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Springboks wingers Bryan Habana and Gio Aplon made vital contributions to a match containing five lead changes as the
Stormers beat the Hurricanes 18-16 in Super Rugby on Friday.
Aplon scored the fourth and final try of the match 16 minutes from fulltime to wrest the lead to the Stormers for the third time
and to balance the Cape Town-based team's record this season at four wins and four losses.
Habana, returning from injury in a week in which he was denied a Springboks contract, showed he remains one of the fastest men in the game when he charged down the conversion of the Hurricanes' first try, a pivotal achievement in a match decided by two points.
Habana was playing his first match since early March when he was sidelined by a serious knee injury. He showed no lingering signs of that injury, playing with energy and creativity and making his signal contribution when he leapt high to bat down Beauden Barrett's conversion attempt in the dying seconds of the first half.
Habana was one of six senior players not awarded Springboks contracts this week as coach Heyneke Meyer left out of his squad players who have accepted offers to play club rugby overseas.
Though Habana is South Africa's leading try-scorer in tests, with 47 in 83 matches, his decision to join the big-spending French club Toulon led to his rejection.
