Defending champions the Stormers kicked off their United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign with a comfortable 38-15 victory over Connacht at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Saturday afternoon.

A tightly fought first half between the two sides was followed by a free-flowing second half for the home side after Connacht were restricted to 14 men following centre Bundee Aki’s red card.

Evan Roos opened the scoring with a brilliant individual try, breaking the line from just inside Connacht’s half and bumping winger Mack Hansen out of the way en route to the tryline.

The rest of the first half was tightly contested, finishing 13-8 in favour of the hosts. 

However, it was all one-way traffic in the second stanza after Aki’s red card for a dangerous cleanout on Stormers winger Seabelo Senatla in the 62nd minute.

Byron Ralston of Connacht is tackled during the United Rugby Championship match against the Stormers at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on 24 September 2022. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)

From there, the Stormers began to show some of the attacking spark from their title-winning season. A spree of wonderful interplay and offloading by the home side resulted in a try for hooker Andre-Hugo Venter, bringing the Danie Craven stadium to its feet.

Hacjivah Dayimani then finished another brilliantly executed team try by the Stormers to stretch the score out to 31-8.

Shortly afterwards, prop Jack Aungier scored a late consolation try for Connacht from close out. However, the home side had the final say when Marcel Theunissen went over after a well-worked Stormers rolling maul to secure a valuable bonus point win.

The Stormers will take on Edinburgh at Cape Town Stadium next week.

Bulls scrape home 

In trademark fashion, veteran flyhalf Morne Steyn slotted a late penalty to help the Bulls secure a 33-31 victory over Scottish outfit Edinburgh at Loftus. 

The experienced flyhalf came off the bench and slotted the winning penalty. Edinburgh fullback Henry Immelman had the opportunity to snatch the game from the Bulls with an extra-time penalty, but failed to take the chance. 

Gerhard Steenkamp of the Bulls during the United Rugby Championship match against Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld on 24 September 2022. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)

It was a close encounter from the get-go with Edinburgh hitting back at everything the home side threw at them.

Hooker Johan Grobbelaar and No 8 Elrigh Louw crossed the white chalk first for the hosts, but Edinburgh struck back with two tries of their own through Charlie Savala and Darcy Graham. The Bulls went into the break with a narrow 15-14 lead.

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The Bulls were outscored three tries to two in the second half, with winger Graham completing his hat-trick. However, poor discipline and missed opportunities by Edinburgh were punished by the boot of Chris Smith.

Cornal Hendricks scored soon after the break before Graham scored a second-half brace in the space of six minutes. Bulls winger Stravino Jacobs struck back with an excellent try before the theme of the match resumed. The never-say-die attitude of Edinburgh continued when Damian Hoyland crossed the whitewash for the Scottish outfit to make it 30-31 for the away side.

Steyn, with ice in his veins, replaced Chris Smith with minutes left on the clock and the rest panned out as it has so many times in the past. 

Lions upset Ospreys away

The Lions started their European tour with a fighting come-from-behind 28-27 victory against Ospreys on Saturday evening in Swansea.

The Lions trailed for most of the match before unwavering tenacity and fight helped them snatch the lead and see off the hosts at the death.

Ospreys led 19-13 at halftime and outscored the Lions four tries to three in the match. But the grit, determination and boot of flyhalf Gianni Lombard ensured the side from Johannesburg took home all the points.

The Lions started the contest well enough, but failed to turn pressure into points as Ospreys winger Keelan Chiles ran in two early tries. Welsh international scrumhalf Rhys Webb was the other first-half tryscorer for the hosts. 

A lone try by No 8 Francke Horne and the educated boot of Lombard kept the Lions in the game at halftime.

In the second period, new Lions recruit Sanele Nohamba’s quick thinking brought his side to within a point. But Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake ensured the Lions’ sniff of getting back into the contest was temporarily extinguished with a try of his own. 

Try-scoring machine Edwill van der Merwe proceeded to cross the whitewash with 10 minutes left on the clock. Lombard converted the try to put the Lions into the lead with a few minutes to go.

Ospreys threw everything they could at the Lions’ defence, but the Johannesburg side stood firm to collect their first win of the URC campaign.

Sharks edge Zebre in Palma

In a match of two halves in Palma, the Sharks were fortuitous to see out a plucky Zebre outfit 42-37 in a 10-try fest on Friday. 

The Sharks were expected to be rusty, playing their first URC match of the season after their bye last week. However, they started quickly, racing to a 28-10 lead at halftime.

Reniel Hugo, Kerron van Vuuren, Werner Kok and new signing Rohan Janse van Rensburg all scored first-half tries for the Sharks in a half where the backs and forwards got involved and demonstrated their attacking potential.

Meanwhile, flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain converted all four tries to see the Sharks lock in a neat 28-3 lead at the half-hour mark.

Zebre hooker Luca Bigi struck back for the hosts with a brilliantly orchestrated driving maul on halftime to give his side a semblance of hope at the break. 

Zebre grabbed on to that hope with both hands as Simone Gesi struck for the hosts shortly after halftime. With the Sharks firmly on the back foot, No 8 Taina Fox-Matamua bulldozed his way over the Sharks’ tryline.

Chamberlain kept his cool and slotted two penalties despite the cries of the hostile crowd. Sharks replacement hooker Dan Jooste took advantage of the momentum shift with a try that appeared to finally keep Zebre down.

Zebre and their rapturous fans had other ideas, however. 

Zebre struck back quickly with two tries by replacements Gabriele Venditti and Jacopo Trulla. 

Trulla then went over for another which would have sealed the victory for the Italians, but they were called back for an earlier foul, in the same move, on Kok and the try was ruled out. 

The Sharks sneaked home, but have a few things to work on for their encounter against the Dragons next week in Wales. They will, however, be happy with a victory on the road in their season opener. DM 

URC weekend results: 

Zebre 37-42 Sharks
Leinster 42-10 Benetton
Glasgow Warriors 52-24 Cardiff Rugby
Scarlets 39-55 Ulster
Bulls 33-31 Edinburgh
Stormers 38-15 Connacht
Ospreys 27-28 Lions
Dragons 23-17 Munster