Rassie Erasmus' Cats kept their Super 12 record against the Stormers intact when they beat them 29-24 in a hard-fought battle at Newlands on Saturday.

In the process, the Cats became the only away team to achieve victory in the first round of Super 12 circa 2001. The visitors deserved their victory thoroughly, with the pack of forwards laying a solid foundation for flyhalf Louis Koen to dictate matters with his learned boot.

The Stormers led 13-10 at halftime, but in the second half the Cats kept their composure and through great pressure forced the home into unnecessary mistakes. As expected, it wasn't the prettiest of games. It was more like Test rugby, with both sides giving their all for a win.

The Cats started the game with Chad Alcock at scrumhalf and Eugene Meyer at inside centre, with Jimmy Powell and Grant Esterhuizen on the substitutes' bench. All the hype of the build-up this week spilled over into a few ugly scenes in the opening minutes, but the nerves settled down quickly and the players got on with the game.

Only one of the unpleasant incidents, when Thinus Delport roughened up Breyton Paulse after he tackled the flying Stormers wing into touch close to the Cats try-line, led to a penalty.

The Cats tight five deserve a lot of credit for a very efficient performance. Their strong driving play ensured that the Stormers had to defend for long periods of the game. This gave Erasmus, who had an outstanding game, and his fellow loose forwards the leeway to harass the Stormers backs, who could only show off their dangerous attacking skills in patches.

Koen used his boot intelligently to pile on the pressure. His tactical kicking was exemplary and his high hanging kicks had the Stormers in all sorts of trouble. All in al, the Cats were more disciplined than the Stormers, who conceded a lot of turnovers. They were also severely penalised for offences at the rucks by referee Jonathan Kaplan.

The Cats outscored the hosts by two tries to one, with Koen and Japie Mulder dotting down for the visitors, and Percy Montgomery diving over for the Stormers. However, the home side will feel aggrieved that Mulder's try was allowed to stand - winger Dean Hall clearly knocking the ball on with his hand.

The Stormers leave for their overseas leg on Sunday with plenty of work to do, while the Cats enjoy a lengthy home run to improve on this great result.

Scorers:

Stormers - Tries: Percy Montgomery, Braam van Straaten; Conversions: Van Straaten; Penalties: Van Straaten (4).

Cats - Tries: Louis Koen, Japie Mulder; Conversions: Koen (2); Penalty: Koen (5)

Scoring sequence:

First half: 7-0 Koen try, Koen conversion (8th minute); 7-3 Van Straaten penalty (10th); 7-10 Montgomery try, Van Straaten conversion (32nd); 7-13 Van Straaten penalty (36th); 10-13 Koen penalty (39th).

Second half: 17-13 Mulder try, Koen conversion (5th minute); 17-16 Van Straaten penalty (13th); 17-19 (16th); 20-19 Koen penalty (23rd); 20-24 Van Straaten try (28th); 23-24 Koen penalty (30th); 26-24 Koen penalty (34th), 29-24 Koen penalty (39th).

Teams:

Stormers: Percy Montgomery; Breyton Paulse, Robbie Fleck, De Wet Barry, Pieter Rossouw; Braam van Straaten, Dan van Zyl; Bob Skinstad, Hendrik Gerber, Corne Krige; Hottie Louw, Quinton Davids; Faan Rautenbach, Charl Marais, Robbie Kempson. Substitutes: Pieter Dixon, Morne van der Merwe (Rautenbach 53rd), Rob Brink (Davids 16th), Adri Badenhorst (Skinstad 68th); Neil de Kock, Chris Rossouw (Barry 40th), Robert Markram.

Cats: Thinus Delport; Wylie Human, Eugene Meyer, Japie Mulder, Dean Hall; Louis Koen, Chad Alcock; Andre Vos, Andre Venter, Rassie Erasmus; Johan Ackermann, Jannes Labuschagne, Willie Meyer, Leon Boshoff, Heinrich Kok. Substitutes: Andre van Niekerk (Boshoff 70th), Baksteen Nell, Kleinjan Tromp (Labuschagne 53rd), Clarke Roberts, Grant Esterhuizen (Mulder 56th), Clinton van Rensburg, Jimmy Powell.