RUGBY WRAP: Debut Champions Cup wins for Sharks and Bulls; Cheetahs see off Pau in Challenge Cup and Blitzboks fall short in the Cape

Champions Cup R1: Sharks and Bulls earn first victories, Stormers stumble in France

Despite going down to 13 men in the second half, the Sharks produced an impressive performance at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday to clinch a 39-31 bonus point win over Harlequins. Just three minutes after Bongi Mbonambi saw yellow for repeated team infringements, Ox Nche was controversially shown his marching orders on the hour mark for a high shot on Quins hooker Jack Walker.

The away side scored three times in the final quarter to narrow the gap after the hosts had charged out to a 29-14 lead after the break, but a Boeta Chamberlain score at the death put the game to bed. It was an encouraging start to their debut European campaign for the Durbanites, with plenty to build on ahead of their trip to the Stade Chaban-Delmas to tackle Bordeaux this weekend.

A second-string Bulls outfit bagged a 42-36 BP victory over Lyon at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday in another high-scoring thriller. Despite trailing by 28-0 at a stage, last season’s Challenge Cup winners staged a laudable comeback but had to settle for two-losing bonus points in the end.

The defending URC champion Stormers fell 14-24 to Clermont Auvergne at the Stade Marcel Michelin. The Capetonians did well to lead 14-3 at the break but were kept scoreless in the second half against a resurgent Les Jaunards side.

Remaining results:

London Irish 27-32 Montpellier

Racing 92 10-42 Leinster

Gloucester 22-17 Bordeaux-Begles

La Rochelle 46-12 Northampton

Castres 12-27 Exeter

Sale Sharks 39-0 Ulster

Saracens 30-26 Edinburgh

Munster 13-18 Toulouse

Ospreys 17-23 Leicester

Challenge Cup R1: Cheetahs topple Pau, Lions held at home

The Cheetahs enjoyed a fantastic start to their Challenge Cup campaign thanks to a 21-16 win at Pau. Hawies Fourie’s charges were severely short on game time but came out on top in an arm-wrestle at the Stade du Hameau, thanks in large part to 11 points from the boot of Ruan Pienaar. The Free Staters will take great heart out of their showing, particularly in France, and they have a great opportunity to claim a second win against Scarlets in Bloemfontein this weekend.

The Lions drew 31-31 with Dragons at Emirates Airline Park with both sides scoring four tries. It’s not an ideal result for Cash van Rooyen’s men, who next welcome Stade Francais to the Lion’s Den, but they’ll look to regroup before that encounter on Friday.

Remaining results:

Perpignan 5-19 Bristol

Stade Francais 24-14 Benetton

Bath 19-22 Glasgow Warriors

Connacht 22-8 Newcastle Falcons

Cardiff 41-0 Brive

Zebre 21-24 Toulon

Scarlets 39-7 Bayonne

World Rugby Sevens Series: Blitzboks finish fourth in Cape Town

The Springbok Sevens disappointingly finished the Cape Town leg of the World Series in fourth after first falling to Samoa 7-10 in the Cup semi-finals, and then 14-22 to the USA in the Bronze final. Sandile Ngcobo’s men, who headed into this one off the back of yet another title triumph in Dubai, conceded an extra-time drop goal against the Pacific Islanders to again deny them a title in the Cape – their last coming way back in 2015.

Samoa beat New Zealand 12-7 in torrential conditions to take Cup honours and lift them to joint-first place with South Africa on the overall series standings. They are followed by New Zealand and the USA in joint third, Fiji in fifth and defending champs Australia in sixth.