Hits of the weekend: Brave Lions and fine wine Rudolph

OPINION: It was a top start for the most part for the South African teams in the opening rounds of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup.

The Bulls got things underway with a 56-20 victory over Stade Francais at Loftus, and the Stormers followed that up with another big result for the Republic, beating Bristol Bears 49-12 at DHL Stadium.

In the Challenge Cup, the Sharks were the epitome of “never say die” as they achieved revenge over Lyon by defeating them 33-40, while the Cheetahs came agonisingly close against Bayonne but were ultimately sunk by a late try by compatriot Herschel Jantjies despite their efforts.

In the final Champions Cup fixture featuring a South African side on Saturday, the grieving Lions put up a commendable fight against La Rochelle, losing the game 14-31 at Stade Marcel-Deflandre.

*Also read: How Stormers went from ‘flat’ to ‘fizzing’

They may have been the losing side in numbers, but the character of their performance was everything but.

They faced a devastating loss with the tragic passing of lock Hyron Andrews on the eve of their Champions Cup debut, a premier-competition bow that might have seemed like nothing more than a pipedream as recent as a couple of years ago.

The passing of Andrews is the only low from the weekend worth mentioning.

With that said, we look at the most memorable moments from Round One of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup.

Hits:

Lions showing up like that

No team would be in the right state of mind after experiencing something like that, but the Lions can feel nothing but pride in their performance.

They were never expected to sneak a win against the former double Champions Cup winners, but they looked like they had a real chance until late and took the fight to the French powerhouse even when they were a man down to a yellow card.

The score flattered the hosts.

As the Lions’ desperation grew as the game progressed, so did their mistakes, and nothing else could be expected given the situation this team had to deal with.

The Lions aren’t strangers to overcoming the odds, and had they shown more composure at certain stages, they may have succeeded in defying the odds yet again.

But how can anyone be expected to be measured and composed given the circumstances?

Perhaps they performed better than what they would have had they not lost their teammate. Perhaps the grief got in the way of a major upset. Nobody would know.

The task was just too big and the Lions are now left with questions of what could have been had they been in a better state of mind.

Still, they did more than what was expected of them, and they deserve all the credit in the world for it.

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#OPINION: Top dogs deliver on emotional weekend for SA rugby, writes @rugby365com columnist @jon_cardinelli 👇#Stormers #Sharks #Lions #Bulls #Cheetahs #ChampionsCup #ChallengeCup https://t.co/8akPGjJX3U

— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) October 18, 2026

Rudolph’s stunt on the wing

There were some beautiful touches from the Bulls throughout the match, from slick inside passes to accurate long passes and blistering bursts of pace; there were no shortage of highlight-reel-worthy moments.

Jeandre Rudolph was a highlight all on his own.

Forget about his breakdown brilliance, the back-row forward exceeded his positional requirements and added another skill to his rugby resume with that stunner of a try.

Ever a handful with ball in hand, the Bulls replacement loose forward proved a challenge in more than just his characteristic role.

He injected energy into the Bulls outfit and served the moment of the weekend with his belter of a try, which saw him cross the whitewash after taking matters into his own hands in his own half on the right wing.

The former journeyman received the ball on the front foot and chipped over the top of an incoming defender before booting the ball forward over wing Aisake Manna and gathering after a foot race to score.

Sensational.

Stormers’ mix of beauty and beast mode

The Stormers made a number of slips that blunted even more opportunities against a young Bristol side, but they produced some truly laudable moments nonetheless.

It was clear that former BlitzBok superstar Seabelo Senatla was on a mission in the way he scored their opener and set up Leolin Zas’ try. But that was far from the only noteworthy contribution on attack.

It’s not often that a prop is credited with assisting a try, but Sazi Sandi earned those honours in the build-up to the opener in a superb manner.

The home team made several costly errors in the encounter, but the way they had Bristol on the back foot in the scrums would have fans forgetting about any wrongdoing with ball in hand.

The visiting side simply couldn’t get their dangerous attacking game going without front-foot ball.

While both sides’ lineout went awry a number of times, the Stormers did enough at scrum time to make up for those concerns, while their ability to overcome their numerical disadvantage due to cards was also laudable.

It looked like men versus boys at the pack-down at times, and the bench reinforcements didn’t make matters any easier for the English.

At the end of the day, the home side’s scrum, maul, and defensive effort were their engine, while their attacking showpieces shifted them into a higher gear.

Young opposition or not, you simply have to bag points in your home games at this level, and the Stormers did just that.

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#REACTION: Ackermann’s message to Bulls star Cheswill Jooste after Champions Cup hat-trick 👇#ChampionsCup #Bulls #StadeFrancais #BULvSFP https://t.co/8zgggDF270

— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) October 18, 2026

Sharks’ Shimmer in Lyon

No Boks, no problem.

That was the name of the game from the Sharks, although many a Durbanite would have braced themselves for disappointment when JP Pietersen decided to make the trip to France without many of his Springboks.

The visiting side may have been without several of their Test internationals, but they avenged last year’s Round-of-Sixteen defeat to the French at the same venue in a humdinger of a match.

The Sharks showed the kind of fight to the very end that their supporters had been deprived of for quite some time and were rewarded for it when young sensation Litelithle Bester found space out wide to score the winning try in the 82nd minute.

The hosts were sure of a draw (or so they thought) when scrumhalf Baptiste Couilloud scored, and flyhalf Paddy Jackson converted to make it 33-33 with seconds left.

The Sharks, however, had other plans as they kept their cool after the restart.

They are really starting to look like a team that can rebuild without a senior Springbok foundation.

Mark of respect from the French crowd

The minute of silence before kick-off was standard, but the French crowd were quite something after that.

From the stadium applause during the fifth minute of the game in honour of Andrews’ number on his jersey that was laid down in front of his teammates before kick-off, to the ovation the Lions received as the final whistle signalled the end of a brave display, they captured how rugby transcends what happens in those 80 minutes on the field.