The Vodacom Bulls maintained their two-point advantage over the DHL Stormers – as both recorded bonus point victories over the Queensland Reds (43-22) and NSW Waratahs (32-18) respectively – while the Toyota Cheetahs showed enormous character to finish their tour on a high in Perth with a win over the Western Force (24-15).
In the South African derby at Emirates Airlines Park, the Emirates Lions underlined the seriousness of their challenge for the Conference title with two-point victory (23-21) over a significantly improved Cell C Sharks who missed a long-range last-kick penalty that would have snatched the victory.
The upshot of the weekend was that the top four SA teams are separated by just four points on the log – in contrast to their fellow conferences where the Hurricanes top the standings as New Zealand’s top four are spread by 11 points while in an even more clear-cut Australian race sees the ACT Brumbies head a log in which 17 points cover the top four Australian contenders.
In the South African derby at Emirates Airlines Park, the Emirates Lions underlined the seriousness of their challenge for the Conference title with two-point victory (23-21) over a significantly improved Cell C Sharks who missed a long-range last-kick penalty that would have snatched the victory.
The upshot of the weekend was that the top four SA teams are separated by just four points on the log – in contrast to their fellow conferences where the Hurricanes top the standings as New Zealand’s top four are spread by 11 points while in an even more clear-cut Australian race sees the ACT Brumbies head a log in which 17 points cover the top four Australian contenders.
Three of SA’s winners had to overcome half-time deficits to record victories with the most notable being those of the DHL Stormers and Toyota Cheetahs who achieved it on Australian soil.
However, the margins were small – both trailed by two points – while the Emirates Lions turned round three points adrift of the Cell C Sharks as all three teams showed fitness and character to ‘win’ the second half.
In the other match the Vodacom Bulls’ recent home success over the Queensland Reds continued as they stomped to a six-try victory with Francois Hougaard scoring two tries from the wing to take his tally to four for the season and join Marcell Coetzee as the leading South African try scorers.
However, the margins were small – both trailed by two points – while the Emirates Lions turned round three points adrift of the Cell C Sharks as all three teams showed fitness and character to ‘win’ the second half.
In the other match the Vodacom Bulls’ recent home success over the Queensland Reds continued as they stomped to a six-try victory with Francois Hougaard scoring two tries from the wing to take his tally to four for the season and join Marcell Coetzee as the leading South African try scorers.
By: Farai Diza
RSS Feed