The opening weekend of Vodacom United Rugby Championship action for the four South African franchises delivered a mixed bag of results, with the two home teams bagging victories in Gauteng. At the same time, the coastal sides suffered defeats on the road in Wales and Ireland.
Leo Cullen’s Leinster ran in six tries during a 34-6 triumph over Dragons RFC, while Cardiff also secured a second successive bonus point victory as they came from behind to win 24-15 at the Scarlets.
The Emirates Lions and the Vodacom Bulls kicked off their campaigns with home victories over Ulster (35-22) and Edinburgh (22-16) respectively, but the travelling DHL Stormers were beaten 37-24 by the Ospreys in Bridgend, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks let slip a big lead as they went down 36-30 to Connacht in Galway.
However, the result of the weekend came out in Italy where Zebre Rugby recorded a famous 42-33 bonus point victory over Munster, while Leinster and Cardiff remained unbeaten after two rounds of action.
Glasgow’s title defence is up and running against Benetton
Glasgow Warriors coach Franco Smith says patience will be the key as he looks for steady progress from his title-holding team.
The champions bounced back from their last-gasp defeat to Ulster in Round 1 by claiming a 42-10 bonus point victory over Benetton Rugby at Scotstoun.
Skipper Kyle Steyn claimed two of their six tries from the wing to earn the Player of the Match award, while the visitors had Kiwi lock Scott Scrafton sent off just before the break and then picked up two further yellow cards.
A satisfied Smith said: “We asked for progression from last week and I think we saw that in most areas. It was an important step for us to improve and just to get going in the league.
“We missed some opportunities, but I’m happy with the general performance.
“It was a little bit stop start. The quality of the rugby in this URC competition is so high, we probably got spoiled. We don’t allow the players to make errors anymore!
“It’s the start of a new campaign for everybody which is challenging from a technical detail perspective. With a little bit of patience from everybody, the game will grow.
“It’s important to get players on the field in this first block and for them to find their feet.
“We will take the lessons learned and look to progress again heading down to Cardiff next weekend. It was an important day for us. I am happy with the win.”
Skipper Steyn added: “It was massive to get that first win. I was really proud of the way the boys came out back at home.”
In Friday night’s other game, Leinster claimed a 34-6 bonus point victory over the Dragons at the Aviva Stadium, running away with the contest after turning round with a narrow 10-6 lead.
Skipper Jack Conan said: “We fairly got it in the neck at half-time. The ruck stuff was terrible. We knew the Dragons would be dogged and they were.
“We showed up pretty well in the second half, but we can’t afford to take 40 minutes to sort the ruck out, so that was a little bit frustrating.
“But it was great to be back in the Aviva. It was a really good atmosphere and I think the lads were pretty happy in the end. We will be better next time after this.”
Try-scoring flanker Max Deegan - the Player of the Match - added: “There were about 18,500 here and getting those sort of numbers at a game is always fantastic.
“You could really feel it out there. We were under pressure in the first half and I just thought the energy in that second half definitely gave us life.
“It’s great times for Leinster. We have an unbelievable squad at the moment and I really think we can do special things. If we just keep putting the work in and keep helping each other get better, I think we can really produce some great moments.”
Emirates Lions break Ulster hoodoo.
The Emirates Lions got their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign off to the start they wanted when they defeated Ulster 35-22 in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon.
The victory was the first time in four attempts the Gauteng outfit managed to get the better of their Northern Irish opponents. The Highvelders dominated early possession, and despite Ulster's efforts, they secured a convincing victory.
They earned a bonus point for scoring five tries, with Kade Wolhuter contributing 15 points, but Ulster left Johannesburg with a bonus point of their own for four tries, with Corrie Barrett’s late five-pointer their fourth on the day, while former Hollywoodbets Sharks wing and Blitzbok Werner Kok also crossing the whitewash for the visitors.
Gritty Vodacom Bulls edge Edinburgh at Loftus.
The Vodacom Bulls kicked off their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign with a gritty 22-16 victory over Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
Edinburgh initially took the lead with a penalty goal from Ross Thompson in the 15th minute, but the hosts responded with a try from Jannes Kirsten, converted by Jaco van der Walt, who later added another try to extend their lead to 12-03.
The Scots fought back with a try from Ewan Ashman, and Thompson's conversion brought them within two points at halftime (12-10).
Thompson's penalty goal early in the second half briefly put Edinburgh ahead by one point, but the Vodacom Bulls regained control with a try from Springbok wing Canan Moodie, converted by Boeta Chamberlain, who also added a penalty goal to stretch the lead to 22-13.
Despite Thompson reducing the deficit with another penalty goal, Edinburgh's hopes of a comeback were dashed when Ashman received a second yellow card. The hosts held on to secure the win, while Edinburgh earned a losing bonus point.
Cardiff keeping feet on the ground against Scarlets
Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt insists he won’t be getting carried away by his team having opened their URC campaign with back-to-back bonus point victories.
They followed up the Round 1 maximum against Zebre by coming from behind to claim another as they won 24-15 away to the Scarlets in Saturday’s Welsh derby.
It has put them level on 10 points with Leinster at the top of the table and set them up nicely for Friday’s big Arms Park clash with champions Glasgow.
“It’s a good start overall, but that’s exactly what it is,” said Sherratt.
“I didn’t get carried away last year when it was the other way and I certainly won’t this year. It’s a new group and there will be ups and downs.
“But I’m just pleased that the players have got some reward.”
The signs didn’t look too promising when Cardiff trailed 15-0 early on, having conceded tries to centre Macs Page and No 8 Taine Plumtree.
But they reduced the deficit to three points by half-time and then took control, capitalising on the Scarlets being reduced to 13 men following two yellow cards and sealing the win with a final quarter try from centre Ben Thomas.
Sherratt said: “It’s actually not a bad thing sometimes, going down early, because there is only one way to go then. It’s backs to the wall and you come out fighting.
“We talk about fight and resilience and we showed bucket fulls of that to come back from 15-0 down.
“We played some nice stuff as well and showed flashes of what Cardiff can do. We attacked from deep and had some really good ball movement.
“I am really pleased for the players that they got what they deserved. It’s about enjoying your wins and you have got to enjoy a derby win away against the Scarlets, after two disappointing results against them last season.”
The Player of the Match award went to new Cardiff flanker Dan Thomas, who said: “We didn’t start off the best, but we finished strongly and showed the character in the end, so we are very happy.”
Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel commented: “We started brightly and were in good shape, but we just let Cardiff back into the game.
“In the second half, we just couldn’t get flow in the game and made a lot of unforced errors and turnovers which gave them field position and ultimately they got over in the end, so we are bitterly disappointed from that perspective.”
As a footnote, the try from teenage Scarlets centre Macs Page after 14 seconds was the fastest in the league since Scotland winger Dougie Fife touched down after just 10 seconds for Edinburgh against Connacht in March 2018.
Ospreys stand firm against DHL Stormers
The Ospreys were too good for the DHL Stormers in Bridgend on Saturday evening, winning their clash by 37-24 as they outscored the Capetonians by four tries to two, with a late penalty try earning the Welsh club a bonus point.
In front of a passionate crowd at the Brewery Field, the hosts’ skipper Jac Morgan crossed for one of their tries, along with Reuben Morgan-Williams and Dan Edwards, who contributed 27 of their points.
While the Ospreys would have been very happy with the win after slipping to a late defeat last weekend against the Dragons, the DHL Stormers would have taken enough positives from the game, although their struggled with contestable kicks.
Towering lock JD Schickerling, who recently returned to Cape Town after three years in Japan, scored on of the DHL Stormers’ tries, while Springbok utility back Damian Willemse returned to action after months on the sidelines and landed a drop goal in the process.
Ospreys coach Toby Booth was all smiles as his team recorded another memorable victory at their Brewery Field fortress.
They followed up last season’s thrilling wins over Cardiff and Sale at the Bridgend ground by beating the Stormers 37-24 in another humdinger of a contest.
After holding firm on their own line through 20 phases of defending in the closing stages, they then went up the other end to claim the penalty try which brought them maximum points.
The game had been moved to the Brewery Field as their normal home of the Swansea.com Stadium was unavailable due to a clash with football.
In front of a passionate crowd, the Ospreys produced the goods once more, with skipper Jac Morgan crossing, along with half-backs Reuben Morgan-Williams and Dan Edwards, ahead of the jubilant finale.
“We play well here,” said Booth. “It’s a difficult place to come. It’s a bit of a fortress within a fortress, so long may that continue.
“We have always loved the crowd here. It’s fantastic. You know you can use the atmosphere and the proximity of the fans to the pitch to your advantage.
“It’s a really great ground for players and coaches to be around because it sort of represents us a little bit - sleeves up, prepared to do it tough.
“We might not be too aesthetically pleasing sometimes but we’ll get the job done, so I think it’s quite representative of us as a group.
“If we can get a four-try bonus point into the bargain, then all well and good!”
Booth was left with very contrasting emotions to seven days earlier when his team had let slip a winning position and suffered a last-gasp defeat against the Dragons.
“Obviously last week was very disappointing,” he said.
“But the sign of a good team is they learn quickly. All week we bounced back, we came out with a spring in our step despite the disappointment.
“We prepared really well and we challenged each other, which is fantastic. That’s how winning gets done.
“Sport teaches you a lesson every week and last week taught us the lesson that when you’ve got an opportunity to kill someone off in this league, you need to do that.
“The irony is before that last defensive set here, we were potentially in the same boat, but we came up with the answers this time and then we weren’t going to sit and wait, we were going to grab it and get the bonus point. So that’s a fantastic outcome.
“It shows they are a tight group that cares about each other because you lose those moments if you don’t.
“It shows a never-say-die attitude. It means you are going to finish strong and not go away. That’s a very attractive factor to have. We showed out there we are a good team.”
Summing up his post-match mood, Booth said: “It’s a little bit different to last week! The smile wasn’t around then.
“We got found wanting a little bit at the end last week when we didn’t put the Dragons to bed.
“The good thing this time is we created a lot of opportunities and took them. It was a great second half and a lovely moment at the end.
“This is an incredibly difficult opening block for us, but the train keeps on rolling.”
Hollywoodbets Sharks let slip a big lead in Galway.
Irish province Connacht fought back from a 20-point deficit at halftime of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with the Hollywoodbets Sharks to record a 36-30 bonus-point victory in Galway on Saturday evening.
Despite leaking an early converted try, the KwaZulu-Natalians found their groove and scored three converted tries – two by Springbok centre Andre Esterhuizen – and two long-distance penalty goals by Jordan Hendrikse to take a 27-7 lead at the break.
But Connacht underlined why visiting teams often find it tough in Galway with four second half tries while the Hollywoodbets Sharks failed to add to their tally as they were shut out by the hosts.
The Durbanites managed to salvage a losing bonus point with a late penalty goal by Siya Masuku, but in the end, they were made to pay for allowing Connacht to dominate possession and territory.
Zebre Parma shocks Munster Rugby
What a game and what a result!
The scenes of jubilation on the final whistle summed up just how much this victory meant to the Zebre players and their supporters.
It must go down as one of the greatest wins in the club’s history, if not the greatest, given they were up against the 2023 URC champions.
There seemed little prospect of an upset when the hosts trailed 28-15 at half-time, but they produced some scintillating rugby after the break to finish with six tries in all, as wing Jacopo Trulla and scrum-half Alessandro Fusco both crossed twice.
It was a result which ended Zebre's 14-match losing run in the URC, while it was the first time Munster had lost to an Italian team in the league since they were beaten by Benetton Treviso in September 2013.