South African Round-Up from Round 2 of Super Rugby

Sharks

The Sharks put plenty of smiles on their supporters’ faces this weekend with a surprisingly brilliant result against the Highlanders in Dunedin on the weekend.

The Highlanders were handed a bye last weekend and were guilty of some early season rustiness which the Sharks took full advantage of.

The Sharks managed to run in five tries to the Highlanders three, thereby narrowly missing a bonus point.

The Highlanders pulled themselves together somewhat in the second half after looking rather stunned in the first, and were able to build a respectable score before a late flourish by Aphelele Fassi, with two quick tries, put the Sharks out of reach.

"The boys played for each other. The work rate and the defence were great," Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am said.

Stormers & Bulls

The Stormers and Bulls clashed in Cape Town over the weekend in what proved to be a typically hard, abrasive and low-scoring South African derby.

After trampling the Hurricanes 29-0 last weekend, the Stormers were forced to contend with a much tougher challenge on Saturday against a Bulls team with a point to prove and an undeniable hunger to pull themselves back into winning ways after defeat to the Sharks last weekend.

Impenetrable defence was again on display from the Cape side who, astonishingly, have now completed two rounds of Super Rugby without conceding a single point.

The 13-0 score was courtesy of tries from Seabelo Senatla, who enjoyed a classic winger’s try down the touchline,  hooker Scarra Ntubeni, who crashed over from a driving maul, and an early Damian Willemse penalty.

Willemse’s day with the boot will be of some concern to the Stormers’ coaching staff, the young flyhalf missing several shots at the posts.

The Bulls enjoy a bye in Round 3 and will no doubt use the time to take stock of the last two games and pinpoint the areas in which they must improve in order to revive their campaign. They take on the Blues at Loftus in Round 4.

The Stormers face the Lions in Johannesburg next weekend and will work to maintain their sturdy defence.

Lions

The Lions produced a win (27-20) against the Reds at a wet and slippery Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.

The conditions were not conducive to attractive rugby, however, the Lions made the most of their opportunities in broken play to put together their adequate score. They were completely dominated at scrum time and also struggled to produce the goods in the line-outs. With that in mind, they can count themselves fortunate to have come away with the win.

Hard-working winger Tyrone Green’s efforts were rewarded with two good tries while Marnus Schoeman and the pacy Curtnall Skosan also put their names on the score sheet with one try apiece. Captain Elton Jantjies had a decent afternoon with the boot and slotted a further seven points for his team.

After the loss of several key players, the Lions find themselves in a phase of rebuilding and popular opinion is that they will not be competitive in 2020. However, with their first win under the belt and some clear positivity exuded by many in the young squad, they may produce a few surprises this season.