The DHL Stormers provided the only ray of light on a gloomy weekend for three of the four South African sides in a challenging third round abroad in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
The Stormers outplayed the Scarlets 34-0 for a valuable bonus-point win in Llanelli in the only match on Friday, but it was a disappointing day of action on Saturday as the Lions went down 41-15 against Benetton in Treviso, the Hollywoodbets Sharks suffered a heavy 31-5 defeat against Leinster in Dublin, and the Vodacom Bulls were downed 28-7 by Ulster in Belfast.
These results saw the unbeaten DHL Stormers claim the top spot on the standings, tied on 14 points with the only other unbeaten team in the competition, Munster, while the Vodacom Bulls’ defeat saw them drop five spots on the table, down to sixth place with 10 points.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks and Lions, who have yet to win a match this season, find themselves on the lower end of the table in 13th and 15th place respectively with two and one points.
However, the KwaZulu-Natalians and the men from Johannesburg will look to turn things around this week when they return to South Africa, whereas their counterparts, the DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls, will remain abroad, where they face Zebre Parma and Connacht respectively next weekend.
Elsewhere:
A brace of tries from Michael Milne and efforts from Fineen Wycherley and Andrew Smith were enough to secure a 20-19 bonus-point win for Munster by the narrowest of margins. With the match entering the final 10 minutes, Munster were in their own half without the ball. Indiscipline from Edinburgh, however, gave Munster a chance, and after a number of phases and a yellow card from the visitors, Fineen Wycherley crashed over for Munster’s fourth try. Tony Butler was unsuccessful with the conversion as Munster took a 20-19 lead with six minutes remaining. It was a nervy final few minutes for Munster as Edinburgh creeped their way ever closer to the Munster line but thankfully a turnover was won at a crucial moment as Munster kept their 100% start to the season intact.
The first home game for the Ospreys of the 25/26 season. Ospreys are undefeated in Bridgend in recent years, and the streak continued with a commanding 24-00 win over Zebre Parma. Ospreys were in control throughout, getting three tries on the board and rarely looking troubled by the Italian visitors, who remained scoreless.
Glasgow Warriors returned to winning ways on home soil this evening, as Franco Smith’s men overpowered the Dragons to claim a 49-0 victory at Scotstoun. A brace from George Horne, coupled with tries from Johnny Matthews, on his 100th appearance in Glasgow colours, Kyle Steyn, Gregor Brown, Gregor Hiddleston, and a penalty try ensured that the Warriors would secure all five points in front of the Warrior Nation.
Teenage winger Tom Bowen scored two more tries as Cardiff ended a five-match losing run against Connacht to move up to fourth in the URC table. Having claimed a hat-trick away to Munster last weekend, the 19-year-old added a double in front of an animated Arms Park crowd. After an enthralling and nail-biting contest, Bowen sealed the outcome four minutes from time with a long-range interception try. It was a deserved victory for Cardiff overall as they had the better of the game in terms of territory and possession. But they did have to defend heroically at times, particularly in the second half, with Callum Sheedy producing a crucial try-saving moment.
Results of the Weekend:
