Bulls, Stormers and Sharks sweep ill-disciplined European sides in Champions Cup

Wandisile Simelane of the Bulls during the Champions Cup match between Vodacom Bulls and Exeter Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld on 14 January, 2023 in Pretoria. (Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

16 Jan 2023

This weekend, there was a clean sweep of victories for South African teams in the Champions Cup for the first time, with cards aplenty shown to their European opposition.

South African rugby has a – somewhat exaggerated – global reputation for being ill-disciplined on the field.

This weekend, however, the boot was on the other foot as all three South African European Champions Cup teams – the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers – benefited gleefully from the ill-discipline of their opposition.

Bordeaux Bègles suffered four yellow cards in their match against the Sharks.

Exeter Chiefs finished their match with 14 men, after their captain Henry Slade was red-carded, following a high tackle to Bulls fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse.

While London Irish only had 13 men on the field when the final whistle blew in their match against the Stormers on Sunday.

London Irish’s two red cards were both as a result of head collisions.

The first by fullback Ben Loader on Manie Libbok, was head-on-head and resulted in the Stormers pivot having to go for an off-field head injury assessment test, one he subsequently failed.

The failed test means the Stormers will likely be without their influential playmaker for at least a week — missing out on Saturday 21 January’s Champions Cup clash against Clermont Auvergne at home.

Matt Rogerson of London Irish is tackled by Paul de Wet of DHL Stormers during Round 3 of the Heineken Champions Cup on15 January, 2023 in Brentford, England. (Photo: Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Stormers secure win

Despite playing with a two-man advantage for long periods of the encounter, the Stormers failed to stamp their authority against London Irish, scraping past them 28-14 away from home.

The positives for head coach John Dobson must be the return to the playing field – and form – of outside centre Ruhan Nel and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, after both had an extended period on the injury list.

Nel was outstanding in the 13 channel, running hard lines and putting his outside backs into space. Though the opportunities he created were spilled on two occasions: winger Angelo Davids unable to hold on to his pass with an open try line beckoning, and Libbok passing forwards to Davids after a Nel linebreak.

Nel eventually did it all himself in the 30th minute when he intercepted a loose pass and cantered in from 50m out — a just reward for his tireless work.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu came on in the 18th minute, much earlier than he and his coach planned for. But there was no choice after doctors concluded that Libbok suffered a concussion, after his head collision with Loader.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s distribution was solid at flyhalf, and he played a pivotal role in the Stormers’ fourth try. He deftly kicked the ball through with his weaker left foot for right winger Suleiman Hartzenberg to chase. Hartzenberg did well to gather and beat the last defender, to take the game out of reach for the Irish.

Although the second half of the outing in London was not one of the Stormers’ finest 40 minutes of rugby – especially playing against only 13 men – they will know that a strong victory over Clermont on Saturday will secure them a healthy position, heading into the round of 16.

Luca Morisi of London Irish challenges Ruhan Nel of DHL Stormers during the Champions Cup on 15 January, 2023 in Brentford, England. (Photo: Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Sharks topple Bordeaux

The Sharks remain undefeated in their maiden quest in the Champions Cup, winning three from three so far.

The Durban-based side were utterly dominant against Bordeaux Bègles, thrashing the French side 32-3 at Kings Park Stadium.

The win was made easier by the ill discipline shown by Bordeaux. Christopher Vaotoa, Cyril Cazeaux, Matéo Garcia and Clément Maynadier all suffered yellow cards at various points in the match.

The Sharks were 22-0 up at halftime, having run in four tries before the whistle went for the break.

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Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and national teammate Jaden Hendrikse were particularly impressive, running the show against their French opposition.

Hendrikse scored two tries in the first half, while Kolisi helped set up the other two.

However, everything didn’t go swimmingly for the Sharks as they lost Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi after 10 minutes, suffering a suspected shoulder injury.

“We’re going to assess Bongi on Monday. I’m not the medical doctor, so he will do the assessment of all the players, send them for scans if need be,” said director of rugby Neil Powell.

“We’ll make a decision based on that. I can only say it’s a shoulder injury and hopefully he'll recover in time to be ready again for the Harlequins game (next week).”

Reinvigorated flyhalf Curwin Bosch, originally named in the starting lineup, didn’t even take to the field, after suffering an injury late in the week.

“[Bosch] picked up a bit of a hammy during a performance session on Thursday and we were hoping he would pull through during the captain’s run-on Friday,” said the interim coach.

“Unfortunately he didn’t, and we didn’t want to risk him. The physios are confident that he will be back next weekend, but it’s a case of: do we want to risk him or wait for him to recover fully before we get him back onto the field?”

The Sharks are now an away-victory against Harlequins from topping the standings, heading into the round of 16.

Bulls show edge against Exeter

The Bulls have finally found some momentum after a difficult end to last year in which they lost three on the trot, including a 44-14 loss to Exeter.

This weekend, the Bulls found some of their best form to repay the English club with a 39-28 victory at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

“Being back at Loftus obviously makes a difference, we haven’t been here for five weeks. The forwards set the foundation and the maul was unbelievable,” said Bulls’ assistant coach Chris Rossouw, who is standing in for on-the-mend director of rugby Jake White.

“We got dominance in the scrums and our solid defence allowed us to attack the breakdowns.”

“There was a different energy for this game, it was power-versus-power and it felt like a Test week. All the guys lifted their focus a few levels up, this sort of game brings out the best in the team.”

Wandisile Simelane of the Bulls during the Champions Cup match between Vodacom Bulls and Exeter Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld on 14 January, 2023 in Pretoria. (Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

Wandisile Simelane was particularly impressive at number 13, scoring two opportunistic tries and cutting out Exeter’s chances on defence.

“There’s no team that doesn’t respect our pack and they made it easy for the likes of Kurt-Lee Arendse and Wandisile Simelane to be dangerous. The guys made it personal, they wanted to prove a point today,” Rossouw said.

Exeter lost their captain Slade halfway through the second half, but played some of their best rugby while having only 14 men on the field.

“The red card to Henry Slade was a little bit tough and I’m not sure of the processes, but it looked like Henry’s tackle hit the arm first and then the head. But that probably galvanised us a bit,” Exeter head coach Ali Hepher said.

The Bulls have all but secured their place in the round of 16 with this victory. It will take a capitulation against Lyon on Saturday and a few other unlikely results, for the Bulls not to progress. DM

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Stormers secure win

Sharks topple Bordeaux

Bulls show edge against Exeter