The Emirates Lions were the first team to take the field on Friday evening, and while they fought hard, mistakes at crucial times denied them from imposing themselves more against Cardiff in the Welsh capital which saw them lose 20-17.

Saturday, however, proved to be a gripping day of action for the domestic teams as the Hollywoodbets Sharks scraped through with a late try to register a 35-34 victory against Zebre Parma in Durban; the Vodacom Bulls slotted a penalty goal after the hooter to hand log-leaders Leinster their first defeat of the season with a 21-20 victory in Pretoria; and the DHL Stormers earned a rewarding 29-17 bonus-point away win against the Scarlets in Llanelli.

These results saw the Vodacom Bulls hold onto third place on the table with 45 points (13 behind Leinster and trailing the second-placed Glasgow Warriors by four points), while the Hollywoodbets Sharks are only one point behind in fourth place with 44 points.

The DHL Stormers leaped into eighth place with 33 points – tied with the seventh placed Ospreys and only two points behind the fifth placed Cardiff – while the Emirates Lions dropped down to 13^th position with 30 points with five pool rounds remaining.

Emirates Lions go down fighting in Cardiff

The Emirates Lions went down fighting against Cardiff at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday in a thrilling Vodacom URC clash, which the hosts won by a narrow 20-17 margin after holding a 10-7 lead at the break.

The battle was intense from the outset, with the Johannesburgers attacking hard in the opening minutes and applying pressure on Cardiff’s defensive system, and their efforts paid off with a rewarding try by Asenathi Ntlabakanye in the 11^th minute thanks to a powerful shove over the line following strong phases on attack.

Cardiff struck back with their first points of the match in the 20^th minute as their forwards laid a strong foundation before spreading the ball wide to score, and they added a penalty goal several minutes later to take a 10-7 lead.

The Emirates Lions had a good opportunity to snatch back the lead before halftime whistle as Nico Steyn crossed the chalk only for the try to be denied due to a forward pass in the lead-up to the ball being grounded.

Gianni Lombard equalled the scores at 10-10 with a penalty goal early in the second half, and this bolstered the visitors’ confidence as they continued to claw their way close to the tryline, where they first conceded a crucial turnover before Francke Horn forced his way over from some powerful forward play minutes after Cardiff slotted their second penalty goal, and this saw the Emirates Lions back up at 17-13.

Cardiff kept on fighting despite the pressure being applied on their defence, and this paid off with an impressive intercept try in the 63^rd minute to push them 20-17 ahead.

While this did not dampen the Emirates Lions’ spirits, things just didn’t go their way in the closing minutes as Lombard received a yellow card, while they were unable to dot down the ball over the tryline on two occasions in the dying minutes as Cardiff’s defence stood strong, which cost them dearly in the end. There was, however, some respite for the Gauteng side, as earned a vital losing bonus point.

Scorers:

Cardiff 20 (10) – Tries: Ben Donnell, Harri Millard. Conversions: Callum Sheedy (2). Penalty goals: Sheedy (2).

Emirates Lions 17 (7) – Tries: Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Francke Horn. Conversions: Gianni Lombard (2). Penalty goal: Lombard.

Late try sees Hollywoodbets Sharks pip Zebre in Durban

The Hollywoodbets Sharks were forced to dig deep in their Vodacom URC match against Zebre Parma at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday with a try in the 74^th minute by Ethan Hooker and a successful conversion by Jordan Hendrikse snatching them a vital 35-34 bonus point victory.

The match was gripping as both teams played as hard as they could in an attempt to secure a bonus-point victory given the logjam on the standings, and this produced a spectacle in which nine tries were scored – five by the KwaZulu-Natalians and four by the Italian visitors.

Although the victory was a relief for the Hollywoodbets Sharks, they would be disappointed by their performance as their initial supremacy up front was undone by scrappy handling and poor options at time, which the visitors thrived on, while they also excelled in broken play.

The hosts were on the scoreboard as quickly as the third minute after Springbok captain Siya Kolisi touched down following some solid forward play, and they struck again in the 11^th minute with a sublime break by Makazole Mapimpi and inside pass to Jurenzo Julius seeing them secure their second try for a 14-0 lead.

The loose play by the visitors proved effective on attack as they scored two converted tries within eight minutes and added a subsequent penalty goal thanks to a yellow card to Mapimpi for an intentional infringement at a ruck to go 17-14 up.

Despite being a man down, Kolisi sprinted alongside the defence to earn his brace and then Vincent Koch scored a good try from forward domination to clinch their bonus point for tries and take a 28-17 halftime lead.

A crucial handling error by the Hollywoodbets Sharks paved the way for Zebre to score their third try, and they built on this with their bonus-point try four minutes later to claw their way into the lead before adding a penalty goal minutes later to take make it 34-28.

This forced the Hollywoodbets Sharks to return to their power game, and after consistent pressure over several minutes with their dominant scrummaging, which saw the Italians receiving a yellow card in the 71^st minute, they snatched back the lead after Andre Esterhuizen opted for a smart long pass, which Hooker gathered to touch down. Hendrikse then added the tough conversion to secure them the nail-biting one-point victory.

Scorers:

Hollywoodbets Sharks 35 (28) – Tries: Siya Kolisi (2), Jurenzo Julius, Vincent Koch, Ethan Hooker. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (5).

Zebre Parma 34 (17) – Tries: Geronimo Prisciantelli (2), Alessandro Gesi, Giacomo Ferrari. Conversions: Giovanni Montemauri (4). Penalty goals: Montemauri (2).

Vodacom Bulls overcome determined Leinster

A penalty goal by David Kriel after the regular 80 minutes of play with his team down to 14 players saw the Vodacom Bulls earn their ninth victory in the Vodacom URC and hand Leinster their first defeat of the season in a thrilling encounter at Loftus Versfeld.

It was a game of inches as both teams threw everything at one another on attack and supported this with solid defence for most of the match, which resulted in a tight first half in which Leinster held a narrow 10-6 lead thanks to a converted try and penalty goal to only two penalty goals by the home team’s Keagan Johannes.

The second half, in turn, was action packed with Leinster scoring their second try of the match two minutes after play resumed to stretch their lead, before the Vodacom Bulls hit back with a penalty try after the visitors were pinned for illegal mauling in the 57^th minute – which also earned them a yellow card.

Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar then added his name to the scoresheet in the 70^th minute, again from strong forward play, which nudged the Vodacom Bulls 18-17 ahead with 10 minutes left on the clock, before they were dealt a massive blow with Sebastian de Klerk receiving a red card for a dangerous tackle with six minutes to go.

Ross Byrne took full advantage of this, kicking a penalty goal in the dying minutes to hand Leinster a 20-18 lead with the clock winding down quickly.

But rather than lying down, the Vodacom Bulls threw the kitchen sink at Leinster and kept fighting, and they were rewarded for their efforts with a key scrum penalty in the 83^rd minute, which Kriel converted to earn them the significant result.

This win opened the door for the Vodacom Bulls to possibly finish in the top two if a few other results go their way in the five remaining pool matches.

Scorers:

Vodacom Bulls 21 (6) – Tries: Penalty try, Johan Grobbelaar. Penalty goals: Keagan Johannes (2), David Kriel.

Leinster 20 (6) – Tries: Jordie Barrett, Andrew Osborne. Conversions: Ross Byrne (2). Penalty goals: Byrne (2).

DHL Stormers earn satisfying win in Wales

The Stormers held on for a satisfying bonus-point 29-17 win against the Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday to power their way into the top eight on the Vodacom URC standings and stay in the Race to the Eight.

The Capetonians opened the scoring in the 13^th minute with a try by Ben Loader, and they added their second-five pointer four minutes later as Deon Fourie dotted down, with the successful conversion by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu pushing them 12-0 up.

The hosts hit back with a try of their own in the 29^th minute to reduce their deficit to five points before they received a yellow card, and this handed Feinberg-Mngomezulu the opportunity to extend the DHL Stormers’ lead to 15-7 at halftime in his first game back from injury.

The home side continued to show their fighting spirit with their threatening attack at stages, which paid off with their second try in the 47^th minute, and the successful conversion saw them trail by 15-14, setting up a thrilling finish.

Leolin Zas eventually broke through for visitors with their third try in the 64^th minute, but the Scarlets hung in with a penalty goal in the 69^th minute, to force the match open once again.

It was, however, a late try by Andre-Hugo Venter with two minutes left that finally sealed the bonus-point win for the DHL Stormers, which will undoubtedly bolster their confidence as they prepare to face Ulster in Ireland next week.

That said, while the DHL Stormers led from start to finish, they will be mindful of the fact that the performance was not as clinical as they would have hoped at times, leaving room for improvement as they hunt a quarter-final spot.

Scorers:

Scarlets 17 (7) – Tries: Ellis Mee, Ioan Nicholas. Conversions: Ioan Lloyd (2). Penalty goal: Lloyd.

DHL Stormers: 29 (15) – Tries: Ben Loader, Deon Fourie, Leolin Zas, Andre-Hugo Venter. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3). Penalty goal: Feinberg-Mngomezulu.