Here’s a wrap of all the action involving South African players in the UK, Ireland, France and Japan, including Andre Esterhuizen’s last-gasp winner for Harlequins in the English Premiership.
Vodacom United Rugby Championship
Damian de Allende turned in another excellent midfield performance to help Munster claim a crucial 24-17 away win over Irish rivals Ulster. Lock duo Jason Jenkins and Jean Kleyn also started for Munster, who had Chris Cloete on the bench.
Hookers Rob Herring and Bradley Roberts played for Ulster.
Jaco van der Walt kicked the winning penalty three minutes from full time to steer Edinburgh to a hard-fought 29-26 victory over Zebre Parma. Pierre Schoeman scored one of Edinburgh’s four tries, three of which were converted by Van der Walt. Erich Cronje started at outside centre for Zebre.
Premiership
Wasps powered to a 41-12 win over Worcester Warriors as Gabriel Oghre crossed twice in the second half. Francois Venter and scrumhalf Gareth Simpson played for Worcester.
Andre Esterhuizen scored the winning try as Harlequins maintained momentum in their top-four push with a 26-20 win over league leaders Leicester Tigers.
Quins did trail after Jasper Wiese dotted down just before the hour, but Esterhuizen scored the decisive try with six minutes remaining. Along with his try, Esterhuizen beat three defenders and won two turnovers.
Stephan Lewies and props Wilco Louw and Simon Kerrod also played for Harlequins, while try-scorer Hanro Liebenberg, lock Eli Snyman and prop Frans van Wyk started for Leicester.
Northampton Saints pulled off a terrific comeback to keep their semi-final hopes alive after recovering from 31-12 down to beat Bath 36-31.
Juarno Augustus put in an excellent 80-minute performance for the Saints, scoring a second-half try, beating five defenders, winning a turnover and making 51 running metres from 11 carries. Jaco Coetzee returned from injury for Bath from the bench, but was yellow-carded in the second half.
London Irish ran home six tries as they overcame Newcastle Falcons to keep their semi-final hopes alive. Benhard Janse van Rensburg and Marcel van der Merwe started for London Irish, while Philip van der Walt and Kyle Cooper were in action for Newcastle.
Toby Fricker’s late try secured victory for Bristol Bears in a thrilling encounter at Ashton Gate. Ruan Ackermann started at No 8 for Gloucester, making 12 tackles and beating two defenders.
Owen Farrell kicked 18 points to steer Saracens to a 38-22 win over Exeter Chiefs on Sunday. Vincent Koch turned in a superb defensive display for Saracens, making a massive 23 tackles, the most of any player. Ivan van Zyl played the final 10 minutes off the bench for Saracens. No 8 Jacques Vermeulen and flank Jannes Kirsten started for Exeter.
French Top 14
Stade Francais bounced back from back-to-back defeats by claiming a hard-fought 21-18 win over Pau. Scrumhalf James Hall started for Stade, who had lock JJ van der Mescht on the bench.
Racing 92 and Bok prop Trevor Nyakane boosted their hopes of a Top 14 playoff by hammering wooden-spoonists Biarritz 40-7. Nyakane played 26 minutes as a substitute.
Dillyn Leyds scored an excellent try to help La Rochelle claim a 32-16 bonus-point win over Perpignan. Leyds played 72 minutes at fullback and made a total of 92 running metres for La Rochelle, who are third on the log.
Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth played 70 minutes as Toulon continued their excellent run of form in 2021 with a 19-15 win over Toulouse. Cornell du Preez also started for Toulon, who were without Cheslin Kolbe due to a thumb injury. Rynhardt Elstadt started for Toulouse.
Japan League One
Johan Ackermann’s Red Hurricanes suffered their fourth successive defeat in a 35-7 loss to Toshiba Brave Lupus. Captain Franco Marais, locks Wimpie van der Walt and Ruan Vermaak, scrumhalf Tian Meyer and loose forward Tyler Paul all played for Red Hurricanes, who are bottom of the table.
Kobota Spears boosted their playoff hopes by claiming a 40-32 victory in a thrilling encounter with Kobe Steel. Locks Ruan Botha and David Bulbring and fullback Gerhard van den Heever were in action for Kubota. Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am started for Kobe, who also had try-scoring lock JD Schickerling in their lineup.
Wild Knights stayed in the top four and handed Canon Eagles a blow in a 33-24 away win on Saturday. Kobus van Dyk, Springbok centre Jesse Kriel and fullback SP Marais started for Canon Eagles, who are in fifth place, three points outside the playoff places.
Lionel Cronje‘s form with the boot helped Toyota Verblitz edge Blue Revs 18-15 to close the gap on the top four to just four points. Cronje kicked two penalties and a conversion for Verblitz, who had Pieter-Steph du Toit at blindside flank. Kwagga Smith started at No 8 for Blue Revs.
Photo: Bob Bradford – CameraSport via Getty Images
