Chiefs 41 Bulls 28

The first half saw the Bulls pound the Chiefs into submission in both the forwards and backs, with the Chiefs conceding the first eight penalties and the Bulls having 62% of possession.

The Bulls’ first try came from a lineout on their attacking 10 metre line following a sublime inside ball from Kriel to Ismail who blew through a massive hole in the Chiefs defence and sent Gelant over in the corner.

Fa’auli took advantage of two Bulls handling errors, picking up the ball five metres out from the line and strolling over unopposed for the Chiefs.

Rossouw scored a double for the Bulls including one in minimal space in the corner. Retallick scored for the Chiefs and Pollard scored for the Bulls after a brilliant return from a chip kick. Bulls led 28-14 at halftime and the Chiefs were just hanging on.

In a game of two halves, the Chiefs scored straight after oranges through Brown. Then whilst the Bulls were attacking just inside the Chiefs’ half, Boshier stole the ball resulting in Retallick’s second try.

Van Vuuren was yellow carded with twelve minutes remaining for a late high shot on Damian McKenzie. Alaimalo scored from a perfect kick from Fa’auli to take advantage of the extra man. Lienert-Brown scored after the siren as the Bulls made an error trying to run it from their own line to put the final nail in the coffin.

Highlanders 25 Crusaders 17

A sensational NZ derby as you would expect.

The Highlanders attacked for the first five minutes but the Crusaders’ defence held firm. At their first opportunity, the Crusaders scored a brilliant try from a line out for a Bridge try from an inside pass from Bateman, which was eerily similar to the Bulls’ first try the previous night. Coltman barged over for the Highlanders to level the scores.

Sopoaga scored for the Highlanders following a dynamic run by Li down the sideline beating numerous defenders and gaining 50 metres.

The Highlanders looked like they might extend their lead but a dropped ball was picked up by Havili who ran 45 metres and Taufua thought he had scored but Ben Smith stood in front of the conversion insisting they go upstairs and the try was disallowed for a knock on. Halftime Highlanders 14 Crusaders 10.

Naholo was yellow carded for a high shot. Dixon scored for the Highlanders whilst they were a man down. The Crusaders scored a brilliant length of the field try after a good run by Havili and a kick down the wing Mataele for Hall to score.

Two penalty goals from Sopoaga rounded out the contest.

Stormers 37 Blues 20

The first thing I noticed from this match is that the Blues mustn’t have an away jersey with both teams wearing blue with only small amounts of white and a slightly lighter blue on the Stormers jersey. The Stormers scored inside two minutes through Viljoen following a good run and pass from Engelbrecht.

Great runs from Leyds and du Toit saw Rhule score 70 metres down the field from where Leyds picked up the ball. Leading up to half time Duvenage scored under the posts following some good work by the forwards in the lead up to and following an attacking lineout.

Halftime Stormers 24 Blues 3

Akira Ioane scored from the back of a 5 metre scrum for the Blues. Engelbrecht then set Newlands alight scooping up a loose ball running 70 metres before popping a pass to Viljoen for his second try.

A wonderful step and offload from Perofeta set up a try for Collins for the Blues. Some wonderful passing from the Blues saw Akira Ioane send brother Rieko Ioane over.

Willemse was perfect with the boot for the Stormers with 7 from 7.

Lions 40 Sunwolves 38

The Sunwolves took it right up to the Lions away from home but ultimately fell just short.

Coetzee scored in the corner with strength following great lead up play by Jantjies and Marx.

The Lions scored after their scrum absolutely destroyed the Sunwolves scrum against the feed with Orie and Erasmus almost grounding the ball simultaneously.

Matsushima scored his first Super Rugby try running a brilliant line onto a pass from Nagare near the posts after an attacking scrum.

Marx dived over for the third try for the Lions following an attacking lineout and a collapsed maul.

Millar also scored his first try for the Sunwolves after a cunning kick from Nagare.

Halftime Lions 19 Sunwolves 17

Lions scored straight from the kick-off after a charge down by Dyantyi.

A cut-out pass from Tupou gave some space to Saumaki, Saumaki ran 55 metres and brushed away three defenders on his way to the try line.

Himeno also scored his first Super Rugby try for the Sunwolves picking off a Jantjies pass and running 45 metres to the try line to give the Sunwolves the lead.

Marx scored his second for the night from the back of a rolling maul following a line out. Jaanse van Rensburg also dived over following another attacking line out.

A kick from Matsushima from inside his own 22 bounced up to Nakamura who passed to Britz who passed onto Sakate for a try.