The Bulls and Stormers finished the first block of the United Rugby Championship (URC) on excessive notes and cemented their locations within the prime 4 of the competitors with large wins in two nice native derbies in Gauteng on the weekend.
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Leinster (unbeaten after seven video games) and Ulster, with 5 wins from their six matches, nonetheless lead the pack, with 33 and 25 log factors respectively, however the defending champions from Cape Town and final season’s runners up from Pretoria – each on 24 factors, the Stormers after six and the Bulls after seven matches – are nonetheless firmly in semi-final rivalry with a 3rd of the common season within the bag.
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Both of final season’s finalists received their native derbies with a full-house of 5 log factors after robust finishes – the Bulls crossed for 3 tries within the ultimate 14 minutes to beat the Sharks by 40-27 at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday afternoon, and a day earlier, the Stormers scored 21 second-half factors with out reply for a 31-22 victory over the Lions at Ellis Park.
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As a results of their defeats, the Sharks (eighth with 15 factors from 5 video games) and Lions (ninth on 15 factors from six video games) have slipped down the standings, however each are nonetheless in rivalry to attain the playoffs as they’ve some video games in hand over groups larger on the log.
The URC will now take a break for a couple of weeks as the eye shifts to the November internationals within the Northern Hemisphere, with the subsequent spherical of matches scheduled for the final weekend of subsequent month.
The Stormers welcome the Scarlets to Cape Town (25 November); the Bulls host the Ospreys in Pretoria (26 November) and on 27 November, the Lions play the Dragons in Johannesburg, and the Sharks face Cardiff in Durban.
The Bulls reaffirmed their title-challenging credentials with a 40-27 (halftime 16-10) victory over the Sharks to leapfrog again into the highest 4 of the United Rugby Championship.
Loftus Versfeld went pink as a part of breast most cancers consciousness month with a superb crowd having fun with Sunday rugby within the solar and the surge within the ultimate quarter from the Bulls to take them to a bonus-point victory with three of their 4 tries within the ultimate 14 minutes.
The Sharks had been spectacular within the third quarter and held the lead (20-19) after their second attempt within the sixty fourth minute however they had been unable to stand up to the Bulls’ robust end as the house bench was cleared.
Scorers:
Bulls 40 (16) – Tries: Marcell Coetzee, Embrose Papier, Stravino Jacobs, Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Conversions: Chris Smith (4). Penalty objectives: Smith (4).
Sharks 27 (10) – Tries: Marnus Potgieter, Aphelele Fassi, Phepsi Buthelezi. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3). Penalty objectives: Chamberlain (2).
Strong finish sees Stormers home in Johannesburg
The Stormers scored 21 unanswered second-half factors to return to profitable methods within the United Rugby Championship with a superb 31-22 victory (half-time 10-22) over the Lions in an exhilarating native derby at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
It was a typical recreation of two halves, with the Capetonians ending very strongly with their replacements making an enormous distinction within the final half-hour to seal the win after they drew and misplaced their final two clashes within the competitors, which they received final season.
But credit score to the Lions too, they got here exhausting and performed an enormous half in making certain this derby was one other one for the ages, though the hosts will in all probability rue quite a few missed alternatives within the second half which might have taken the sport away from the guests.
Scorers:
Lions 22 (22) – Try: Henco van Wyk. Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse. Penalty objectives: Hendrikse (3), Sanele Nohamba (2).
Stormers 31 (10) – Tries: Angelo Davids, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Clayton Blommetjies, Nama Xaba. Conversions: Manie Libbok (4). Penalty purpose: Libbok.
Other outcomes:
Glasgow Warriors 37 Benetton 0
Scarlets 5 Leinster 35
Dragons 47 Zebre Parma 7
Munster 14 Ulster 15
Ospreys 19 Connacht 22
Cardiff 17 Edinburgh 25
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