Cardiff recorded a famous bonus point victory on a memorable night at the Arms Park to reach the URC play-offs for the first time and also secure Champions Cup rugby for next season.

They outscored their star-studded opponents from South Africa by four tries to one as winger Jacob Beetham touched down twice with Tom Bowen and Ioan Lloyd also crossing.

As well as excelling in attack, they also produced a stupendous defensive display while the Player of the Match award went to barnstorming No 8 Taine Basham.

It’s a result which delighted the animated 10,143 crowd and it takes Cardiff up to fourth in the league table for the time being.

They will have to wait until tomorrow’s remaining matches in the final round of the regular season are completed to know who they will be playing in the play-off quarter-finals in a fortnight’s time.

But the important thing is they are there for the first time in their history and they are also guaranteed a return to Champions Cup next term.

They went into this pivotal contest showing five changes from last weekend’s defeat away to Glasgow, three of them enforced.

With Callum Sheedy having suffered a hamstring injury late on at Scotstoun, the versatile Lloyd took over at fly-half, while Rory Jennings came into the centre with Josh Adams ruled out by a HIA.

Josh McNally was also unavailable as he is playing for the RAF against the Army at Kingsholm tomorrow, so George Nott stepped up to start at lock, while Danny Southworth and Javan Sebastian moved into the front row amid prop rotation.

In all, Cardiff were without around 12 players, with the likes of Taulupe Faletau, Mason Grady, Alex Mann, Harri Millard, Aled Davies and Teddy Williams also sidelined. In contrast, the green-shirted Stormers were close to full strength.

When the game got underway in balmy conditions, the hosts suffered an early blow when skipper Liam Belcher was yellow carded for an offence on his own line after just four minutes.

The Stormers soon capitalised on their numerical advantage as second row Adre Smith forced his way over from close range with fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu adding the conversion.

But Cardiff more than held their own for the rest of the sin bin period and straight after Belcher’s return they levelled the scores with a converted try of their own.

Turning down a straightforward penalty shot at goal, they opted to go for the corner and were duly rewarded for their ambition.

From the resulting lineout, they mauled their way forward and then the ball was moved into midfield where Ben Thomas popped a pass back to Lloyd who put in a cross kick for Beetham.

Collecting the ball on the bounce, the right winger still had plenty of work to do, but did it well as he stepped one defender and touched down despite the attentions of two more.

There was even better to come on 21 minutes as Cardiff conjured up one of their best tries of the season to go in front.

The ball went through some 25 pairs of hands over five phases as the hosts probed away and then, after the patient approach work, came the scintillating finish.

Ben Thomas was the man with the assist as he threw a dummy to cut through and then flipped a pass out to Tom Bowen.

That was the cue for Bowen to do what he does best as he scorched away and dived in acrobatically at the corner as the cover closed in on him.

After Feinberg-Mngomezulu reduced the deficit with a penalty, it looked as though Cardiff had struck again as loosehead Southworth went over following sustained pressure, but the score was chalked off for a knock-on by Ben Thomas in the build-up.

Then, just before the break, it was the Stormers’ turn to lose a man as try scorer Smith was yellow carded for a shoulder to the jaw of James Botham.

It was then over to Cardiff to capitalise and this they did.

After throwing out a long pass to Beetham, Lloyd looped round in support and got the ball down in the corner.

A TMO check followed but that revealed the fly-half had somehow managed to keep his feet off the ground despite his legs being over the touchline, so the score stood.

That made it 17-10 at the end of an exhilarating first half.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu landed another penalty soon after the resumption, but Cardiff responded by claiming their fourth bonus point try.

Off an intricate tap penalty move, Basham changed the direction of attack and then half-backs Johan Mulder and Lloyd combined to put Beetham in at the right corner for his second.

That saw the crowd break into an impromptu chorus of Hymns and Arias and they found their voice again as flanker Dan Thomas earned a crucial relieving penalty near his own line.

Then, as a scoreless final quarter rolled towards its conclusion, there was a standing ovation as Leigh Halfpenny came on to the field for his last appearance at the Arms Park ahead of hanging his boots up at the end of the season.

The game’s final act saw Feinberg-Mngomezulu slot a penalty to secure a losing bonus point for the visitors and then the party again as the crowd again rose to their feet to celebrate a magnificent Cardiff victory.