Catch up on the weekend action involving SA players based overseas and on duty in the Champions Cup, as well as a look at how some Springboks fared across in Japan’s Division One.
Champions Cup
– Handre Pollard scored 14 points as Leicester Tigers secured their place in the playoffs with a 44-29 win over Clermont. In a return to form, the Springbok flyhalf kicked four conversions and two penalties, before he was replaced on the hour mark.
– Toulouse were made to work hard by a 14-man Sale Sharks in order to claim a 27-5 victory. Sale lost lock Cobus Wiese after taking the lead through Akker van der Merwe in what would be the first of five red cards over the weekend. Robert du Preez, Jean-Luc du Preez and Jono Ross were also in action for Sale, while Rynhardt Elstadt played off the bench for Toulouse.
– Leinster produced a clinical display with a 49-14 win over Gloucester. Ruan Ackermann started at openside flank for Gloucester and made 16 tackles.
– An 81st-minute try cost Ulster a famous Champions Cup victory over defending champions La Rochelle, as they fell to a 7-3 defeat. Duane Vermeulen started for Ulster and played the full 80 minutes. Raymond Rhule played off the bench for La Rochelle, but didn’t see much of the ball in wet conditions.
– Ospreys secured a phenomenal 35-29 victory over Montpellier in Swansea on Saturday, making it back-to-back wins over the Top 14 champions. Paul Willemse scored a brace and Cobus Reinach also dotted down for Montpellier, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the loss.
– Saracens brushed off the absence of the banned Owen Farrell to thrash Lyon 48-28 and book their place in the final 16. Scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl played 57 minutes for the English outfit and made one clean break and three carries. Lyon had Arno Botha at No 8 and the Springbok scored one of their four tries.
– Edinburgh battled to a brilliant 34-21 bonus-point win over Pool A rivals Castres on Sunday to qualify for the Round of 16. Scotland-capped front rowers Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel, as well as Vodacom Bulls-bound fullback Henry Immelman all did duty for Edinburgh.
– Harlequins recovered from 18 points down to lead Racing 92 on Sunday, but a last-gasp penalty snatched a 30-29 victory for the Top 14 side in Paris. Warrick Gelant enjoyed an outstanding outing at fullback for Racing, making 58 metres from 10 carries, three offloads and picking up a try assist. Andre Esterhuizen was part of a contingent of South Africans playing for Harlequins, that included tighthead prop Wilco Louw and second-row pair Stephan Lewies and Irne Herbst.
Japan Division One
– The upsets continued for the Mitsubishi Dynaboars after they overturned an early 12- 0 deficit to bowl the in-form Toshiba Brave Lupus in a 23-19 win. Former Vodacom Bulls lock Walt Steenkamp started for the Dynaboars, while Burger Odendaal lined up at inside centre for Brave Lupus.
– Jesse Kriel, Kobus van Dyk and SP Marais all got in on the action as Canon Eagles demolished winless Kintetsu Liners 74-14. Former Stormers fullback Marais scored a brace, while Kriel dotted down to make it two tries from two games for the Springbok centre. Faf de Klerk also started for the Eagles, who are in fifth place and trail third-placed Suntory Sungoliath by just three points.
– Former Vodacom Bulls hooker Schalk Erasmus filled in effectively for the absent Malcolm Marx as he marked his Division One debut with a try for Kubota Spears, in a 40-7 win against Green Rockets. Lock Ruan Botha and fullback Gerhard van den Heever started for the Spears, in second place on the log.
– Suntory Sungoliath stayed in third place by notching a third win on the trot with a 39-19 victory over the Marcell Coetzee-captained Kobe Steelers, who had JD Schickerling at lock.
– A maiden Division One try for Springbok second rower Lood de Jager powered the league leaders Wild Knights to a hard-fought 34-19 win over Toyota Verblitz. Springboks Pieter-Steph du Toit and Willie le Roux started for Verblitz, who have won just one of their opening four fixtures.
Photo: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images