Bulls and Sharks progress after dramatic Vodacom URC quarter-finals

The Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks kept the South African flag flying in a drama-filled knock-out round of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, with both teams winning their quarter-finals, which will see them face off against one another in an all-South African semi-final in Pretoria on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the DHL Stormers, they let themselves down against the defending champions, Glasgow Warriors, in Scotland on Friday night as they went down 36-18, which crushed their semi-final hopes.

The Bulls, however, delivered under pressure in a competitive encounter against Edinburgh in Pretoria on Saturday to register a 42-33 victory.

There was drama in Durban though, where the Sharks and Munster drew 24-24 after 80 minutes, which forced the match into extra-time and then a penalty shoot-out, which the hosts won 6-4, to advance to their first ever Vodacom URC semi-final.

Log-leaders Leinster will face the Glasgow Warriors in the first semi-final, at 3.45pm (SA time) at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin next Saturday after they defeated the Scarlets 33-21 in the other quarter-final.

The Bulls and Sharks will clash from 6.15pm at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria for a place in the Grand Final.

The Warriors are on course to defend their URC title with a comprehensive quarter-final victory over the Stormers at the Scotstoun Stadium on Friday night, capitalising on most of their point-scoring chances against an error-riddled Cape outfit to outscore them five tries to two for a rewarding victory.

The Stormers failed in two of the most important facets of the game on the night – handling and defence. While they narrowly enjoyed more possession and stood their ground in the scrums, their handling let them down badly as they threw out injudicious passes on several occasions and squandered a load of promising opportunities close to the tryline.

Their defence was equally disappointing as they missed more than 20% of their tackles, which cost them dearly.

The Stormers started the game on an encouraging note as they attacked with intent from the outset but their disappointing finishing combined with a yellow card to Seabelo Senatla in the ninth minute and the loss of their captain Salmaan Moerat early on due to concussion, put them on the back foot.

After missing out on two try-scoring chances, Springbok back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked a penalty to hand the Stormers a 3-0 lead but Senatla’s 10 minutes in the sin-bin shortly after paved the way for Glasgow to score two tries within five minutes for a handy 14-3 lead.

Senatla redeemed himself with their first try of the match in the 25th minute but the Scots scored their third try soon after from a maul, to take a 19-13 lead, which they managed to hold onto going into the sheds as the Stormers continued to bungle their chances.

Senatla struck again two minutes into the second half to earn his brace and reduce their deficit to one point but with the visitors’ error rate and defensive mishaps continuing, this proved to be their last points of the match.

Glasgow, in turn, continued to make their presence felt on attack and added two more tries within six minutes to stretch their lead to 36-18, and while the Capetonians never gave up trying, their efforts were too far off the mark to sway their fortunes in the match, which resulted in their campaign coming to a frustrating end.

Score

Glasgow Warriors 36 (19) – Tries: Rory Darge, Kyle Rowe (2), Henco Venter, Horn. Conversions: George Horn (4). Penalty: Horn.

DHL Stormers 18 (13) – Tries: Seabelo Senatla (2). Conversion: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Penalties: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2).

The Bulls survived a nervy first half against Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld before finding their rhythm in the second stanza to overturn a 21-18 half-time deficit into victory in a thriller of a URC match in which 11 tries were scored, to earn them a second home semi-final in a row.

Edinburgh were up for the challenge and it showed in the way they attacked and made strong line breaks, which saw them apply immense pressure on the hosts, especially in the first half.

The match started on the wrong foot for the Bulls as Sebastian de Klerk was shown a yellow card in the third minute and Edinburgh pounced on this with two tries to only a penalty by the home side for a 14-3 lead by the 14th minute.

Springbok No 8 Cameron Hanekom scored the Bulls’ first try in the 18th minute, only for this to be cancelled out by Edinburgh’s third five-pointer in the 28th minute.

The men from Pretoria fought back with tries by David Kriel and Harold Vorster before the break to reduce their deficit to only three points and they built on this with Canan Moodie, Keagan Johannes and Ruan Nortje crossing the chalk in the opening 11 minutes of the second half to turn the 21-18 deficit at the break into an encouraging 39-21 lead.

A yellow card to JF van Heerden in the 57th minute allowed Edinburgh to force their way back with a try but they lost Ross Thompson to a yellow card soon after, which saw Johannes take the three points to go 42-28 up on the scoreboard.

But the visitors didn’t give up and struck again in the 63rd minute to trail by nine points. Neither team were able to add to their scores after this, which saw the Bulls advance to the top four. They will have the luxury of home ground advantage after finishing the pool stages of the competition in second place on the standings.

The men from Pretoria will have to be cognisant of the fact that sloppy play at times and too many mistakes placed them under immense pressure – something they need to rectify to keep their hopes alive of winning the title.

Score

Vodacom Bulls 42 (18) – Tries: Cameron Hanekom, David Kriel, Harold Vorster, Canan Moodie, Keagan Johannes, Ruan Nortje. Conversions: Johannes (3). Penalties: Johannes (2).

Edinburgh 33 (21) – Tries: Harry Paterson, Ross Thompson (2), Ewan Ashman, Wes Goosen. Conversions: Thompson (4).

Bradley Davids and Springbok brothers Jaden and Jordan Hendrikse proved to be the heroes for the Sharks in one of the most intense URC games in the competition’s history as they succeeded with all six goal-kicks in a penalty shoot-out to four by Munster after 100 minutes of play to earn the KwaZulu-Natalians their first semi-final berth ever in the competition.

For the Sharks and South Africa’s die-hard rugby supporters, it was undoubtedly one of the most frustrating matches to watch, as the Durbanites squandered one chance after the other to score tries, which would have easily sealed them a victory in regular time. But it was not to be, as the teams were level on 24 points apiece and three tries each at the end of the 80 minutes, which forced the match into extra-time.

Despite doing most of the attacking, the Sharks’ poor finishing continued to haunt them, which left the scores level once again after the extra 20 minutes of play, forcing the game into a penalty shoot-out.

One missed attempt by the visitors left it up to the 21-year-old Davids to convert the final kick to win and he showed nerves of steel to see the Sharks through to top four.

Munster scored the only try in the first half, despite the KwaZulu-Natalians creating at least three realistic chances to score with their enterprising attack and consistent pressure on the Irish team’s defence, leaving the home side trailing 7-0 at the break.

The Sharks scored first in the second half compliments of Player of the Match Ethan Hooker but their errors on attack and lapses in defence allowed Munster back in with two tries in six minutes, which nudged the visitors 21-10 up.

The Durbanites showed their fighting spirit with Springbok fullback Aphelele Fassi and Fez Mbatha scoring twice within six minutes to add to an earlier penalty by Jaden Hendrikse, which pushed them into a 24-21 lead with minutes left on the clock.

A smart choice by Munster’s Conor Murray to take a penalty kick in the 76th minute, which he converted, saw the teams level on 24 all as the 80-minute whistle sounded, and then heavy drama unfolded as the match went into extra time and then eventually came down to a penalty shoot-out.

Score

Hollywoodbets Sharks 24 (0) – Tries: Ethan Hooker, Aphelele Fassi, Fez Mbatha. Conversions: Jaden Hendrikse (3). Penalty: Hendrikse.

Munster 24 (7) – Tries: Calvin Nash, Joshua Wycherley, Diarmuid Cilgallea. Conversions: Jack Crowley (3). Penalty: Conor Murray.