Another tough weekend for SA teams in Europe

The men from Johannesburg beat their French opponents Pau by 43-35 in an entertaining affair at Emirates Airline Park, their first in the EPCR Challenge Cup this season, while the Toyota Cheetahs lost by 26-10 to Cardiff in the Welsh capital.

In the Investec Champions Cup, the three SA teams delivered underwhelming performances against English clubs that would have had their supporters scratching their heads.

The Vodacom Bulls suffered an error-ridden defeat at Loftus Versfeld, where Northampton Saints’ 30-21 victory was the men from Pretoria’s second straight defeat this season.

The DHL Stormers were humbled by Harlequins in London, losing 53-16, and the Hollywoodbets Sharks, who won their opening match in Durban last weekend, were totally outplayed in Leicester, where the Tigers scored eight tries in a commanding 56-17 win.

- Bright start not enough for DHL Stormers in London -

The DHL Stormers started best in London, with two early penalty goals by flyhalf Jurie Matthee earning them a 6-0 lead after eight minutes of play in their Invested Champions Cup clash against Harlequins, with the English side eventually winning by 53-16.

The home side scored their first try 12 minutes in, by Cadan Murley in the corner. Quins’s SA-born lock Irne Herbst was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle, but despite being a man down, Danny Care scored his team's second try, with Marcus Smith's conversion jumping them into a 12-6 lead.

Harlequins was starting to put the squeeze on the Stormers, with Alex Dombrandt scoring from a lineout maul, with the Smith conversion pushing the lead to 19-6 at the break.

The second half saw more of the same. Smith kicked a penalty goal to push the lead to 22-6 before a nicely taken Matthee drop goal handed his side three points.

Yellow cards to Stefan Ungerer and Seabelo Senatla did not help the DGL Stormers on their slippery slope with Dombrandt scoring two more tries in this session to notch up his hat trick.

Not to be outdone by his loose forward teammate, Murley scored two quick tries for his hat trick. Another yellow card, this time to Angelo Davids, resulted in Sam Riley scoring, with Jarrod Evans converting.

There was some good news for the outplayed visitors when JC Mars, who replaced Clayton Blommetjies in the 70th minute, scored his side's lone try. Matthee's conversion on the buzzer closed out a miserable night at The Stoop for the DHL Stormers.

The Captonians’ discipline was very poor, to say the least. They conceded 17 penalties (compared to the four by Harlequins) and four yellow cards. The way the home side used the ball was telling and they made massive gains in running meters, while the DHL Stormers found it tough to break down defences. Centre Wandasile Simelane did best in beating five defenders in 13 carries, but for the rest, it was nothing more than head-on collisions stopped in their tracks.

- Pollard helps bury Hollywoodbets Sharks in Leicester -

The Hollywoodbets Sharks were found wanting in Leicester and had no real reply to their rampant hosts at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, losing 56-17. The home side were up 35-10 at the break and bar a good opening 10 minutes by the South Africans, the English club never looked in danger of losing this one.

The KwaZulu-Natalians were up 10-7 before the Leicester pack took command, with a brace of maul tries by Argentinean hooker Julian Montoya proof of that, and four tries in each half testimony of their dominance.

Behind a rampant pack, the Springboks’ double Rugby World Cup winner Handre Pollard pulled the strings with majestic ease in a match where he scored a try and kicked six conversions for a 17-point haul.

The visitors were without a number of their international stars, but not so Tigers, with the likes of Pollard, Montoya, and Jack van Poortvliet showing exactly why they are decorated Test players.

The Durbanites were outplayed and badly so in a match where their error rate and lack of depth were exposed by a rampant home team firing on all cylinders.

- Saints march on against struggling Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria -

It was an afternoon that promised much, but the Vodacom Bulls quickly turned their good start against Northampton Saints into a stuttering and embarrassing 30-21 defeat in Pretoria.

The home side, who scored early for a 7-0 lead after a good run by Marcell Coetzee, managed to ruin one scoring opportunity after the other, and at the same time, allow their opponents some easy access to their try-line.

Despite enjoying 60% of possession and making 10 entries into the visitors red zone, it was the Saints who were leading 12-7 at the break, while the Vodacom Bulls dropped balls with an open try line, had tries ruled out due to obstruction and found new ways to frustrate their fans with their lack of accuracy.

On the other side of the scale, the English side executed with precision, taking every opportunity. In the process, they extended their lead to 22-7 as the home side completely fell apart.

Newly capped Springbok No 8 Cameron Hanekom then scored two great solo tries to cut back the lead into a single point (22-21), but more errors from his lethargic and error-ridden teammates handed Saints an easy penalty goal and a late try by Tommy Freeman, his second of the match.

 - Emirates Lions the solo shining light in Joburg -

The Emirates Lions are back on the winning track after outplaying Pau in Johannesburg, beating their French opponents 43-35 on Saturday afternoon.

The high-scoring affair started an hour late due to an inclement weather warning and was stopped again for a short while in the second half, with the hosts dealing with the disruptions better than their opponents.

The Johannesburgers outscored Pau by six tries to four in a hard-fought win where the visitors had the lead twice in the match. Pau opened the scoring with Dan Jooste being mauled over, but tries by Edwill van der Merwe, Morne van den Berg, and PJ Botha eased the hosts into a 19-16 lead at the break.

Pau scored first in the second half, but then conceded two yellow cards and a penalty try, which handed the Emirates Lions a 33-23 lead, a buffer that they kept till the final whistle.

- Cardiff too strong for Toyota Cheetahs in Wales -

A strong first half by the Toyota Cheetahs, where they created numerous opportunities to score, was not enough to beat Cardiff at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday evening, with the hosts winning by 26-10.

Their inability to capitalise on their opportunities came back to bite the Free Staters in the second half, when the Welsh side scored 21 unanswered points.

The Toyota Cheetahs’ 10-5 lead at the break was not a true reflection of their territorial dominance and ball possession. Aided by a strong wind in their backs, they created a number of scoring opportunities, only for a final pass to go astray.

Cardiff defended well in the opening minutes and when an opportunity came 18 minutes in, Josh Adams raced away for a long-distance try to put his side into the lead.

After being held up over the line earlier, the Toyota Cheetahs finally scored when Ruben de Haas dotted down, with a conversion and penalty goal by Ethan Wentzel shortly after pushed the lead to 10-5 at the break.

Cardiff dominated the second half though. Tom Bowen scored early and when Adams got his second, the home crowd were in full song. The ultimate knock-out came 12 minutes from time when the Toyota Cheetahs collapsed a Cardiff maul resulting in a penalty try and yellow card to Robert Hunt.

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