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The Stormers held off a spirited rally by London Irish to win their first home tie in the Heineken Champions Cup.

The South Africans were 24-0 ahead in the second half, but two converted tries gave Irish hope until Junior Pokomela's late secured a bonus point.

Tries from Willie Engelbrecht, Hacjivah Dayimani and Leolin Zas gave Stormers their comfortable lead.

and Will Josephs gave hope, with Joseph having a try chalked off late on.

Englebrecht's eighth-minute try was converted by Manie Libbock, who added a penalty to put the hosts 10-0 up at half-time.

Irish slipped further behind when the Stormers scored twice in the first six minutes of the second half. Dayamani raced clear after Irish scrum-half Joe Powell dropped a high ball, then Zas finished off a move that had started near the Stormers try-line.

But Conor Murphy's side rallied well, with Willemse bundling over from a maul following a lineout before Joseph slid through the Stormers defences for a try that Paddy Jackson converted.

Joseph then appeared to have given Irish a chance for a valuable bonus point with another try with three minutes left, but a TMO review cancelled it when it was revealed that Joseph had pushed a Stormers player at the start of the move.

Pokomela crossed in the dying seconds for a fourth try that gave Stormers a bonus point of their own and a first win in Pool B

Line-ups

Stormers: Blommetjies, Davids, Nel, Willemse, Zas, Libbok, de Wet, Kitshoff, Dweba, Malherbe, Moerat, Orie, Fourie, Engelbrecht, Dayimani.

Replacements: Kotze, Harris, Sandi, Evans, Pokomela, Theunissen, Jantjies, Hartzenberg.

London Irish: Loader, Cinti Luna, Morisi, Janse Van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins, Jackson, Powell, Goodrick-Clarke, Willemse, Chawatama, Simmons, Coleman, Rogerson, Pearson, Basham.

Replacements: Ruiz, Gigena, Hoskins, Ratuniyarawa, Cunningham-South, White, Jennings, Joseph.

Referee: Pierre Brousset