Forgotten Springboks Akker van der Merwe and Robert du Preez were among a group of South African players starring for their clubs in Japan, England and France .
Premiership
Van der Merwe and Du Preez scored all the points in Sale’s 16-7 win on Friday over Wasps, the former notching a try while the latter was on song from the kicking tee, with Francois Hougaard starting on the losing side.
Faf de Klerk was named Man of the Match as Sharks boss Alex Sanderson included 10 SA-born players in his match-day 23, and were captained by Jono Ross, who copped a yellow card.
Man of the match and an engaged man. Not a bad week at all for Fafster ? #GallagherPrem #SaffasAbroad pic.twitter.com/JCWBuIlQfF
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) May 20, 2022
On Saturday, Hanro Liebenberg and Jasper Wiese celebrated a 27-5 victory for Leicester Tigers over Newcastle Falcons, with Philip van der Walt starting at No 4, but Benhard Janse van Rensburg and London Irish lost 27-24 to Bath.
Springbok prop Vincent Koch fronted up in Saracens’ 42-38 thriller against Northampton Saints, but there was no joy for Jannes Kirsten and Jacques Vermeulen as Exeter Chiefs suffered a 40-33 defeat by Bristol Bears.
Andre Esterhuizen, Wilco Louw, Stephan Lewies and Simon Kerrod featured for Harlequins in a narrow 28-24 win over Gloucester and flank Ruan Ackermann.
Top 14
Eben Etzebeth delivered another solid performance on Saturday as Toulon got the better of Pau 37-20, as fellow Bok Jan Serfontein chalked up a W with Montpellier in a 22-13 result against Racing 92.
But, JJ van der Mescht had no luck with Stade Francais in a 32-13 schooling by La Rochelle, as did Nico Lee following Brive’s 26-8 disappointment against Toulouse.
Lock Jandre Marais packed down for Bordeaux Begles in a resounding 42-10 win over Lyon, while flank Jaco van Tonder put in a shift in Clermont’s 26-8 success over Biarritz.
Japan League One
On Sunday, David Bulbring, Gerhard van den Heever and Ruan Botha of Kubota Spears went down 24-10 in the semi-final playoffs with Wild Knights, while Dawid Kellerman and Paul Schoeman were on the losing side in a 33-10 scoreline against Honda Heat in Friday’s relegation clash with Green Rockets.
