The South African Vodacom United Rugby Championship franchises produced a weekend of rugby to smile about as all four teams emerged victorious in their round 16 clashes, which saw the Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks cement their playoff spots and remain in the top four, while the DHL Stormers leapt into sixth place on the standings.
The Emirates Lions also delivered on their promise to fight back strongly after five successive defeats in the Vodacom URC and EPCR Challenge Cup, which saw them outplay Connacht, with the result keeping them in the Race to Eight, although they trail the eighth-placed Benetton by six points with two pool matches remaining.
The Vodacom Bulls took the field first on Friday night, and despite being outscored three tries to two, they secured a rewarding 26-19 victory over the defending champions, the Glasgow Warriors, in Scotland.
The Emirates Lions followed suit in Johannesburg on Saturday by beating Connacht 26-7, while the DHL Stormers thumped Benetton 56-5 in Cape Town, before the Hollywoodbets Sharks made it four wins out of four as they produced a second-half comeback of note to topple Ulster 22-19 in Belfast.
These results saw the Vodacom Bulls hold onto third place on the log (58 points) – one behind Glasgow – followed by the Hollywoodbets Sharks in fourth position (53 points), while the DHL Stormers hopped up into sixth place (45 points), while the Emirates Lions remained on the lower end of the table in 13th position (35 points).
With the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup semi-finals playing out next weekend, the SA sides will have a well-deserved break before the Vodacom URC resumes on the weekend of 9-11 May.
