It was a rewarding weekend for South Africa’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams as all four franchises claimed bonus-point victories – two at home and two away – to bag a full house for the local teams.

These results mean three of the sides finish the third round in the top eight – albeit the second round of matches for the domestic teams after their opening round fixtures were postponed.

The Emirates Lions got a bumper day of action on Saturday off to a fantastic start with an emphatic 55-21 victory against Edinburgh in Johannesburg, and the Vodacom Bulls continued to hold the fort as they racked up a 47-21 victory against Ulster in Pretoria.

Abroad, the Hollywoodbets Sharks kept the SA flag flying high as they scored a try in the dying seconds for a valuable 33-30 victory against the Dragons in Newport, and the DHL Stormers maintained their unbeaten record against Zebre Parma by defeating the Italians 36-5.

Sublime first half sees Emirates Lions play Edinburg off the park

A sublime first half by the Emirates Lions saw them blow Edinburgh off the park in their 55-21 Vodacom United Rugby Championship victory at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday, with the hosts running circles around Scots, which they backed up with a solid defensive effort to earn seven tries to none by the visitors in a completely dominant first half for 48-0 halftime lead.

They added their eighth try late in the second half to finish the match with an impressive tally while allowing the visitors only three, although they had to weather a determined fightback by the opposition in the second half in which they scored all their points in 22 minutes.

With their forwards and backs coming doing their bit to give the team a strong platform to build from, Rabz Maxwane scored a hat-trick – two tries in the first half and one in the closing stages of the match – while Springbok wing Edwill van der Merwe scored a brace to add to tries by fellow new Bok Quan Horn, Rynharndt Jonker, and Franke Horn.

Their other first-half points were compliments of a penalty goal by Wolhuter in the third minute.

Edinburgh fought back strongly in the second half retaining possession and running hard at the Emirates Lions, and this combined with their solid forward play saw them touch down three times to take their score to 21 points, while they shut out the hosts on defence for most of the second stanza.

The Emirates Lions, however, kept fighting until the end and this paid off with their eighth try by Maxwane, who used his speed to wrap up his hat-trick and secure the Johannesburgers’ their second victory in a row in the competition.

Emirates Lions 55 (48) – Tries: Rabz Maxwane (3), Edwill van der Merwe (2), Quan Horn, Franke Horn, Rynhardt Jonker Conversions: Kade Wolhuter (3), Sanele Nohamba (2), Morne van den Berg. Penalty Goal: Wolhuter.

Edinburgh 21 (0) – Tries: Grant Gilchrist, Patrick Harrison, Ben Muncaster. Conversions: Ben Healy (2), Ross Thompson.

Vodacom Bulls 47 (21) – Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, David Kriel, Johan Grobbelaar, Canan Moodie, Cameron Hanekom, Boeta Chamberlain, Elrigh Louw. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3), David Kriel (2), Keagan Johannes.

Ulster 21 (7) – Tries: Jacob Stockdale, Ben Carson, Stewart Moore. Conversions: Nathan Doak, James Humphreys (2).

Dragons 30 (22) – Tries: Taine Basham, Chris Coleman, Rhodri Williams, Ben Carter. Conversions: Lloyd Evans (2). Penalty Goals: Lloyd Evans, Will Reed.

Hollywoodbets Sharks 33 (12) – Tries: Vincent Tshituka, Jaden Hendrikse, Jurenzo Julius, Ethan Hooker, Fez Mbatha. Conversions: Siya Masuku (4).

Zebre Parma 5 (0) – Try: Simone Gesi.

DHL Stormers 36 (16) – Tries: Leolin Zas (2), Suleiman Hartzenberg, Angelo Davids. Conversions: Jurie Mathee, Damian Willemse. Penalty Goals: Mathee (4).

SA Rugby