Vodacom Super Rugby Review - Round 6

The impressive Cell C Sharks climbed to the top of the South African Conference standing following their 33-19 triumph over the Jaguares in Durban on Saturday after leading 22-12 at the break.

It was their fifth victory in six games and the win improved their points tally to 20, three more than the DHL Stormers who had a bye this weekend.

Meanwhile in Pretoria, the Vodacom Bulls finally registered their first success after four false starts when they comprehensively beat the Highlanders 38-13 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

After two matches on the road, the Emirates Lions are still winless on their Australasian tour following their 37-17 loss to the Rebels in Melbourne – the first success for the Rebels in this fixture.

After six rounds, the Durban side lead the standings on 20 points, the DHL Stormers have 17, the Jaguares 15 and they are followed by the Vodacom Bulls (six points) and the Emirates Lions on five points.
 
Cell C Sharks take SA Conference lead with win over Jaguares
#SHAvJAG

The Cell C Sharks continued with their good Vodacom Super Rugby form when they outplayed the Jaguares 33-19 to climb to the top of the South African Conference standings in Durban on Saturday.

The Durbanites, who returned to South Africa earlier this week with three wins from four overseas games, led 22-12 at the break. They now have 20 points from six matches, three more than the DHL Stormers (17 from five games), who had a bye this weekend.

Lukhanyo Am’s team started the match on a positive note and kept the formidable Jaguares on the back foot with some controlled forward forays, which they combined with clever box kicks chased down by their dangerous outside backs.

In the end it was a very good performance by the Cell C Sharks against a Jaguares side that have won three of their last four outings in South Africa.

Click here to read the full match report.

Vodacom Bulls thump Highlanders for first win of season
#BULvHIG

Blitzbok speedster Rosco Speckman scored a hat-trick of tries as the Vodacom Bulls thumped the Highlanders 38-13 to register their first win of the campaign at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening.

The men from Pretoria overturned a halftime deficit of 5-7 to score no less than five tries in a dominant and entertaining second half. 

Speckman helped himself to a second-half hat-trick of tries as the home pack laid on a feast of good supply for their backs. Springboks Warrick Gelant and Cornal Hendriks also crossed the try line in the second spell.

Both teams wore almost identical blue shirts in the first half and it was a welcome relief when the home side came out dressed in a light-coloured jersey for the start of the second half.

The timely victory was the Vodacom Bulls’ first success of the season and came as a great relief for the Pretoria faithful who had to witness four false starts from their team. They also moved above the Emirates Lions on the SA Conference log.

Furthermore, the win also comes at just the right time, as the Vodacom Bulls next embark on a four-game tour of Australasia, where they will face the Reds, Waratahs, Hurricanes and Chiefs on consecutive weekends.

Click here to read the full match report.
 
Rebels break duck over Emirates Lions in Melbourne
#REBvLIO

The Rebels proved too strong for the Emirates Lions and registered their first win over the Highveld side as they comfortably won their sixth-round fixture 37-17 in Melbourne on Saturday.

The Melbourne outfit have lost the previous five games between the two sides, but on this occasion they converted a 15-10 halfway lead into a 20-point triumph.

The result leaves the Joburg side winless from their first two matches of their four-game Australasian tour following their defeat last week to the Waratahs in Sydney. The home side outscored the South African visitors by five tries to two, while Emirates Lions struggled somewhat in the lineouts and conceded too many penalties and turnovers.

Elton Jantjies and his team mates now travel to New Zealand for their next match against the Blues in Auckland.

Click here to read the full match report.

The other Round 6 fixtures are (SA times):
 
Friday, 28 February
Sunwolves 14, Brumbies 47
Crusaders 24, Reds 20
Waratahs 14, Chiefs 51
 
Saturday, 29 February
Hurricanes 15, Blues 24
 
Byes: DHL Stormers

Issued by SA Rugby Communications