United Rugby Championship Match Report: Vodacom Bulls Survive Late Scare to Defeat Munster in Tshwane

• The Vodacom Bulls defeated Munster 29-24 at Loftus Versfeld in Tshwane on Saturday afternoon
• The Bulls led comfortably at one stage, up 26-3 at halfway through the second half, before an idiotic red card by the supposedly experienced Bismarck du Plessis swung momentum the other way
• This was the second win by a South African team against a touring team this weekend, with the Cell C Sharks defeating Welsh team the Scarlets last night 37-20

The Vodacom Bulls almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Irish team Munster at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.

Having led 26-3 at one point in the second half, a Bulls implosion aided and abetted by a stupid red card given to Bismarck du Plessis almost saw the visitors steal the win as the home side won 29-24.

The result got the Bulls' campaign back on track, granting them their first victory against overseas opposition in the competition. Worryingly, with altitude supposed to favour them, they instead were thoroughly outplayed by a Munster side that was relying on youngsters as many senior players were away on international duty for Ireland in the 6 Nations.

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The other South African teams need to take warning after today's nail-biter. Things like humidity won't bother visitors from Europe, as the Sharks almost found out at the east coast. The Bulls clearly believed that humidity would help tire the Irish side, but they instead got stronger as the match wore on.

VODACOM BULLS - tries: Madosh Tambwe, Walt Steenkamp. Conversions: Chris Smith (2). Penalties: Smith (5)

MUNSTER - tries: Alex Kendellen, Damian de Allende, Jack O’Donaghue. Conversions: Ben Healy (3). Penalty: Healy.

Vodacom Bulls: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe; Chris Smith, Embrose Papier; Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha, Marcell Coetzee (captain), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp.

Replacements: Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima, Robert Hunt, Janko Swanepoel , WJ Steenkamp, Zak Burger, Morne Steyn, Canan Moodie

MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Chris Farrell, Rory Scannell, Simon Zebo; Ben Healy, Neil Cronin; Alex Kendellen, Chris Cloete, Jack O’Donoghue (capt), Fineen Wycherley, Jean Kleyn, Stephen Archer, Niall Scannell, Josh Wycherley.

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Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Mark Donnelly, John Ryan, Eoin O'Connor, John Hodnett, Paddy Patterson, Jack Crowley, Damian de Allende.

United Rugby Championship Match Report: Cell C Sharks Work Hard to Defeat Welsh Team the Scarlets

The Cell Sharks won their first ever home match against an overseas opponent in the United Rugby Championship last night at the Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium.

As reported on Sports Brief, the Sharks ran in four tries, one of them a penalty try, against Welsh side the Scarlets in a difficult 37-20 victory; the scoreline belying how tight the contest really was.

The hosts were chasing the game for most of the first hour, and frankly lucky to be in touch on the scoreboard, against a team that will consider itself unlucky not to have gone well ahead in the first half.