It was a weekend of mixed emotions for South Africa’s four franchises in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, with the Vodacom Bulls and Emirates Lions providing rays of light in their opening tour games, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks and DHL Stormers fell short in their final games on the road.

The Vodacom Bulls had to overcome a nightmare second half, in which they finished the match with 12 players, to defeat the Ospreys 29-19 in Wales on Saturday, while the Emirates Lions snatched a morale boosting 23-19 victory against the Dragons in Newport on Sunday.

It was, however, a round of bitter disappointment for the Hollywoodbets Sharks who went down 38-10 against Benetton in Italy, and the DHL Stormers who suffered a 38-7 defeat against Edinburgh in Scotland in their final tour matches.

These results saw the unbeaten Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls (both on 14 log points) finish the fourth round in third and fourth place on the table respectively, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks (six pts) and DHL Stormers (five pts) are currently languishing in 14^th and 16^th place respectively.

Irish giants Leinster – the only other unbeaten team in the league leading the standings on 20 points – beat arch-rivals Munster by 26-12 in front of a crowd of 80,468 at Croke Park in Dublin – the biggest ever in league history.

Glasgow Warriors, the defending champions who beat Zebre by 33-3 on Friday night, are second on 16 points from their four games, one more than the two Gauteng-based teams.

Benetton dashes Hollywoodbets Sharks’ hopes of a strong tour finish

Benetton delivered a strong performance spurred on by hard running and good finishing to outplay the Hollywoodbets Sharks 38-10 at Stadio Monigo in Treviso on Saturday after building up an encouraging 24-3 halftime lead in their Vodacom URC clash.

The hosts outscored the KwaZulu-Natalians by five tries to one – the single one by the visitors being in the dying stages while the Italians were reduced to 14 men due to a yellow card – as they took advantage of the unorganised Hollywoodbets Sharks defence at vital times.

That said, the Durbanites will rue several missed opportunities after creating numerous try-scoring chances on attack throughout the game, which they were unable to capitalise on.

Benetton opened the scoring early on with a penalty goal and then proceeded to add three tries within 14 minutes, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks had only a penalty goal to show for their efforts in the half, leaving them trailing by 24-3.

The visitors showed their fighting spirit in the second half and did well to make their way within striking range of the tryline a few times in the third quarter, but their hopes of a dramatic fightback were dashed as Rhyno Smith scored his brace in the 68^th minute, which the team followed up by another try with five minutes to play.

Unfortunately for the hosts, they received a yellow card two minutes from the final hooter and the Durbanites took full advantage of this with Springbok prop Ntuthuko Mchunu darting over the chalk, and the successful conversion pushed their score into double figures, going down 38-10.

This left them with only one win out of three on tour, although there was a ray of light in that they secured six log points abroad.

Scorers:

Benetton 38 (24) – Tries: Paolo Odogwu, Rhyno Smith (2), Ignacio Mendy, Leonardo Marin. Conversions: Jacob Umaga (5). Penalty goal: Umaga.

Hollywoodbets Sharks 10 (3) – Try: Ntuthuko Mchunu. Conversion: Lionel Cronje. Penalty goal: Siya Masuku.

Missed opportunities and second half flash by Edinburgh costly for DHL Stormers

A string of missed opportunities close to Edinburgh’s tryline, particularly in the second quarter, came at a heavy price for the DHL Stormers in their final Vodacom URC tour match at the Hive Stadium on Saturday, while the hosts hit back with a flourish late in the second half to secure a rewarding 38-7 victory and their first win this season.

The Scots showed their intent from the outset and attacked and will, testing the Capetonians’ defence, and this paid off with two tries within three minutes in the 18^th and 21^st minutes respectively for a 14-0 lead.

But the tables turned in the second quarter as the DHL Stormers camped on their tryline and had one strike after the other at the line, which they failed to convert due to mistakes at crucial times or wrong decision-making.

However, their efforts finally paid off in the 31^st minute as Ruhan Nel navigated his way over the chalk and the conversion by Springbok Damian Willemse, saw them trail 14-7, which the teams held onto going into the break.

The visitors from Cape Town threatened to score again early in the second half, but the try was denied, while the hosts had the main say for the rest of the match as they scored three tries within 21 minutes at the end of the half – one in the corner after beating two defenders and two from solid forward play to add to a penalty goal, which sealed the comprehensive and morale-boosting victory.

Scorers:

Edinburgh 38 (14) – Tries: Patrick Harrison, Ben Muncaster (2), Darcy Graham, Grant Gilchrist. Conversions: Ross Thompson (5). Penalty goal: Thompson.

DHL Stormers 7 (7) – Try: Ruhan Nel. Conversion: Damian Willemse.

Vodacom Bulls make brave tour statement to shut out Ospreys

The Vodacom Bulls overcame a challenging second half in which they received a red card and two yellow cards to make a strong statement in their opening Vodacom URC tour match against Ospreys in Swansea thanks to a dominant first-half display for relieving 29-19 victory.

The Pretoria outfit scored four tries in the first 22 minutes – with Springbok speedster Kurt-Lee Arendse touching down twice – while they limited the hosts to only one five-pointer in the first stanza to take a commanding 26-5 halftime lead.

Had it not been for another two missed opportunities – on either side of the halftime break – they would have held an even bigger lead before the game was turned on its head for the visitors after David Kriel received a red card for a dangerous tackle and Elrigh Louw a yellow card for a deliberate knock-down within two minutes, which saw them being reduced to 13 men with 29 minutes left on the clock.

Despite this, they defended with tenacity to shut out Ospreys, who were desperate to take advantage of the numerical advantage on attack. The Welsh outfit’s efforts finally paid off in in the 54^th minute as they added their second try before the Vodacom Bulls were dealt another blow with replacement prop Alulutho Tshakweni receiving a yellow card in the 71^st minute for a high tackle, which again saw them go down to 13 men.

Vodacom Bulls flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain extended their lead to 29-12 with four minutes to play compliments of a penalty goal, but confusion erupted soon after as the final moments of the game were played with uncontested scrums after Gerhard Steenekamp was substituted while Tshakweni was serving his time in the sin bin, meaning the Bok prop could not return to the field, and they were forced to end the match with 12 men on the park.

Ospreys, however, fought until the end, adding their third try on the stroke of full-time, but by then the Vodacom Bulls had the win firmly in the bag, which allowed them to maintain their unbeaten run in the competition this season.

Scorers:

Ospreys 19 (5) – Tries: Dewi Lake, Ryan Conbeer, Morgan Morris. Conversions: Jack Walsh (2).

Vodacom Bulls 29 (26) - Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), Elrigh Louw, Embrose Papier. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3). Penalty goal: Chamberlain.

Emirates Lions hold on in gripping encounter against Dragons

The Emirates Lions held on for dear life in a gripping Vodacom URC encounter against the Dragons at Rodney Parade in Newport on Sunday afternoon to start their overseas tour with a hard-fought 23-19 victory, which allowed them to extend their unbeaten run to three games in the competition.

The first half proved to be a real grind as both teams tried to run hard in an attempt to stamp their authority, and although the Dragons scored two tries to one by the visitors, two crucual penalty goals – one of which was on the stroke of halftime – nudged the Emirates Lions into a 13-12 lead at the break.

Making the lead even more significant for the Johannesburgers, they were reduced to 14 men close to midway through the half after an infringement at a breakdown, which placed their defence under immense pressure. In fact, one of the Dragons tries were scored immediately after the card.

The second half started with a bang with the Dragons adding their third try from a rolling maul two minutes after play resumed, but this was cancelled out minutes later as the Emirates Lions’ Jarod Cairns broke through the defence to dart in for their second try, and the conversion nudged them into a 23-19 lead.

The last quarter was tense as both teams threw everything at one another to sneak in for a victory, but despite both teams getting a chance to attack, the score remained, which saw the Emirates Lions hold on for their third win in a row in the competition.

Scorers:

Dragons 19 (12) – Tries: Harrison Keddie, Taine Basham (2). Conversions: Lloyd Evans (2).

Emirates Lions 23 (13) – Tries: Quan Horn, Jarod Cairns. Conversions: Nico Steyn, Sanele Nohamba. Penalty goals: Steyn (2), Nohamba.