Bulls and Sharks shine in Vodacom URC derbies

The Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks showed true grit in a thrilling round of Vodacom United Rugby Championship derbies on Saturday to walk away with crucial victories against the Lions and DHL Stormers, which not only proved that they could be finding their form at the right time, but it also gave them a handy nudge on the standings.

The Bulls delivered a dominant display of rugby against the Lions in the eagerly anticipated Jukskei Derby in Johannesburg, scoring an impressive eight tries to two by the hosts for a rewarding 52-17 bonus-point victory.

The Sharks broke away on the scoreboard in the second half against the Stormers to register a bonus-point 36-24 victory, which marked their second win in a row against the Capetonians.

These results caused a shake-up on the standings, with the Stormers (36 points) dropping from second place to third on the table, while the Bulls (25 points) moved up to seventh place and the Sharks (24 points) to ninth, while the Lions (24 points) sank to 10th place.

The win for the Sharks also saw them take the No 1 position in the race for the South African Shield, with two derby matches remaining for the four local sides.

With the Six Nations playing out over the next few weeks, the teams will have a well-deserved break until Saturday, 21 February, when the Lions and Sharks are in action in a rescheduled round eight clash, while all four sides will feature in another exciting derby round a week later.

The Bulls outplayed their neighbours, the Lions, in style at Ellis Park on Saturday, delivering a fine performance to outscore the hosts eight tries to two for a comprehensive URC victory, with their bonus point bagged in the first half.

The victory not only made up for their defeat against the Johannesburgers in Pretoria earlier in the competition, it also gave them a handy boost on the standings with eight pool matches left to play.

Johan Ackermann’s charges balanced their attack, dominating possession and most facets of play, while they climbed into the early rucks with pick-and-go rugby, forcing the Lions to defend most of the time.

This paid off as the Bulls scored four first-half tries, by Harold Vorster, Johann Grobbelaar, Handre Pollard and Kurt-Lee Arendse and they added another four in the second stanza, which saw Vorster earn his brace, while Embrose Papier, Mpilo Gumede and Keagan Johannes add their names to the scoresheet.

The men in blue backed this up with a solid defensive effort to limit the home side to only a penalty for their efforts in the first half after Arendse received a yellow card. The Lions never gave up though, with tries early in the second half by Morne van den Berg and on the stroke of full-time by Bronson Mills.

While the Bulls will draw encouragement from this performance as they attempt to secure a quarter-final spot in the competition and possibly in the Investec Champions Cup in the coming months, the Lions will be desperate to turn things around after back-to-back draws before this defeat to try to force their way back into the top eight for a play-off spot in May.

Score

Lions 17 (3) – Tries: Morne van den Berg, Bronson Mills. Conversions: Chris Smith (2). Penalty: Smith.

Vodacom Bulls 52 (26) – Tries: Harold Vorster (2), Johann Grobbelaar, Handre Pollard, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Embrose Papier, Celimpilo Gumede, Keagan Johannes. Conversions: Pollard (5), Johannes.

The Sharks showed their bite in a competitive match against the Stormers at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban on Saturday, overturning a 17-14 half-time deficit into a rewarding victory, which marked their second win in a row in the competition against the Capetonians.

The clash was always going to be a blockbuster after the KwaZulu-Natalians surprised the Cape side on their home patch last week, and the Stormers ensured that they broke out of the blocks quickly with a try by Cobus Reinach in the opening seconds.

A yellow card to Paul de Villiers allowed the Sharks to hit back with a try by Grant Williams to take a two-point lead but Sacha Feinberg-Mgomezulu slotted two penalties within four minutes to reclaim the lead for the visitors. This, however, was short-lived as Ethan Hooker broke through for the hosts’ second try early in the second quarter to edge ahead once again.

With the Sharks’ defence proving hard to breach as they dominated territory and possession, Feinberg-Mngomezulu added two more penalties before the break, which handed the Stormers a three-point lead going into half-time.

The visitors built on this momentum early in the second half with their second try – by De Villiers – to stretch their lead to 24-14 but this proved to be their last points of the match as the Sharks took control of the game and capitalised on their point-scoring chances.

Such was the quality of their attack, Andre Esterhuizen touched down before two more tries by Jaco Williams – one of which was when the Capetonians had lost Ruben van Heerden to the sin bin – while Jordan Hendrikse added a vital penalty in between to give them a buffer on the scoreboard, which was enough to see the Durbanites secure the rewarding victory and send the Stormers back to Cape Town empty-handed.

Score

Hollywoodbets Sharks 36 (14) - Tries: Grant Williams, Ethan Hooker, Andre Esterhuizen, Jaco Williams (2). Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (4). Penalty: Hendrikse.

DHL Stormers 24 (17) - Tries: Cobus Reinach, Paul de Villiers. Conversion: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Penalties: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (4).