By Lucky Vince Pienaar
All four South African teams won their matches in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship matches – with the Lions putting in a brilliant performance with a sweet upset and the Sharks’ stars waking up out of their long slumber.
➤ We’ve become used to seeing the Lions upsetting the apple cart and winning when they should not even be competing – but this one was huge.
Playing away against Connacht, they had no business being this hot in a cold and blustery Galway in Ireland.
In a team effort like this, nobody should be singled out, but Sanele Nohamba at scrumhalf is magical – and he always has a big smile on his face.
The team never skipped a beat despite playing most of the match with 14 players after tight head-prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye got red-carded in the 14th minute.
Coach Cash van Rooyen will be particularly pleased with the accuracy of the passing in a game played at full speed.
Connacht (2 tries) 14-38 (6 tries) Emirates Lions
Connacht tries: Cian Prendergast, JJ Hanrahan
Lions tries: Francke Horn (2), JC Pretorius, Edwill Van Der Merwe, Erich Cronje, Morne Van Den Berg
➤ On paper it should not have been surprising that the mighty Sharks managed a convincing win over 7th-placed Ulster at home. Except the Sharks have been no mightier than a pack of frightened sardines for a very long time. Perhaps it had something to do with Springbok superstars Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi bringing some passion onto the field. Something we haven’t seen for a long time. How much did the win have to do with coach John Plumtree? Mmm.
Hollywoodbets Sharks (3 tries) 22 – 12 (2 tries) Ulster
Sharks tries: Phendulani Buthelezi, Eduan Keyter, Bongi Mbonambi
Ulster tries: Harry Sheridan, Kieran Treadwell
➤ The Stormers scored seven tries on their way to a dominant victory over Edinburgh in Cape Town. It was an important win in terms of the championships because the two teams were close on the log, but it also mattered that the Stormers played for each other and not as individual stars. When they get going, the Stormers sure know how to score tries! Too bad their defence was a bit sketchy at times.
DHL Stormers (7 tries) 43 – 21 (3 tries) Edinburgh
Stormers tries: Suleiman Hartzenberg (3), Leolin Zas (2), Evan Roos (2)
Edinburgh tries: Jacob Henry, Viliame Mata, and Patrick Harrison (66′)
➤ The Bulls went to Newport, Wales, took the Welsh Dragons apart and were probably back in the changeroom without breaking into a sweat. Such a dominant performance that the Dragons were lucky to get one solitary consolation try right at the end of the match.
It’s no surprise that tactical wizard Willie le Roux was man of the match
Dragons (1 try) 10-31 (4 tries) Vodacom Bulls
Dragons try: Corey Baldwin
Bulls tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Celimpilo Gumede, Embrose Papier, Johan Grobbelaar.
Pictured above: The Lions.
Image source: X
