Sharks certain, Stormers and Bulls on cusp after dramatic weekend

The Cell C Sharks clinched their place in the round of 16 with their emphatic win over Bordeaux Begles and the DHL Stormers can feel pretty assured of a place but the Vodacom Bulls might still have some work to do in their last Pool game in order to feel certain of an advance.

The top eight teams in each Pool go through. The Sharks are currently second in Pool A with one game to go, and with a nine point advantage over ninth placed Gloucester, they can’t be caught. For them, this coming weekend’s appetising London clash with the Harlequins at The Stoop is all about seedings that might ease the challenge they face in the two leg round of 16 play-off tie.

The Stormers, in fourth place in Pool B, are also pretty much there if you consider that while their five point advantage over ninth placed Sale Sharks can be made up in terms of log points, they have a 33 point advantage over the English team in the points differential column and are also ahead on wins and try differential. The Stormers’ remaining game is also at home, with Clermont Auvergne due to visit DHL Stadium on Saturday.

The Bulls are in sixth place in Pool A but in a similar position to the Stormers in the sense that they have a five point lead on ninth placed Gloucester with a superior points differential. What makes it slightly more difficult though for them is that their remaining game is away against Lyon, and the French team are still in contention and have a lot to play for.

Just how seriously some of the French teams are taking the Heineken Cup this season is one of the questions being asked, with several second string teams being fielded, even in home games. Lyon did though give the Bulls a close game and fought back tenaciously in the first round clash in Pretoria. However, a bonus point will be enough for the Bulls. It will also be enough if they just ensure they don’t lose by a really big margin if they do lose.

BULLS THE LOCAL WEEKEND STANDOUT

Not that the Bulls should think about losing after their excellent win over the Exeter Chiefs at Loftus at the weekend. Although the Sharks won in Durban against Bordeaux Begles and the Stormers were never challenged by London Irish at the Brentford Football Club home ground of Gtech Community Stadium, it was the Bulls who best flexed the South African muscle in the third round.

The Sharks won comprehensively enough of course, and their bonus point win was never in doubt. They also need to be praised for the way they tried to keep the game flowing and tried to inject tempo, with some of their tries, and Siya Kolisi’s handling in particular, deserving of being described as spectacular.

However, it really is difficult to play a possession orientated game in the Durban humidity in mid-January, which might account for the Durban team’s mid-game slump.

RED CARD SCOURGE RUINED STORMERS GAME

The Stormers game was blighted by the modern rugby scourge of red cards, with the hosts down to 13 men by the 42nd minute. There was a shower of red cards in the third round and rugby commentators were asking what should be done about it. As it is hard to not see it persisting, the only constructive suggestion if you are going to rule out the extreme of cancelling the contact aspect and turning it into touch rugby is surely to bring in the 20 minute red card rule, where a red carded player gets replaced off the bench after 20 minutes. It was trialled in South Africa a few years ago and it worked.

Certainly no-one would quibble with Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman’s contention that the cards were a pity for his team as much as Irish as it took a lot of the competitiveness out of the game. The Stormers were good in the early minutes and were the better team, but once they’d scored their fourth try and the opposition were down to 13, the Cape side went to sleep.

OSPREYS CONTINUE THEIR MOMENTUM

There were some quite epic clashes and also some surprises elsewhere during the weekend, with Racing 92 bringing the curtain down on the round with a thrilling last gasp penalty win over Harlequins.

The Ospreys continued to be a surprise package as they scored a second consecutive win over Montpellier and, like the Stormers, who are just ahead of them in their Pool, they look poised to go through to the next round.

There were generally good results for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams, with Edinburgh thumping Castres away and Munster scoring a second consecutive win over Northampton Saints by as narrow a margin at Thomond Park as they did it away to Northampton in December.

Leinster continued their imperious march towards the knock-outs with a big win away over Gloucester, with the odd team out among the URC participants being Ulster, who pretty much had their challenge ended by LaRochelle’s 7-3 win. As that score would suggest, Ulster were competitive in a tough away fixture, but it wasn’t enough and they pay now for their poor form in the earlier rounds, not least the big loss to Sale Sharks that set back their campaign in the opening week.

WEEKEND HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP RESULTS

Clermont Auvergne 29 Leicester Tigers 44
Gloucester 14 Leinster 49
Munster 27 Northampton Saints 24
Cell C Sharks 32 Bordeaux Begles 3
Stade Rochelais 7 Ulster 3
Sale Sharks 5 Toulouse 27
Vodacom Bulls 39 Exeter Chiefs 28
Ospreys 35 Montpellier 29
Saracens 48 Lyon 28
Castres 21 Edinburgh 34
London Irish 14 DHL Stormers 28
Racing ’92 30 Harlequins 29