Dramatic Vodacom URC round sees three SA sides in top eight

It was a dramatic yet rewarding weekend for three of South Africa’s four Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams as the Vodacom Bulls, Hollywoodbets Sharks and DHL Stormers registered crucial victories to stay on course as the play-off stages reach boiling point.

However, there was bitter disappointment for the Emirates Lions who succumbed to their fifth defeat in a row, which dealt a massive blow to hopes of reaching the top eight.

Round 15 was filled with ups and downs as the Sharks scored a late try to edge out Edinburgh 18-17 in Scotland, while a penalty goal in the closing minutes saw the Bulls topple Munster 16-13 in Limerick as both teams in the top four won their games in the Northern Hemisphere.

At home in South Africa, an overturned try by Connacht at the death paved the way for the Stormers snatch a 34-29 victory in Cape Town but unfortunately the Lions were outplayed 42-31 by Benetton in Johannesburg.

These results saw the Bulls – who became the first SA team to beat Munster in Limerick as they completed the “Irish Slam” in the process – hold onto third place on the standings (54 points), the Sharks remain in fourth place (49 points) and the Stormers leap into eighth place (40 points), while the Lions finished the round in 14th position (31 points) with three rounds of pool matches remaining.

A last-gasp try by Springbok wing Makazole Mapimpi in the final run of play saw the Sharks return to winning ways and maintain their fourth-place standing in a tense URC encounter against Edinburgh at the Hive Stadium in Scotland on Friday.

It was a game of attrition as the KwaZulu-Natalians fought their way back from 10-6 down at half-time to snatch the one-point victory on the stroke of full-time.

Jordan Hendrikse earned the visitors the first points of the match, compliments of a penalty in the third minute before missing another chance at the posts two minutes later.

However, Edinburgh, who dominated possession and territory throughout the match, struck back with the first try in the 11th minute after spreading the ball out wide, which saw them touch down in the corner. They doubled up on this with their second try in the 27th minute to take a 10-3 lead.

Hendrikse, however, reduced their deficit to only four points with his second penalty shortly before the break.

The Durbanites came out firing in the second stanza with Bok fullback Aphelele Fassi scoring their first five-pointer one minute after play resumed and the successful conversion nudged them 13-10 ahead.

They were dealt a huge blow soon after as experienced Springboks Lukhanyo Am and Eben Etzebeth received yellow cards within a minute of one another, reducing them to 13 men but there was some respite as Edinburgh also received a yellow card, which saw the teams playing with 14 men to 13.

The Scots snatched back a 17-13 lead with their third try in the 47th minute thanks to strong forward play and unfortunately for the Sharks, Hendrikse pushed two further penalty attempts wide, which placed immense pressure on them as the game closed out.

The South Africans, however, showed their fighting spirit and finally broke through for the winning try after the regular 80 minutes of play as Am broke through the defence and popped the ball to Mapimpi, who crossed the whitewash and secured them the invaluable victory.

Edinburgh 17 (10) – Tries: James Lang, Jamie Ritchie, Ewan Ashman. Conversion: Ross Thompson.

Hollywoodbets Sharks 18 (6) – Tries: Aphelele Fassi, Makazole Mapimpi. Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse. Penalties: Hendrikse (2).

The Lions found themselves on the backfoot in the first half against Benetton at Emirates Airline Park, trailing 32-17 at half-time and despite their best efforts to claw their way back in the second half, they did not have the firepower to overtake the Italians on the scoreboard and went down in a high-scoring URC match.

Although the Johannesburgers managed to salvage a bonus point for four tries, the result dealt a heavy blow to their quarter-final aspirations, as even bonus-point victories in all three remaining pool matches will in all likelihood, still leave them short of finishing in the top eight.

Unfortunately for the hosts, their handling options were too often uncertain, their defence, despite good commitment, often came up short, and they made too many handling errors and conceded penalties at crucial times.

The Gautengers bagged the first points of the match compliments of a penalty by Kade Wolhuter but Benetton blew them away with some enterprising play and did well to capitalise on their point-scoring chances, which earned them three tries in the opening 22 minutes and another in the 38th minute to seal their bonus point. In addition to this, they also added two penalties.

The Lions, in turn, crossed the chalk only twice in the opening stanza, with Bok loose forward Ruan Venter diving over from a maul and Marius Louw adding their second on the stroke of half-time.

Despite a much improved second half in which they outscored the Italians two tries to one by Springbok speedster Edwill van der Merwe and former Blitzbok JC Pretorius respectively, their continued poor handling and playing options cost them dearly, which left them unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage after Benetton were shown three yellow cards in the half.

This forced them to settle for the disappointing defeat.

Emirates Lions 31 (17) – Tries: Ruan Venter, Marius Louw, Edwill van der Merwe, JC Pretorius. Conversions: Kade Wolhuter (4). Penalty: Wolhuter.

Benetton: 42 (32) – Tries: Jacob Umaga, Ignacio Mendy (2), Leonardo Marin, Federico Ruzza. Conversions: Umaga (4). Penalties: Umaga (3).

The Stormers were left off the hook in a dramatic finish against Connacht on Saturday after the Irish scored on the stroke of full-time only for the try to be denied due to obstruction, which saw the Capetonians secure a vital bonus-point URC victory in Cape Town.

Springbok utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu ran the show with class, scoring a hat-trick and delivering a Man of the Match performance, which paved the way for the hosts to score five tries but they will be disappointed with their defence after leaking the same number of tries in what turned out to be a ding-dong battle.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu slipped through for the first of his three tries as early as the second minute, with the player keeping his team on attack with judicious kicking behind the visiting defenders and a few sharp breaks.

His try was cancelled out by Connacht five minutes later and this trend continued as Bok No 8 Evan Roos scored only for the Irish to level the scores with their second try in the 16th minute.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu hit back with two tries in six minutes to wrap up his hat-trick but Connacht responded with two of their own before the break, with an extra conversion handing the hosts a 26-24 half-time lead.

The Stormers added their fifth try by Suleiman Hartzenberg seven minutes into second half and after both teams received yellow cards, Connacht scored their fifth try in the 65th minute to reduce their deficit back to two points.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu then slotted a vital penalty to give them some breathing space on the scoreboard and then the drama unfolded with Connacht crossing the line to level the scores with a conversion to follow, only to be denied by an infringement in the lead-up to the try, which saw the hosts claim the victory and leap up the standings.

DHL Stormers 34 (26) – Tries: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3), Evan Roos, Suleiman Hartzenberg. Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3). Penalty: Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Connacht 29 (24) – Tries: Shane Jennings (2), Conor Oliver, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Josh Murphy. Conversions: Jack Carty (2).

A late penalty by Bulls replacement flyhalf Keagan Johannes, with eight minutes left on the clock, saw the men in blue seal a gripping URC victory against Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick on Saturday to hold onto their third-place standings.

As expected, the match proved to be a battle of epic proportions with both sides entering the break tied at 10 points apiece before going into the final 10 minutes of the match level at 13-13.

Johannes’ penalty in the 72nd minute, however, was enough to see the Bulls claim the victory as neither team were able to add to their score in a fast and furious closing stretch.

Munster opened the scoring with a penalty in the eighth minute, but this was cancelled out by a fantastic try from a pick-and-go by Springbok loose forward Marcell Coetzee, which saw the Bulls take an early 7-3 lead.

This fuelled the South Africans’ determination to keep fighting, and despite their best efforts, they were shut out by the tenacious Munster defence. This did not stop Johan Goosen from slotting a penalty in the 22nd minute to stretch their lead to 10-3.

Both teams battled to capitalise on golden opportunities to score in the minutes that followed but Munster finally broke through the defensive wall with four minutes left in the half as former Sharks speedster Thaakir Abrahams received the ball out wide and darted to the tryline to level the scores at 10-10 going into the sheds.

The Bulls lost Embrose Papier to a yellow card in the opening exchanges of the second half and both teams kicked penalties soon after to level the scores at 13-13 in the 50th minute.

The Bulls again missed out on a possible chance to score a try in the 53rd minute and despite an intense battle unfolding late in the match, in which the teams were forced to contend with uncontested scrums, Johannes missed a vital shot at goal before slotting the next one in the 72nd minute, which was enough to steer them to their 11th win in 15 URC pool matches.

Munster 13 (10) – Try: Thaakir Abrahams. Conversion: Jack Crowley. Penalties: Crowley (2).

Vodacom Bulls 16 (10) – Try: Marcell Coetzee. Conversion: Johan Goosen. Penalties: Goosen (2), Keagan Johannes.