The Vodacom Bulls, Hollywoodbets Sharks, and DHL Stormers were forced to dig deep in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship round four matches over the weekend to register vital bonus-point victories, keeping all three sides in the top five in the standings.
However, the 10bet Lions could not hold up in the second half of their encounter and found themselves suffering a heavy defeat in Scotland, which ultimately saw them drop out of the top eight.
The Sharks registered a 36-21 victory against Cardiff in Wales on Friday, and at the same time, the Lions went down 31-10 against the unbeaten log-leaders Edinburgh in Scotland.
The Bulls and Stormers kept the SA flag flying at home on Saturday. The men from Pretoria held their nerve in an intense encounter against Ulster for a 34-26 victory in Pretoria, while the Capetonians scored two late tries to shrug off the Scarlets 52-40 in a dramatic match in Cape Town.
These results saw the Vodacom Bulls finish the round in third place on the table (16 points), behind Edinburgh (19) and Glasgow (18). The DHL Stormers are fourth, also on 16 points, and the Hollywoodbets Sharks are in fifth place (15 points)
The 10bet Lions are now in 11th position (nine points), with 14 rounds of pool matches still to play.
SHARKS SHOW THEIR BITE IN CARDIFF
The Hollywoodbets Sharks continued to deliver on their encouraging early-season form to register a much-needed 36-21 victory against Cardiff at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday night, with a dominant first half setting the wheels in motion for their six-try romp against the Welsh outfit.
The Dubanites drew first blood in the third minute with a stunning try by Ethan Hooker, who gathered a pop pass close to the tryline to run over, but this was cancelled out several minutes later by Cardiff’s first try, compliments of a good break, hard running, and impressive support play, which allowed them to take a 7-5 lead.
Both teams tried hard to breach the defence again before halftime, but the Hollywoodbets Sharks had the upper hand as they converted two more try-scoring chances into points with tries by Matt Romao, who darted through a gap in the defence after gathering a timely pass from a ruck, and then Jason Jenkins from a pick-and-go, which gave them a handy 17-7 halftime lead.
Cardiff came out fighting to score back-to-back tries within 13 minutes by James Botham before the third quarter after a period of sustained pressure to sneak back into a two-point lead, but the KwaZulu-Natalians dominated the closing stages with Thomas du Toit, Ethan Bester, and Romao touching down before the final whistle for the vital bonus-point 36-21 victory.
Scorers:
Cardiff 21 (7) – Tries: Josh Adams, James Botham (2). Conversions: Jarrod Evans (3).
Hollywoodbets Sharks 36 (17) – Tries: Ethan Hooker, Matt Romao (2), Jason Jenkins, Thomas du Toit, Ethan Bester. Conversions: Gianni Lombard (3).
STRONG SECOND HALF PAVES THE WAY FOR EDINBURGH
The 10bet Lions, who were still reeling from the death of their teammate, Hyron Andrews, last week, were completely outplayed in a disappointing second half in pouring rain against Edinburgh at the Hive Stadium, as the hosts dominated most areas of the game and did well to convert their chances into points, which set them up for a commanding 31-10 Vodacom URC victory.
The teams entered the break with Edinburgh – the only team to win all four of their games so far this season – holding a narrow two-point lead after scoring a well-worked try after a great break on the outside, while the men from Johannesburg found themselves having to settle for a penalty goal by Chris Smith for their efforts.
Unfortunately, for the Gauteng side, it proved to be one-way traffic in the second half for Edinburgh as they played the South Africans off the park through their powerful forward play and impressive running into space, combined with the 10bet Lions’ unorganised defence. The hosts added four tries to their tally, while limiting the visiting side to one by Batho Hlekani for the 31-10 victory.
Scorers:
Edinburgh 31 (5) – Tries: Matt Currie, Mosese Tuipulotu, Hector Patterson (2), Geordie Gwynn.Conversions: James Grayson (2), Cammy Scott.
10bet Lions 10 (3) – Try: Batho Hlekani. Conversion: Chris Smith. Penalty goal: Smith.
BULLS HOLD ON UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE
The Vodacom Bulls showed true grit under extreme pressure against a determined Ulster outfit in an epic clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday to shut out the Irishmen in the dying minutes for a valuable bonus-point 34-26 victory.
The hosts started the match on an encouraging note, and all indications at halftime were that they would secure a convincing win after leading 21-7, but Ulster threw everything at them in the second half with their phase play and pace on the outside.
As a result, the visitors found themselves within seven points of drawing the match in the dying minutes, but it was not to be as a late penalty goal by the hosts sealed the victory.
Had it not been for a few missed opportunities, however, the Vodacom Bulls would undoubtedly have secured a more convincing result. They set the tone early on when Marcell Coetzee crashed over from a rolling maul and maintained that momentum with Elrigh Louw finishing off a wave of forward drives for a 14-0 lead.
Ulster continued to get stuck into the match, but with no reward, and Coetzee earned his second try from a pick-and-go. With their scrum dominant, the Vodacom Bulls looked comfortable at 21-0 up, however, Ulster scored on the stroke of halftime to reduce their deficit to 21-7.
The second half was a different story, with Ulster’s forwards striking with an early try, and the Vodacom Bulls lost a man in the action as Coetzee was shown a yellow card for a high tackle. A penalty goal by Handre Pollard soon after steadied the ship, but Ulster kept fighting and added another five-pointer early in the fourth quarter to cut the gap once again to 24-19.
Johan Grobbelaar responded for the hosts by bursting through two defenders to crash over the tryline, which sealed their bonus point, but this did not dampen Ulster’s spirits as they earned their fourth try in the 69th minute to set up a nervy finish at 31-26.
The Vodacom Bulls, however, dug deep, and a Curwin Bosch penalty goal on the full-time hooter sealed them the hard-earned win.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls 34 (21) – Tries: Marcell Coetzee (2), Elrigh Louw, Johan Grobbelaar. Conversions: Handre Pollard (4). Penalty goals: Pollard, Curwin Bosch.
Ulster 26 (7) – Tries: Chay Mullins (2), Dave McCann, Stuart McCloskey. Conversions: Jack Murphy (3).
TWO LATE TRIES SEAL VICTORY FOR STORMERS
Back-to-back tries by Junior Springbok flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed in the last 10 minutes of their clash against the Scarlets at the DHL Stadium allowed the DHL Stormers to heave a sigh of relief as they saw off the Welshmen 52-40 after the scores were level on 40 apiece by the 65th minute of this enthralling clash.
The Capetonians held a 33-14 lead at the break thanks to their enterprising attack and ability to capitalise on their dominant scrum in the first half, but they were forced to hold out a strong fight by the visitors in which they scored four tries in just over 20 minutes to work their way back into the game and possibly even register an upset.
However, Ahmed’s two late tries steered the hosts to their third Vodacom URC victory in four matches, as they ended proceedings outscoring the Scarlets eight tries to six.
The game started in dramatic fashion as the Welsh side received a yellow card in the 11th minute and the DHL Stormers pounced immediately with a try by Zachary Porthen from a great charge around the maul to score before Haashim Pead gathered a great back-door pass to push them 12-0 up.
The rest of the half was balanced as Scarlets got on the scoreboard minutes later with a try in the corner, but this was cancelled out by Ntuthuko Mchunu from a powerful dart from the back of the lineout.
The Welsh visitors had their say again with their brute pace, before Seabelo Senatla received a long pass out wide to secure their bonus-point try. Deon Fourie added yet another five-pointer on the stroke of halftime for the comfortable lead.
The second half played out completely differently as the Scarlets managed to make impressive line breaks time after time and took advantage of the DHL Stormers’ defensive struggles and missed one-on-one tackles.
They added four more tries – two by Joe Roberts to earn his hat-trick – and with their backs against the wall, the DHL Stormers fought back hard with tries by Junior Bok prop Oliver Reid and two by Ahmed to walk away with the relieving victory.
Scorers:
DHL Stormers 52 (33) – Tries: Zachary Porthen, Haashim Pead, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie, Oliver Reid, Yaqeen Ahmed (2). Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (6).
Scarlets 40 (14) – Tries: Joe Roberts (3), Ioan Jones, Macs Page, Josh Macleod. Conversions: Carwyn Leggatt-Jones (5).