Heroic defending kept the Highlanders at bay after flyhalf Peter Grant kicked six penalties to secure an 18-6 victory for the Stormers in their Super Rugby match at Newlands on Friday.

This southern hemisphere championship game was not for the faint hearted and a bruising forward battle exploded on 36 minutes with flying fists leading to yellow cards for rival locks Andries Bekker and Jarrod Hoeata.

Victory lifted the Stormers to 16 points and second place on the table behind South African compatriots the Sharks, who have 18 points from four matches following a thrilling comeback win against Melbourne Rebels in Australia.

Highlanders slipped one place to third as they suffered a first loss following wins over fellow New Zealander's the Hurricanes and the Chiefs, and defending champions the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend.

Flyhalf Robbie Robinson kicked two first-half penalties from four attempts for the Highlanders.

The Highlanders owned the ball for much of the second half and spent long periods camped in opposition territory only for the Stormers to make tackle after tackle and keep the visitors scoreless.

"I could not have asked for more from my team-mates and the effort that went into preventing Highlanders scoring a try was unbelievable," said a beaming Stormers centre and captain Jean de Villiers.

"You cannot coach a player to produce that sort of effort - it is all about attitude - and the earthquake in Japan today makes us realise how lucky we are to be healthy and able to play rugby."

Highlanders skipper and loose-head prop Jamie MacKintosh said he knew it would be difficult going to Newlands and trying to maintain their 100 percent record this season.

"Stormers were too good defensively for us although we contributed to our downfall. We opted to run a few kickable penalties and our work at the breakdown was not up to the standard of previous weekends."

Grant kicked three penalties to give Stormers a nine-point advantage halfway on 19 minutes and added another just before the break after Robinson succeeded with two shots at goal.

Back from a spell playing in Japan, Grant slotted a 55th-minute penalty, was just wide soon after for his only miss of the match, and compensated when he sent another kick between the posts nine minutes from full-time.

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