SARugbymag.co.za looks back at the weekend's Anglo-Welsh Cup and Japanese Top League semi-final matches that involved SA players.
ANGLO-WELSH CUP
– Former Bok and Cheetahs loose forward Ashley Johnson scored London Wasps' only try of the match, as they suffered a 36-5 defeat at the hands of Gloucester.
– Bath recorded their fourth consecutive victory over the Leicester Tigers, beating them 35-17, with Bok flank Francois Louw taking the field for the English team in the 54th minute.
– London Irish defeated the Scarlets 29-10 with with Bok prop CJ van der Linde in their starting ranks. Lock Johan Snyman made the run-on XV of the Welsh outfit, while prop Jacobie Adriaanse was named on the bench.
– No 8 Gerrit Janse van Velze captained a determined Northampton side who edged past Saracens 20-16. Both Nick de Jager (flank) and Petrus du Plessis (prop) started for the losing Londoners.
JAPANESE TOP LEAGUE
– Further afield Springboks Jaque Fourie (centre) and Andries Bekker (lock) both scored for the Kobe Kobelco Steelers, but it was in vain as their compatriot Fourie du Preez's Suntory Sungoliath clinched a 27-19 victory in their semi-final in the Japanese Top League.
– Springbok wing JP Pietersen came off the bench early in the second half to produce a sterling display as his Panasonic Wild Knights thrashed the Toshiba Brave Lupus 55-15 in the other Japanese semi-final. Pietersen and his team-mates will now face his fellow Bok and World Cup winner, Fourie du Preez, in the final.
Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
