URC Week 2 Round Up - South African Shield
Week two was a fantastic advert for rugby.
65 tries - an average of more than 8 per game.
513 points - an average of more than 64 per game.
And a clean sweep for the South African contingent.
So let’s recap how each side got on and what the next weekend hold for each.
First up…
Zebre Parma 37-42 Cell C Sharks
This is up there as one of the games of the round. It looked for all the world that the Sharks had put the game to bed before half time, thrashing to a 25-point lead and securing the bonus point before half time. Zebre clutched to the game with a late try in the half to make it 10-28 at the interval. With barely ten minutes remaining, and with a 22-39 lead, the score looked unsurmountable for the hosts…
Until suddenly it was 34-39 with five minutes to go and a Zebre try being checked by the TMO. Unfortunately for the neutral, the try was disallowed, but there was still time for both sides to exchange a penalty and Zebre threw a hail Mary to win the game, but to no avail. A breathless finish to a frenetic game.
Sharks go on to face Dragons RFC at Rodney Parade, and will need to keep their foot on the gas for the full 80 minutes if they don’t want another late scare in Newport.
Vodacom Bulls 33-31 Edinburgh
A heavyweight clash out in Pretoria, but the Bulls showed classic South African grit and never say die attitude to pinch a victory with the final kick of the game through none other than Morne Steyn. How often has the Springbok veteran broken hearts with that right boot of his?
Having beaten the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg, and putting Edinburgh away at Loftus Versfeld, Bulls will want to target three from three as they welcome Irish side Connacht to their home. Connacht have had a less than convincing start to their season, but will be a threat nonetheless as they try to get their season back on track.
DHL Stormers 38-15 Connacht
The game was still within reach for the visitors at 19-8 on the hour mark, and it appeared that Connacht had scored a try to narrow the deficit… but a red card for Bundee Aki for a dangerous clear out sealed the visitors’ fate. Not only would the visitors be a man down, but the try was also disallowed and the Stormers responded immediately with a magnificent try that could easily claim try of the season already.
A late try for Connacht’s Jack Aungier, was scrubbed out ten minutes later by Marcel Theunissen.
Evan Roos, Stormers’ big number eight, was a force to be reckoned with, scoring his sides’ opening try with a rampaging run. Surely he’ll have caught the eye of the Springbok selectors for the autumn this time?
Ospreys 27-28 Emirates Lions
Another last gasp victory for one of the South African sides, this time away from from in Swansea against Toby Booth’s Ospreys. It was a fully loaded Ospreys side too, with the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Dan Lydiate, and George North all named in the starting XV.
Lions scrumhalf Sanele Nohambe had a real fire about him in this game, and scored a decisive opportunistic try while his side were a man down and a late score by Edwill van der Merwe and the resulting conversion gave the visitors a one point lead to defend for nine minutes.
The Lions will likely concede that they were lucky that opposition outside half, Jack Walsh, left his kicking boots at home that evening, as the youngster missed two penalties and two conversions all told. Any one of those kicks would’ve granted victory for the hosts.
Nonetheless, a win is a win, regardless of how it came about, and they’ll make the short hop from Swansea to Cardiff full of confidence and targeting a second Welsh scalp before the longer trip up to Edinburgh the following week.
