The DHL Stormers turned on the style as the Sharks, Lions and Vodacom Bulls claimed big wins on a perfect weekend for the SA teams in the Vodacom URC.
The competition resumed in round 12 after a two-week break that served the teams from Republic very well as the Sharks snapped a five-game slump to climb off the bottom of the table while the remaining three SA teams ended the round among the top eight playoff contenders.
Suleiman Hartzenberg scored a hat-trick of tries on the wing as the Stormers thrashed Edinburgh 43-21 in Cape Town on Saturday.
The win saw the Stormers rebound from the disappointment of a north-south derby defeat to the Bulls in Pretoria two weeks ago, and move up four places to fifth on the standings.
Earlier, the Sharks clinched their second URC win of the season by registering a 22-12 result over Ulster at Kings Park.
It was the Durbanites’ first league victory since November as they climbed out of the URC basement thanks to tries from Phepsi Buthelezi, Eduan Keyter and Bongi Mbonambi.
The Lions overcame a first-quarter red card to Asenathi Ntlabakanye to give their playoff hopes a boost with a 38-14 victory over Connacht in Galway.
Having put 40 points on the Sharks last time out, Ivan van Rooyen’s charges stunned Connacht to climb into the top eight with their first win in Ireland.
And at Rodney Parade, Dragons resisted but a late surge from the Bulls secured a 31-10 bonus-point victory that leaves them four points behind leaders Leinster in second place.
Kurt-Lee Arendse, Mpilo Gumede, Embrose Papier and Johan Grobbelaar crossed the whitewash for the visitors with Chris Smith converting all four tries and adding a penalty.
Round 13 kicks off on Friday night, with the Bulls bringing down the curtain on their tour with a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash against Leinster at the RDS Arena.
On Saturday, the Sharks host Edinburgh, the Lions lock horns with Ospreys in Wales, and there’s a homecoming for Steven Kitshoff when he runs out for Ulster against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium.
Round 12 results:
Glasgow 17-13 Cardiff
Ospreys 17-27 Munster
Sharks 22-12 Ulster
Scarlets 16-13 Benetton
Stormers 43-21 Edinburgh
Connacht 14-38 Lions
Dragons 10-31 Bulls
Zebre 7-31 Leinster
Round 13 fixtures:
Friday, 29 March
Leinster vs Bulls (9:35pm)
Dragons vs Zebre (9:35pm)
Saturday, 30 March
Benetton vs Connacht (3pm)
Sharks vs Edinburgh (3pm)
Ospreys vs Lions (5:05pm)
Stormers vs Ulster (7:15pm)
Scarlets vs Glasgow Warriors (9:35pm)
Munster vs Cardiff (9:35pm)
Photo: @THESTORMERS/Twitter
