Saffas Abroad: Trokkie tops battle of the bigs

Another action-packed weekend for South Africans playing abroad saw a spicy clash between Juarno Augustus and Jasper Wiese in an English derby, while Faf de Klerk continued his excellent form in Japan.

Premiership
– London Irish condemned 14-man Harlequins to a fourth straight league defeat after a red card for captain Stephan Lewies. The South African forward was sent off for a dangerous challenge to the head of opposition No 8 Chandler Cunningham-South. Andre Esterhuizen produced an impressive performance for Harlequins, making 59 metres from 13 carries, beating four defenders and making eight tackles. Opposite number Benhard Janse van Rensburg also made eight tackles for London Irish. Bok tighthead Wilco Louw played 53 minutes for Harlequins, who had Irne Herbst at lock.

– Robert du Preez celebrated his 100th game for Sale Sharks with a last-minute 30-27 victory over Bath. Du Preez converted one of Sale’s five tries and added a solitary penalty. Younger brother Jean-Luc du Preez completed 15 tackles and made three successful offloads and he was joined in Sale’s pack by captain Jono Ross and lock Cobus Wiese. Openside flank Chris Cloete played 46 minutes for Bath.

– Northampton Saints produced a surperb defensive effort to earn a 19-18 win in the East Midlands derby match against Leicester Tigers. The match featured a battle of the South African eighthmen, Leicester’s Jasper Wiese against Juarno Augustus. Both players completed 15 out of 16 tackle attempts, but Augustus was more effective with the ball, making 59 metres from 11 carries, beating three defenders and making two offloads. Leicester also had Handre Pollard, captain Hanro Liebenberg and lock Eli Snyman in their lineup, while Courtnall Skosan played on the right wing for Saints.

– Francois Hougaard scored the winning try as Saracens came from behind to beat Bristol Bears 20-19. After coming off the bench in the 63rd minute, Hougaard dotted down in the corner in injury time in the second half to secure an important victory for the hosts. Scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl was also a second-half substitute for Saracens, who lead the Premiership by eight points.

– Exeter Chiefs moved up to third on the table with a 24-17 win over Gloucester. Forwards Jannes Kirsten and Aidon Davis played for Exeter.

Top 14
– Bottom dwellers Perpignan secured a big upset by holding on with 14 men for a 31-24 victory over second-placed Stade Francais. Tristan Tedder was at fullback for Perpignan, who got their first win after four successive losses. Tedder was up against old Kearsney College teammate James Hall, who started at scrumhalf for Stade, for whom Jeremy Ward scored a try at outside centre.

– Toulon’s roller-coaster season continued as they cut the gap on the top six to just five points by beating Pau 27-16. Cheslin Kolbe played 80 minutes on the right wing for Toulon, gaining 37 metres and making five tackle breaks.

– Bordeaux’s recent poor run of form continued as they suffered a 23-18 loss to 10th-placed Castres. Madosh Tambwe and lock Jeandre Marais started for a strengthened Bordeaux.

– Bayonne climbed into fifth place and made it just a six-point deficit to second place after getting a bonus-point win over Brive. Uzair Cassiem was at No 8 for Bayonne.

– The match of the weekend saw Scottish flyhalf Finn Russell kick Racing 92 to a 39-36 thriller against La Rochelle, drawing level in third place on the log. Racing had neither Trevor Nyakane nor Warrick Gelant in their matchday-23, while Raymond Rhule played on the wing for La Rochelle.

– Toulouse, with Rynhardt Elstadt at flank, further entrenched their place at the top of the table by outplaying Montpellier in a 23-9 victory. Jan Serfontein and Cobus Reinach started for Montpellier, but the inside centre was yellow-carded in the second half.

 Japan League One
– Faf de Klerk scored a try and set up another from a clever quick-tap play as Canon Eagles went down swinging in a 21-19 loss to unbeaten Wild Knights. Fullback SP Marais dotted from De Klerk’s planned move and kicked two conversions. Springboks Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) and Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) also started.

– Pieter-Steph du Toit led Toyota Verblitz to just their second win of the season, a 38-21 away victory against Kobe Steelers. The visitors produced a superb defensive effort after having three players – including Willie le Roux – sent to the sin bin in the space of six minutes. Marcell Coetzee captained Kobe, who had JD Schickerling at lock.

– Captain fantastic Kwagga Smith continued his excellent form by scoring a try to guide Blue Revs to their first win of the campaign against fellow strugglers Green Rockets.

– The Kubota Spears retained their unbeaten start, but needed a late penalty from Wallabies flyhalf Bernard Foley to win a 78-point thriller against Black Rams. Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx started for the Spears, who gave former DHL Stormers centre Rikus Pretorius his debut off the bench.

Photo: Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images

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