The Vodacom Bulls had to dig deep to beat a spirited Connacht side in Galway on Friday night, but they managed to hold on for a 28-27 victory despite being outscored by four tries to three.

On Saturday afternoon, the Lions made the most of their home ground advantage at Ellis Park to defeat the Scarlets by 29-18 in a match that came alive at the end, securing their first win of the new season in the process.

The Hollywoodbets Sharks could not follow in the footsteps of their Gauteng counterparts as they were made to pay for a slow start against Ulster, ultimately going down by 34-26 against the Irish side in Durban.

And on Saturday evening, the DHL Stormers were made to work hard for their fourth win on the bounce by Zebre Parma, but they eventually had too much power, beating their Italian hosts by 31-13.

The Capetonians, Munster and Ulster are still the only unbeaten sides left in the competition, with the Stormers in top spot on the log with 19 points, but with a better points’ difference.

The Bulls are in sixth on 14 points, the Lions are 11^th on six points, and the Sharks are 14^th on four points after four rounds.

Vodacom Bulls clinch dramatic win in Galway

The Vodacom Bulls secured a drama-filled 28-27 victory over Connacht in Galway on Friday night, relying on resilience and a slice of luck to escape with a critical Vodacom URC win.

The match was a thrilling affair, defined by some dramatic incidents, a stunning Connacht comeback, and decisive individual performances ultimately allowing the visitors from Pretoria, who led 12-7 at the break, to withstand a ferocious home challenge.

Connacht drew first blood after a missed lineout throw, with Josh Ioane exploiting a mismatch to score the opening try, which he also converted, but the Bulls’ backline soon showed potency on attack and, after exploiting open space on the left, Paul de Wet crossed for his first try of the evening, courtesy of smart interplay involving Springbok Willie le Roux and the impressive Sebastian de Klerk out wide. Flyhalf Keagan Johannes added the conversion.

A pivotal moment came in the 19^th minute, when Josh Murphy lashed out at Vodacom Bulls hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels, an action that resulted in a 20-minute red card for the Connacht flanker, tilting the balance of the match in the visitors’ favour. A minute later, Le Roux scored another great try up the left flank, which gave the visitors a five-point lead which they held on to until the break.

The second half began with Johannes extending the lead with a drop-goal but Caolin Blade scored the hosts’ second try to make it 15-14 for the Bulls.

That was followed by more impressive attacking play which ended in another try for the Bulls, who broke down the left-hand side again, allowing Le Roux to set De Wet up for his second try. Johannes converted and added a penalty goal to hand the visitors an 11-point buffer with 15 minutes to go.

But Connacht refused to surrender, and their comeback began after a turnover, where Sean Naughton chased a kick ahead to score in the corner. Johannes added another penalty goal, but the hosts kept the pressure until Irish winger Mack Hansen stretched out to score in the other corner, bringing the score to 28-27.

The final moments delivered more drama. Connacht replacement kicker Naughton missed the conversion that would have won the game but was awarded a second attempt due to an alleged early charge by the Bulls. Unfortunately for Naughton and to the sheer delight of the visitors, he missed the second kick as well, confirming the Vodacom Bulls’ one-point win.

Scorers:

Connacht 27 (7) – Tries: Josh Ioane, Caolin Blade, Sean Naughton, Mack Hanson. Conversions: Josh Ioane (2). Penalty goal: Naughton.

Vodacom Bulls 28 (12) – Tries: Paul de Wet (2), Willie le Roux. Conversions: Keagan Johannes (2). Penalty goals: Johannes (2). Drop goals: Johannes.

Lions bounce back for first win of the season

Morne Brandon’s second try late in the game not only sealed the Lions’ first win of the new Vodacom URC season, but also secured them a bonus point as they beat a plucky Scarlets team by 29-18 at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.

The game really opened up in the last 20 minutes. Just before the hour mark, the hosts – whose defence and set piece play were very good – had turned their 5-3 half-time advantage into an 11-6 lead.

However, four tries – including a brace by Brandon – a yellow card, a penalty try to the Welsh visitors and a late penalty goal to the Lions, ensured the spectators stayed on the edge of their seats.

Springbok fullback Quan Horn scored the only try of the opening half as the kickers traded penalty goals until Franco Marais went over late in the third quarter. A few minutes later, the Lions lost Darrien Landsberg to the sin bin, with the referee awarding a penalty try to the Scarlets, making it 16-13 with 10 minutes to go.

Brandon hit back almost immediately and added his second four minutes later to give the hosts some breathing space on the score board and although Joe Roberts pulled one back for the Welsh side, to make it 26-18, a last-gasp penalty goal by Gianni Lombard gave the home fans what they were looking for all season – a Lions win.

Scorers:

Lions 29 (5) – Tries: Quan Horn, Franco Marais, Morne Brandon (2). Penalty goals: Chris Smith, Gianni Lombard (2).

Scarlets 18 (3) – Tries: Joe Roberts, Penalty try. Penalty goals: Sam Costelow (2).

Ulster too good for disjointed Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban

A strong start by Ulster was ultimately enough as they shocked a Springbok-laden Hollywoodbets Sharks by 34-26 in an entertaining Vodacom URC clash in wet and windy conditions in Durban on Saturday afternoon.

The Irish visitors made the most of a disjointed start by the Durbanites and led by 17-0 after 20 minutes. A Siya Kolisi maul try gave the hosts some respite, but at the break, Ulster led by 20-5, leaving the Hollywoodbets Sharks with a second-half mountain to climb.

With their scrum setting the tone, the hosts gave it a proper shot and actually had more possession and territorial advantage, while Ulster also conceded 10 more penalties, but unnecessary mistakes, a 70% tackle success rate and yellow cards to Vincent Koch and Makazole Mapimpi – which was upgraded to red – ended up costly.

Mapimpi scored the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ second try in the 49^th minute, from a massive scrum and a great wide pass by Grant Williams, making it 20-12, but then disaster hit as Koch and the Bok speedster were sent to the bin for illegal tackles, with Ulster’s Tom Stewart scoring a long-range try from a turnover deep in their own half.

Tom O’Toole saw yellow for the visitors before the KwaZulu-Natalians were awarded a 63^rd minute scrum penalty try, but that was erased three minutes later when Callum Reid crossed for Ulster’s bonus-point try.

Andre Esterhuizen gave Sharks fans some hope when he crashed over in the 71^st minute, but it wasn’t enough and Ulster managed to hang on for a famous victory.

Scorers:

Hollywoodbets Sharks 26 (5) – Tries: Siya Kolisi, Makazole Mapimpi, Andre Esterhuizen, Penalty try. Conversions: Siya Masuku, Jordan Hendrikse.

Ulster 34 (20) – Tries: Mike Lowry, Werner Kok, Tom Stewart, Callum Reid. Conversions: Nathan Doak (4). Penalty goals: Doak (2).

DHL Stormers make it four from four in Parma

The DHL Stormers maintained their perfect start to the Vodacom URC season when they secured a bonus-point 31-13 victory over Zebre Parma in Italy on Saturday night.

The convincing away win was built on forward dominance and the influential play of Springbok flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and another strong performance by of Man of the Match, Springbok No 8 Evan Roos.

The strength of the Stormers pack quickly led to an effective driving maul that sent flanker Paul de Villiers over for the opening try early on, but despite their dominance at the scrum, the Cape side were stung by an intercept try when a loose pass from Warrick Gelant was snatched by Zebre wing Mirko Belloni. Giacomo De Rea added the conversion, briefly giving the hosts a 7-5 lead.

Zebre’s defence held firm, but the Feinberg-Mngomezulu soon broke the deadlock, gathering the ball from a high kick before going over between the uprights for the DHL Stormers’ second try, reclaiming the lead at 12-7 by halftime.

The Capetonians ramped up the pressure in the second half and following an attack near the Zebre line, Feinberg-Mngomezulu went over from close range for his second try of the night. He then displayed his trademark playmaking abilities by delivering a pinpoint long pass to Gelant, who scored the bonus-point try and extended their lead to 24-7.

Despite losing replacement prop Matteo Nocero to a yellow card, Zebre refused to give up and the hosts added six points through two successful penalty goals from De Rea.

However, the final say belonged to DHL Stormers captain Ruhan Nel, who intercepted the ball in the final move of the game to score their fifth try, converted by Feinberg-Mngomezulu, making the end score 31-13. The win kept the Capetonians at the top of the log, setting them up with a lot of confidence for their last tour game against Benetton.

Scorers:

DHL Stormers 31 (24) – Tries: Paul de Villiers, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Warrick Gelant, Ruhan Nel. Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3).

Zebre Parma 13 (7) – Try: Mirko Belloni. Conversion: Giacomo De Rea. Penalty goals: De Rea (2).