Shaun Goosen looks back at the rugby weekend which saw South African sides claim a sweep over their European opposition, France take a step closer to a Grand Slam and England lose again.
SA teams make it four from four
The Sharks, Bulls, Lions and Stormers all won in the URC on the weekend to make it a clean sweep for the South African franchises on their respective home patches. The Sharks beat the Scarlets 37-20 at Kings Park on Friday, while on Saturday the Bulls beat Munster 29-24 at Loftus Versfeld. Sunday saw the Lions beat Cardiff 37-20 at Emirates Airlines Park and the Stormers thrash Zebre 55-7 at Cape Town Stadium.
Those results meant the Sharks rose to sixth on 31 points, with the Stormers in eighth on 29 and the 10th-placed Bulls on 27 — all with a shot at qualifying for the quarterfinals. The Lions, meanwhile, are 14th with 17 points.
France now a game away from rugby immortality
France beat Wales 23-19 in a tense affair at the Principality Stadium on Friday to set up a potential Grand Slam finish heading into the final round of the tournament. The win certainly didn’t come easy (it never does in Cardiff) but Fabian Galthie will be delighted that his men managed to get over the line in what was in many ways Le Bleu’s toughest Test in the championship to date.
They next face England at the Stade de France this Saturday looking to claim a first title and Grand Slam since Thierry Dusatoir’s team did it back in 2010.
England rue red card, Italy lose again
Ireland beat England 32-15 at Twickenham on Saturday after Charlie Ewels was controversially sent off for a hit on James Ryan just 42-seconds into the encounter. While Eddie Jones’ men remained competitive up until late in the game, Ireland were always going to be favourites to make their one-man advantage count, which they ultimately did to keep them in the hunt for the championship.
Elsewhere, Scotland beat Italy 33-22 at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday to claim their second win of the tournament. They’re now fourth, level on points with England who occupy third courtesy of a superior points difference, but will be eager to put in a big shift at the Aviva in the final round to end on a high.
