RUGBY WRAP: Stormers, Sharks remain on track; Lions thwarted at home and more!

Stormers and Sharks earn important wins

The Stormers’ and Sharks’ wins on the weekend saw them remain well positioned for top four finishes, with the Cape side in particular now sitting pretty in second place. John Dobson’s men claimed a comfortable 32-7 win over Glasgow at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday in a match that yet again underlined just how good a side they are. There’s no question that they’ll be aiming to win their final two round-robin games (Leinster home and Scarlets away) to cement that second-place spot.

The Sharks battled hard but ultimately did manage to get the job done against Leo Cullen’s Leinster ‘B team’. Their 28-23 win at Hollywoodbets Kings Park was enough to see them rise to fourth, a position they will be hard-pressed to hold on to considering they must still face a Connacht outfit fresh off their defeat of the Lions plus Ulster in Belfast.

Lions’ winning run at home ended, Bulls beat Benetton

The Lions’ run of four-consecutive wins in Johannesburg came to an end when they were beaten 30-33 by Connacht on Saturday. Cash van Rooyen’s charges were undone by a late Jack Carty penalty as the Irish outfit walked away with a third win from three against South African teams this season. The Lions, who were already out of the race for the playoffs, will look to finish their campaign strongly against Benetton and the Dragons.

Elsewhere, in Pretoria, the Bulls weathered an indifferent start to finally beat Benetton 46-29 at Loftus. Jake White’s team lie eighth, just within the playoff spots, and will face Glasgow at home this weekend before ending their regular season against Ospreys in Swansea.

Munster pile more misery on Ulster

Munster beat Ulster 24-17 at the Kingspan on Friday to upset the URC status quo with just two rounds left. The loss was the second in a row for the hosts after their loss to Toulouse in Europe, and saw them drop three places on the log to fifth. For the Munstermen, they are now third but must still tackle Leinster in Dublin in the final round.

In other results, Edinburgh pipped Zebre 29-26 in the Scottish capital, Scarlets beat Dragons 38-19 at Rodney Parade and Ospreys grabbed a 22-6 away win over Cardiff.