Hits and Misses: Stormers, Bulls and Sharks shine as Lions stumble

OPINION: The Stormers, Bulls, and Sharks go into the international break on a high after wins over Ulster, the Scarlets, and Munster in Round Five of the United Rugby Championship, while a second-half fightback from the Lions wasn’t enough to bag a major upset and deny the Glasgow Warriors going top of the log.

The Stormers’ 33-7 bonus-point win over Ulster at Cape Town Stadium secured them the third spot on the log, while the Bulls overcame the Scarlets 54-26 with a much-improved second half display to move up to second after the Welsh just wouldn’t go down at Loftus.

Over at Thomond Park, the Sharks mastered the conditions to defeat Munster 3-15 and claim fourth spot, while a second-half claw back from the Lions wasn’t enough to deal the deal against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun (29-20). The result saw them drop down to 13th in the standings.

We look at the highs and lows from Round Five of the URC.

*ALSO READ Ackermann addresses a key Bulls’ recurring problem after Scarlets win

Hits:

Young Flyhalf, Big Performance

Young Yaqeen Ahmed was one of a few Stormers players who repeatedly served neat contributions throughout the team’s error-ridden display.

The shot-clock pressure he was under a couple of times before still connecting his conversions straight through the middle highlighted his calm and accuracy under pressure, while he made several linebreaks and constantly kept the opposition in the dark about his next move by playing close to the line.

He ran a top line to score and his kick-pass to Ruhan Nel to set up their last try was impeccable.

The 13 points he scored tell a story, but it’s everything he does in between scoring tries and knocking over kicks that truly shows his abilities.

Stormers’ Back-Row Brilliance: Sniping Roos and Medal-Collecting De Villiers

A knock-on from an attacking lineout on Ulster 22 summed up the Stormers’ afternoon; they wasted several chances in prime areas, and while Ulster made fewer handling errors as they largely employed a kicking game and stayed in it for a chunk of the match, the foothold they had at one stage quickly evaporated after Evan Roos’ 60-plus metre try.

Roos’ breakaway moment proved the momentum-swinger, and while the visitors had a few threatening moments in attack after that, sublime interplay by the Stormers leading up to Ahmed’s try and Nel’s closing score ultimately buried the Ulstermen.

The overlooked Bok humiliated defenders and had no regard whatsoever for the gain line.

Another player who deserves a special mention is Paul de Villiers, whose habit of collecting man-of-the-match accolades extended into Round Five after another first-class display.

He completed the most tackles (15) and won the most turnovers (three), while he also scored a try after charging down Jack Murphy’s kick.

Whenever the Stormers seemed to be cooking something up on attack, he was there.

Stunning Sharks Tour and Scintillating Siyaya

When the commentators said the game was one for the purists and that we wouldn’t see much excitement given the conditions in Limerick, they must have forgotten about Zekethelo Siyaya.

From that long break and kick-ahead from which Gianni Lombard scored to nearly creating chaos again but for the unfavourable bounce of the ball later on, Siyaya was a menace to Munster from start to finish, though they kept closer tabs on him after the break.

He has been otherworldly for the Sharks this season and has been their best player in every match of their dream tour, which included victories over Cardiff, Lyon in the EPCR Challenge Cup, and now Munster.

The fact that the Sharks have pulled off these kinds of performances without a number of their key Springboks is a feat in itself.

With Bok disruption seemingly no longer an issue, it could be an exciting season for JP Pietersen’s unit.

Misses:

Stormers Hands and Bulls’ Continued Errors and Ill-Discipline

It would be unfair to focus on the Bulls’ error rate when the Stormers weren’t much better – in fact they were much worse in that first half against Ulster – but repeat offenders are always zoomed in on. And that’s certainly what the Bulls are.

The Pretoria outfit have struggled with their unforced errors and lack of discipline, and while Scarlets conceded more turnovers and penalties than the hosts, losing Stedman Gans for tripping a player (although it didn’t look intentional, more like he was kicking at the ball) cost them. Some of their other errors also let the Scarlets in, but that one proved particularly costly.

Gans was sin-binned seven minutes into the second 40 and the Bulls were exposed out wide shortly afterwards when the Welsh team took advantage of their numerical disadvantage to go over in the corner.

The try took them to within seven points of the Bulls (26-19), and it gave the visitors a visible boost as their fire continued to burn stonger as they burst over with a converted try to level the scores while Gans was still absent.

Granted, Marcel Coetzee regained the lead after putting in a powerful run from a driving maul shortly afterwards to score the first of a string of tries, but the four-time URC finalists have been plagued by their own error rate and as soon as they kept it cleaner, their impressive attack got the attention it deserved. They were impossible to stop once they got it right.

The Stormers, on the other hand, lost 21 turnovers to Ulster’s 15 and 14 of those turnovers came in the first half, with 11 of them in the form of dropped balls and other handling errors.

Their error rate bordered on comedic, with handling errors in and around the red zone particularly damaging. They quite literally threw away scoring opportunities.

The game was little more than a frustrating, stop-start affair until well into the second half, and while several individuals delivered fine moments, the Stormers only started looking like deserved winners when they managed to string together attacking phases without spilling the ball. It was only late on, once they tidied things up, that the Stormers really showed their attacking venom – the interplay leading up to Ahmed’s try was a prime example of that.

Lions’ Continued Travel Woes

Glasgow were of course favourites to take the win at their home ground, and while the Lions didn’t make it easy for them in the second half, there was nothing too surprising about the result.

It was all Glasgow in the opening half until the Lions mounted a comeback.

The visiting side were 19-3 down at the break before three second-half tries saw them jump to a 19-20 lead with 10 minutes to go. A late try and penalty kick by Glasgow denied them any log points in their third match abroad.

The result marked the Lions’ third consecutive defeat away from home in the competition this season.

The Joburgers haven’t won outside of South Africa since their narrow win over Zebre in Italy in October 2024.

While the way they fought back against the former competition winners was admirable, they also made some costly mistakes.

Their lineout – while they did score from it – was far from a smooth operation in the first half especially.

When they got their throws right, they didn’t always protect their possession after the set-piece.

There discipline didn’t do them any favours and neither did their execution.

While there were multiple reasons the Lions lost this match despite their fightback, and while their away performances should be weighed against the devastating backdrop of Hyron Andrews’ passing, their ability to perform away is no doubt a problem.

They have now lost 13 straight games across all competitions overseas, some of them by slim margins.

Again, the level of emotional distress this team have been under in recent weeks makes it feel almost cruel to criticise them, but if they are to really be a presence in the URC, they are going to have to crack the away-game code.