URC Recap | Full house for SA teams as seasons kicks off with a bang
by KickOff Rugby · KickOffThe four South African franchises got their United Rugby Championship campaigns off to a winning start, with the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers recording bonus-point wins, while the Lions edged the defending champions.
The teams may have been slightly rusty, as one would expect with first-round matches, but there was more than enough on show to give the four South African coaches reason for optimism.
Stormers start with a bang in Galway
Two late tries helped the Stormers start their United Rugby Championship campaign with a bonus-point victory when they beat Connacht 29-15 (half-time 10-12) in Galway on Friday night.
Tries by debutants Vernon Paulo and Ezekiel Ngobeni in the last five minutes sealed the deal as the Stormers – disrupted by the late withdrawals of loose forwards Evan Roos (hamstring) and Marcel Theunissen (calf) – finished strongly.
Jurie Matthee knocked over an early penalty goal to give the Capetonians the lead, and they followed up with a converted try by Warrick Gelant from a lovely grubber by André Warner to go into double figures.
The Irish side responded with two tries just before the break to take a 12-10 lead into half-time, and they stretched that to 15-10 through a penalty goal in the 52nd minute.
A yellow card to the hosts' Paul Boyle, coupled with a number of forward replacements, gave the Stormers momentum, and Sazi Sandi's converted try gave the visitors the lead with just over 20 minutes to go, before Paulo and Ngobeni's tries put the result beyond all doubt.
Scorers:
Connacht 15 (12) – Tries: Mack Hansen, Josh Ioane. Conversion: Sam Gilbert. Penalty goal: Gilbert.
Stormers 29 (10) – Tries: Warrick Gelant, Sazi Sandi, Vernon Paulo, Ezekiel Ngobeni. Conversions: Jurie Matthee (2), Yaqeen Ahmed. Penalty goal: Matthee.
Lions leave it late against Leinster
A late try by Kelly Mpeku, converted by Chris Smith, ensured that the Lions started the season with a 27-26 victory (half-time 17-19) over the defending champions, Leinster, in an exciting match in Johannesburg.
The hosts took a 7-5 lead after the opening 10 minutes, with Fintan Gunne scoring the first of a hat-trick of tries and Erich Cronjé the first of his brace, to get the scoreboard going.
Smith added a penalty goal before Gunne and Cronjé scored in the 14th and 24th minutes to make it 17-12 to the Lions, but the Leinster scrumhalf's third try, in the 39th minute, gave the visitors a two-point lead at the break.
The second half was an arm wrestle, but ultimately a 61st-minute penalty goal by Smith, who hit 100% of his kicks at goal, and Mpeku's 79th-minute try – when Leinster had a player in the sin bin – gave the team from Gauteng an eight-point lead with time up on the clock.
Leinster's Stephen Smyth scored their fourth try deep into injury time, this time with a Lions player in the bin, and although it wasn't enough for the win, it meant they left Johannesburg with two valuable bonus points.
Scorers:
Lions 27 (17) – Tries: Erich Cronjé (2), Kelly Mpeku. Conversions: Chris Smith (3). Penalty goals: Smith (2).
Leinster 26 (19) – Tries: Fintan Gunne (3), Stephen Smyth. Conversions: Caspar Gabriel (2), Harry Byrne.
Sharks too strong for Ospreys in Durban
Junior Springbok stars Luan Giliomee and Vusi Moyo scored a combined 24 points as the Sharks started their United Rugby Championship campaign with a bonus-point 41-24 victory (half-time 24-14) over the Ospreys in Durban on Saturday afternoon.
With a tackle success rate of 90% and the ability to convert their opportunities into points, the hosts were never going to lose this clash, although their Welsh visitors deserve credit for never giving up and scoring their fourth try late in the match to leave Kings Park with a bonus point.
Four first-half tries by the KwaZulu-Natalians – by Nick Hatton, Manu Tshituka, Giliomee and Litelihle Bester – all converted by Moyo, were ultimately the difference.
The visitors' discipline let them down, allowing Moyo to slot two crucial penalty goals in the second half to keep the scoreboard ticking over, before Giliomee showed his class by adding a second try on the hour mark to all but seal the deal, despite Iestyn Hopkins’ late try.
Scorers:
Sharks 41 (28) – Tries: Nick Hatton, Manu Tshituka, Luan Giliomee (2), Litelihle Bester. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (4), Siya Masuku. Penalty goals: Moyo (2).
Ospreys 24 (14) – Tries: Luke Morgan, Sam Parry, Liam Wright, Iestyn Hopkins. Conversions: Lawson Creighton (2).
Bulls overpower Zebre Parma in Italy
It took them 25 minutes to open their scoring, but once the Bulls got going, they were unstoppable as they sealed a 47-13 victory (half-time 21-6) in their United Rugby Championship opener against Zebre Parma.
The visitors from Pretoria were guilty of early mistakes but managed to weather the storm and gradually took control of proceedings.
Zebre took a 3-0 lead through Tommaso Allan's first penalty goal, but a penalty try awarded against the Italians for illegally stopping a maul made it 7-3 for the Bulls. It was 7-6 soon after when Allan landed his second penalty, but that's when things clicked into gear for the visitors.
Late first-half tries by Reinhardt Ludwig and Paul de Wet gave the men from Pretoria a 15-point cushion at the break, and when Ruan Vermaak and Harold Voster added their names to the scoresheet, it was effectively game over by the 51st minute. New Bulls flyhalf Curwin Bosch landed all four conversions.
Zebre scored their only try just before the hour mark, but Ludwig's second and a last-gasp five-pointer by Zak Burger meant the Bulls finished the round at the top of the log.
Scorers:
Zebre Parma 13 (6) – Try: Alessandro Fusco. Conversion: Tommaso Allan. Penalty goals: Allan (2).
Bulls 47 (21) – Tries: Penalty try, Reinhardt Ludwig (2), Paul de Wet, Ruan Vermaak, Harold Voster, Zak Burger. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (4), Willie le Roux.