DHL Stormers shine in gloomy Vodacom URC round for SA sides

The DHL Stormers provided the only ray of light on a gloomy weekend for three of the four South African sides in a challenging third round abroad in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

The Capetonians outplayed the Scarlets 34-0 for a valuable bonus-point win in Llanelli in the only match on Friday, but it was a disappointing day of action on Saturday as the Lions went down 41-15 against Benetton in Treviso, the Hollywoodbets Sharks suffered a heavy 31-5 defeat against Leinster in Dublin and the Vodacom Bulls were downed 28-7 by Ulster in Belfast.

These results saw the unbeaten Stormers claim the top spot on the standings tied on 14 points with the only other unbeaten team in the competition, Munster, while the Bulls’ defeat saw them drop five spots on the table down to sixth place with 10 points.

The Sharks and Lions, who have yet to win a match this season, find themselves on the lower end of the table in 13th and 15th place respectively with two and one point.

However, the KwaZulu-Natalians and the men from Johannesburg will look to turn things around this week when they return to South Africa, whereas their counterparts, the DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls, will remain abroad, where they face Zebre Parma and Connacht respectively next weekend.

It was another rewarding outing for the Stormers on Friday night as they cruised to a comprehensive bonus-point win against the Scarlets in Llanelli in their first tour match, where they outscored the hosts five tries to zero.

The Cape outfit – bolstered by the return of Springboks Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Damian Willemse, who both found themselves on the scoresheet at the end of the match – delivered a solid performance on attack and outstanding defensive effort to keep the hosts scoreless, despite receiving two yellow cards, which were matched by the hosts.

The visitors got the scoreboard ticking in the 11th minute, compliments of a try by Evan Roos, which Feinberg-Mgomezulu converted, before adding his first penalty in three attempts five minutes later for a 10-0 lead.

They were dealt a blow soon after as Ben-Jason Dixon received a yellow card but the Scarlets followed the same fate shortly before half-time as their discipline let them down badly and this paved the way for Paul de Villiers to score their second try on the stroke of half-time for an encouraging 17-0 lead.

The Stormers continued to make their presence felt on attack and defence in the second half, despite Feinberg-Mngomezulu being sent to the sin bin in the 52nd minute and their efforts paid off, with Ruben van Heerden, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Imad Khan adding further tries to finish the match with a flourish.

The Lions were outplayed by a polished Benneton side in Treviso on Saturday, with Louis Lynagh scoring a memorable four tries in the match, which paved the way for a comfortable victory. The defeat was the Lions’ third in a row in the URC this season, while it marked Benetton’s second win.

Most of the damage to the Lions’ chances were done in the first half, despite the visitors opening up the scoring with a penalty, as the Italians clicked early on and scored four first-half tries to only one, by Springbok prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye, to enter the break 24-10 up.

In stark contrast to the hosts, the Lions struggled to make a meaningful impact on the game on attack, while they missed several important tackles, which cost them dearly.

Their lapses on defence, for instance, allowed Lynagh to break the defensive line after a short pass and run 50 metres for his second try in the 30th minute.

They were, however, a shade better in the second half as they restricted Benetton to an early penalty, before both teams received two yellow cards in the final quarter.

This resulted in an entertaining end to the match for the fans, with Lynagh scoring his hat-trick in the 71st minute, before Conraad van Vuuren crossed for the Lions’ second try, with Lynagh closing off the match with his fourth try, which was converted by Rhyno Smith.

Leinster bounced back strongly from their struggles in the first two rounds of the URC in South Africa with an impressive display all around to outclass the Sharks in Dublin.

Such was the high quality of their attack, they crossed the tryline five times – three in the first half and twice in the second half – to earn a well-deserved bonus-point win, and they supported this with an impressive defensive display, which saw the KwaZulu-Natalians score only one try by Springbok wing Ethan Hooker from an intercept and stunning dash to the tryline.

The home side – buoyed by the return of five British & Irish Lions – showed their intent from the outset, and it was a matter of time before they scored their first try in the 11th minute, thanks to their non-stop mindset on attack, and by the 27th minute, they were already three tries up with a 21-0 lead.

Hooker’s try allowed the Sharks to enter the break with points on the board but despite hanging in and also threatening to score at times, Leinster’s strong defence, combined with errors at crucial times, saw the visitors having to settle for only one try for their efforts.

While this performance will be sure to give Leinster hope to kick on in their campaign, the Sharks will be desperate to turn things around back at home next weekend following a defeat against the Glasgow Warriors and a draw against the Dragons before this weekend’s bitterly disappointing result.

A 47th minute yellow card to Jeandre Rudolph in their first tour match against Ulster on Saturday came at a high price, with the Bulls conceding three tries in the process, which saw them go down by 21 points in what marked their first defeat of the season.

In glaring contrast to the dominant Bulls’ outfit that had scored 92 points in their first two matches to top the standings, they had a slow start to this weekend’s match as both teams tried hard to use their physicality to stamp their authority, which didn’t result in anything telling. Such was the nature of the game, the first points were scored in the 21st minute through an Ulster try.

The hosts received a yellow card a few minutes later, and Springbok prop Wilco Louw took full advantage to score a try, which his national teammate Handre Pollard converted to level the scores at 7-7.

The match, however, took a detrimental turn for the men from Pretoria seven minutes into the second half as Rudolph’s yellow card for slowing down the ball resulted in Ulster scoring an unanswered three tries in seven minutes, which made it impossible for the visitors to recover from and left them to settle for the 21-point defeat.

Scores

Scarlets 0

DHL Stormers 34 (17) – Tries: Evan Roos, Paul de Villiers, Ruben van Heerden, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Imad Khan. Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Damian Willemse. Penalty: Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Benneton 41 (24) – Tries: Rhyno Smith, Louis Lynagh (4), Simone Ferrari. Conversions: Jacob Umaga (3), Smith. Penalty: Umaga.

Lions 15 (10) - Tries: Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Conraad van Vuuren. Conversion: Chris Smith. Penalty: Smith.

Leinster 31 (21) – Tries: James Osbourne, Jimmy O’Brien, Josh van der Flier, Max Deegan, Gus McCarthy. Conversions: Harry Byrne (3).

Hollywoodbets Sharks 5 (5) – Try: Ethan Hooker.

Ulster 28 (7) – Tries: Stuart McClosky, Juarno Augustus, Rob Herring, Cormac Izuchukwu. Conversions: Nathan Doak (4).

Vodacom Bulls 7 (7) – Try: Wilco Louw. Conversion: Handre Pollard.