However, the Toyota Cheetahs and Cell C Sharks both lost at home as the teams from Pretoria and Cape Town opened up a bit of a gap in the local conference and the Vodacom Bulls moved up to second on the overall log.
The DHL Stormers were made to work hard for a scrappy win in Perth on Saturday afternoon as they defeated the struggling Force by 13-6, the only five-pointer of the encounter a penalty try to the visitors after yet another superb scrum. The win concluded their best Australasian tour in three years.
The Toyota Cheetahs unfortunately could not build on their good win in Perth last weekend when they were beaten by 18-17 by the Reds in Bloemfontein.
Down Under, the defending champions, the Waratahs, and the Chiefs recorded impressive victories in Wellington and Christchurch respectively.