Stormers still SA team to beat

The Stormers will look to continue their impressive march in the Investec Champions Cup, but there is serious work to do for the Sharks and Vodacom Bulls.

Investec Champions Cup
The STORMERS continued their superb unbeaten start to the season when they subdued the Vodacom Bulls in a gripping URC derby in Cape Town on Saturday, and attention now returns to the Investec Champions Cup.

DOBBO: I was never worried

The Stormers travel to London’s famous Twickenham Stoop to face Harlequins, who come off three consecutive heavy losses in the English Premiership where they sit third from bottom. In all three games, Quins have conceded 40 points or more, with the most recent a 66-21 thrashing at the hands of log leaders Northampton on Saturday.

However, it has been a different story in the Champions Cup where they lost their opener to Leinster before beating Bayonne 68-14 in mid-December.

But the Stormers are now unbeaten in 10 matches across competitions – two in the Champions Cup over Bayonne and La Rochelle and eight in the Vodacom URC – and should have too much firepower for the English side.

The Stormers top Pool 3 on nine points ahead of Leinster on points difference, with Harlequins in third place on six.

The SHARKS crashed back down to earth in heart-breaking fashion as the Lions came up with an 81st-minute winner in their URC clash in Durban on Saturday.

It was a first loss for interim head coach JP Pietersen and what will sting even more is that the Durbanites had plenty of chances to kill the game off against a Lions team which played with a man down for 20 minutes in the second half.

JP: Sharks had enough chances to win game

The men in black will look to regroup in the battle of the sharks when they travel to Manchester to take on Sale.

The Sharks began the Champions Cup with a 56-19 hammering at Toulouse – John Plumtree’s last match in charge – before bouncing back impressively to beat Saracens at Kings Park in Pietersen’s first outing as head coach.

The Sharks sit fifth in Pool 1 but are only a single point behind Saracens, Sale and Toulouse and who occupy positions four through two respectively. Glasgow top the group on 10 points.

With two more pool stage matches remaining and the top four in each pool progressing to the last 16, it is all to play for for the Sharks who host Clermont at home in their final pool fixture.

If the Sharks are feeling a little blue, spare a thought for the BULLS and their beleaguered coach Johann Ackermann.

The Pretoria-based side has now lost six in a row across competitions. You have to go all the way back to 17 October for the last time the Bulls recorded a win – a one-point victory over Connacht in the URC.

The Bulls brought fierce desire and intensity and massive physicality to the north-south derby against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, but it still wasn’t enough as the home side found a way to win a tight contest right at the end.

ACKERS: It hurts to lose like this

While the losses stack up on the field, things are pretty rough off it as well. There have been coaching changes, while a call for assistance from the Springbok coaching set-up turned into a needless furore ahead of the derby against the Stormers.

The Bulls’ mission in the Champions Cup is clear. Northampton and Bordeaux (10 points) and Bristol (nine) are way out in front in Pool 4. The winless Bulls and Scarlets sit on one point each, with Pau pointless.

The good news for the Bulls is that the Bordeaux and Northampton games are both out of the way but they host Bristol at Loftus before completing their pool stage fixtures away to Pau.

EPCR Challenge Cup
The LIONS finally found a way to win a close game as Junior Boks star Hasheem Pead’s try  after the hooter saw Ivan van Rooyen’s charges record a famous win in the Shark Tank.

It brought to an end a three-game losing streak across competitions and will give the Joburg-based side heaps of confidence as they resume their European campaign.

CASH: Lions stayed smart when it mattered

The Lions, though, sit rock bottom of Pool 2 after losses to Benetton and Newcastle. But they next host Lyon who also only have one point and are ahead of them on points difference, before travelling away to third-place Perpignan to complete their pool stage commitments.

The CHEETAHS also find themselves bottom of their pool but in a far more precarious situation.

The Free State side props up Pool 3 with zero points after opening defeats against Exeter and Stade Français. Their next two fixtures are against Ulster in Belfast and Racing in Amsterdam, and Frans Steyn’s men will need to pick up points if they are to harbour any hopes of making the playoffs.

ALSO: Cheetahs’ boxer back in action

Investec Champions Cup Round 2 results
Leicester Tigers 15 Leinster 23
Stormers 42 La Rochelle 21
Sharks 28 Saracens 23
Clermont 14 Sale Sharks 35
Bordeaux Bègles 50 Scarlets 21
Munster 31 Gloucester 3
Glasgow Warriors 28 Toulouse 21
Harlequins 68 Bayonne 14
Castres 33 Edinburgh 0
Toulon 45 Bath 34
Northampton Saints 50 Bulls 5
Bristol Bears 61 Pau 12

Investec Champions Cup Round 3 fixtures (SA times)
Friday, 9 January
Castres vs Bath (10pm)
Edinburgh vs Gloucester (10pm)
Saturday, 10 January
Bulls vs Bristol Bears (3pm)
Clermont vs Glasgow Warriors (5:15pm)
Leinster vs La Rochelle (7:30pm)
Sale Sharks vs Sharks (7:30pm)
Scarlets vs Pau (10pm)
Leicester Tigers vs Bayonne (10pm)
Sunday, 11 January
Harlequins vs Stormers (3pm)
Toulon vs Munster (3pm)
Bordeaux Bègles vs Northampton Saints (5:15pm)
Saracens vs Toulouse (7:30pm)

Champions Cup logs

EPCR Challenge Cup Round 2 results
Montpellier 31 Zebre 7
Benetton 44 Perpignan 31
Cheetahs 22 Stade Français 45
Montauban 22 Ospreys 33
Newcastle 14 Lions 10
Cardiff 29 Ulster 26
Connacht 52 Black Lion 0
Racing 31 Exeter Chiefs 31
Dragons 23 Lyon 21

EPCR Challenge Cup Round 3 fixtures (SA times)
Saturday 10 January
Stade Français vs Exeter Chiefs (3pm)
Montauban vs Black Lion (3pm)
Newcastle Falcons vs Perpignan (3pm)
Lions vs Lyon (5:15pm)
Cardiff vs Racing (5:15pm)
Benetton vs Dragons (7:30pm)
Sunday 11 January
Montpellier vs Connacht (3pm)
Zebre vs Ospreys (3pm)
Cheetahs vs Ulster (5:15pm)

Challenge Cup logs

Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images