URC Round Up

The Emirates Lions, Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers ensured another successful weekend for the South African franchises in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship as they secured valuable victories against their northern hemisphere rivals in the competition, making it three wins in four matches for the domestic teams.

 

The Emirates Lions earned their third straight win in a row as they defeated Ospreys 45-15 in Johannesburg on Friday, while on Saturday the DHL Stormers edged through for a 23-20 victory against Ulster in Cape Town and the Vodacom Bulls cruised to a 55-20 victory against the Dragons in Pretoria.

 

The Cell C Sharks, meanwhile, succumbed to a 21-5 defeat against Edinburgh in a soaking wet Durban, which brought their four-match winning streak to an end.

 

These results saw the DHL Stormers leapfrog the Cell C Sharks into sixth place on the log as the top placed South African team with 38 points, while the Pretoria side’s bonus-point win bumped them up into seventh place (37 points), while the Cell C Sharks dropped down to eighth place with 36 points.

 

The Emirates Lions’ win also allowed them to claw their way into 12^th place (26 points) lower down on the table.

 

Lions outplay Ospreys in Joburg with seven try romp

 

The Emirates Lions scored an impressive seven tries against Ospreys in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Friday to secure their third win in a row with a convincing 45-15 victory.

 

Rabz Maxwane (wing) and Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf) accounted for their opening two tries in the first half thanks to some enterprising play, and the team backed this up with solid defence, which saw them limit Ospreys to one penalty goal for their efforts in the half for an encouraging 14-3 lead.

 

The second half, however, belonged to the hosts as they ran circles around the Welsh outfit and capitalised on their try-scoring chances to add another five tries, taking their tally for the match to seven, with Van den Berg earning his brace in the process.

 

The hosts started the second half with a bang as Francke Horn (flank) scored their third try in the 42nd minute after some intense pressure on attack meters from the tryline and Ospreys responded with a try by scrumhalf Rhys Webb who sniped through thanks to a beautiful dummy pass.

 

Van den Berg cancelled this out in the 54th minute as he touched down for his second five-pointer, and Ospreys again hit back with an intercept try by Mike Collins (centre) in the 63rd minute.

This confidence, however, was short-lived as Lions’ replacement back Manuel Rass crashed over the tryline, and Edwill van der Merwe (wing) added to this minutes later as he dashed through for their sixth try, handing the home side a convincing 38-15 lead.

 

The Emirates Lions did not stop there and added yet another try by Andre Warner (replacement scrumhalf) in the final minutes and this earned them a satisfying 45-15 victory.

 

Scorers:

 

Emirates Lions 45 (14) – Tries: Rabz Maxwane, Morne van den Berg (2), Francke Horn, Manuel Rass, Edwill van der Merwe, Andre Warner. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (5).

 

Ospreys 15 (3) – Tries: Rhys Webb, Mike Collins. Conversions: Josh Thomas (2). Penalty Goal: Thomas.

 

DHL Stormers squeeze past Ulster in thrilling match

 

Three powerful scrums, all near their own line, saw the DHL Stormers squeeze out a 23-20 victory against Ulster in a pulsating Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash in Cape Town on Saturday in perfect conditions at the DHL Stadium.

 

Trailing 14-0 after 10 minutes of magic by the Cape Town backs, Ulster fought their way back into the match and placed themselves into contention for a possible win, only to be denied by the home side's scrum, with three crucial scrum penalties conceded within five meters of the hosts’ line.

 

Each time the DHL Stormers could relieve pressure created by the relentless Ulster pack, who enjoyed dominance at the breakdown, it allowed their team good go forward ball.

 

A crucial call two minutes from fulltime denied Ulster what they thought was a match winning try, with prop Callum Reid being ruled to lose the ball over the line. From the resulting scrum, the home side won the penalty and could relieve field position and pressure to secure the win.

 

Paul De Wet and Leolin Zas scored the DHL Stormers’ tries with Manie Libbok (flyhalf) converting both and he added three penalty goals which proved crucial in the result, as the only difference between the teams on the scoreboard was one three-pointer.

 

Scorers:

 

DHL Stormers 23 (20) - Tries: Paul de Wet, Leolin Zas. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2). Penalty Goals: Libbok (3).

 

Ulster 20 (13) - Tries: Marty Moore, Stuart McCloskey. Conversions: John Cooney (2). Penalty Goals: Cooney (2).

 

Vodacom Bulls cruise past Dragons in Pretoria

 

The Vodacom Bulls added another Vodacom United Rugby Championship win at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday with a commanding 55-20 victory against the Dragons, scoring eight tries in the process.

 

Such was their dominance, they were up 31-8 at the break, with the four try bonus point confirmed within 30 minutes and they continued their dominance in the second half.

 

It was not a faultless display by the home side, but their strike runners used the opportunities presented by a dominant pack to score some excellent tries.

 

Fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse sliced open the Dragons on two occasions, while barging forward runs also saw the likes of Marcell Coetzee (flank) and Johan Grobbelaar (hooker) assaulting the defence lines of of the Welsh at will.

 

The home side's first half effort yielded the much-needed bonus point, with all four tries the result of typical Bulls efficiency.

 

Vodacom Bulls No 8 Arno Botha opened the scoring for the home side following a trademark Bulls lineout maul and drive and although Chris Smith's (flyhalf) conversion added the conversion and a subsequent penalty goal to push the hosts 10 points ahead.

 

Dragons flyhalf Sam Davies kicked a penalty goal to cut the lead, but the home side broke the game open with two quick converted tries by Lionel Mapoe (replacement centre) and Embrose Papier (scrumhalf).

 

Kurt-Lee Arendse secured the bonus point, but the Dragons scored the next two tries by Rio Dyer and Jared Rosser (both wings).

 

Arendse scored a peach of a try in 48th minute in when he collected a stray kick and left a couple of Dragons clutching thin air.

 

The Dragons kept coming though and Davis scored their third converted try after some scrappy play by the Pretoria side.

 

Coetzee, playing a real captain's innings on the flank, extended the lead again with a try after some good forward play, and Mapoe got his brace after some bruising play by the pack, with the midfielder running off a strong line to add to his try tally in the competition.

 

Zak Burger (replacement scrumhalf) added another after a great run by lock Walt Steenkamp who was put into a gap with a delightful pass from Morne Steyn (replacement flyhalf) and found Burger on his inside.

 

Scorers:

 

Vodacom Bulls 55 (31) - Tries: Arno Botha, Lionel Mapoe (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), Johan Grobbelaar, Marcell Coetzee, Zak Burger. Conversions: Chris Smith (5), Morne Steyn. Penalty Goal: Smith.

 

Dragons 20 (8) - Tries: Rio Dyer, Jared Rosser, Sam Davies. Conversion: Davies. Penalty Goal: Davies

 

Edinburgh take advantage of wet conditions to defeat Sharks in URC

 

The first half was a tight scramble as both teams tried to make their presence felt on attack, but the soaking conditions resulted in numerous unforced errors, which saw only one try being scored in the half by Kinghorn for a 7-0 lead.

 

The Cell C Sharks, who boasted 64% possession and 70% territory in the half, meanwhile, missed two penalty goals and were unable to capitalise on point-scoring chances close to the tryline, which left them scoreless in the half.

 

Edinburgh added two more second-half tries, by Emiliano Boffelli (fullback) and Kinghorn and limited the home side to one try by prop Thomas du Toit, which saw them clinch the valuable win.

 

The Durbanites had an early opportunity to open up the scoring with a penalty goal, but flyhalf Curwin Bosch’s attempt was unsuccessful. They were dealt a blow in the 12th minute as Marius Louw (centre) received a yellow card for tackling a player in the air and Edinburgh capitalised on this with Kinghorn crossing the tryline in the 20th minute after receiving the ball out wide and sniping inside a defender to dash through. The successful conversion by Boffelli saw them take a 7-0 lead at the break.

 

The visitors were reduced to 14 men on the stroke of halftime as Peirce Philips (lock) received a yellow card for foul play, but neither team was able to add to the score, leaving the visitors 7-0 ahead at halftime.

 

The Durbanites’ had an early opportunity to score in the second half, but they knocked on the ball on the fringe of the tryline, but they continued to show their fighting spirit which saw Thomas du Toit (prop) crash over the in the 50th minute after some committed play close to the tryline.

 

Boffelli added the Scottish side’s second try in the 55th minute as he held off a tackle by Bosch after a good break close to the tryline and he added the conversion to double their points tally to 14.

 

Kinghorn added his scored his second five-pointer in the 69th minute after some fine footwork, kicking a loose ball forward twice before diving on it, and this edged them into a handy 21-5 lead with minutes to play.

 

Scorers:

 

Cell C Sharks 5 (0) – Try: Thomas du Toit.

 

Edinburgh 21 (0) – Tries: Blair Kinghorn (2), Emiliano Boffelli. Conversions: Boffelli (3).