopes of a comeback.

Scorers for  Stormers: Tries: Ben Loader, Salmaan Moerat, Herschel Jantjies, Willie Engelbrecht, Warrick Gelant. Conversions: Manie Libbok (4). Penalties: Libbok (3).

Scorers for Leinster: Tries: Max Deegan, Rob Russell. Conversion: Sam Prendergast.

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis (Wandisile Simelane-61), 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies (Stefan Ungerer-71), 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon (Willie Engelbrecht-69), 6 Marcel Theunissen (Hacjivah Dayimani-67), 5 Ruben van Heerden (Connor Evans-71), 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Neethling Fouche (Kwenso Blose-59), 2 Joseph Dweba (Andre-Hugo Venter-57), 1 Brok Harris (Frans Malherbe-59) 

Leinster: 15 Henry McErlean, 14 Liam Turner, 13 Ben Brownlee, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Rob Russell, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Cormac Foley (Fintan Gunne-73), 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny (captain) (Diarmuid Mangan-74), 6 Rhys Ruddock (Martin Maloney-42), 5 Jason Jenkins (Conor O’Tighearnaigh-56), 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa (Thomas Clarkson-42), 2 John McKee (Gus McCarthy-56), 1 Michael Milne (Ed Byrne-40) Yellow Card: Evan Roos 59 

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)