Some weekends you remember for one moment. This one you will remember for a feeling: the tight chest that arrives with about twenty minutes left, when the legs go, the bench comes on and every decision weighs double. South Africans felt it on Friday night in Scotland, again on Saturday in Cape Town, and three more times before midnight.
This is our South Africa weekend sport recap, and it is less about who won than about how. The sides that finished strongly go into the week top of a log, or top of the world. The ones who let a late lead go are left with a long, honest look at the tape.
The big weekend theme: a South Africa weekend sport recap told from the finish
Strip the weekend back to its final quarters and a pattern appears. At Loftus Versfeld, the Bulls and the Scarlets were all square at 26-26 in the second half. The Bulls did not concede again. In Limerick, the Sharks were down to 14 men when they scored the try that put their game away. And on Saturday night, Mamelodi Sundowns walked out knowing Orlando Pirates had passed them on the log that afternoon, and answered with four goals.
Then the other column. In Glasgow, the Lions were a point ahead with ten minutes to play and finished with nothing. At Athlone, the Springbok Women led Ireland just before the hour and did not score again.
None of this is luck. Benches, discipline and the set piece decide the last 20 minutes. Marcell Coetzee, Sebastian de Klerk and Johan Grobbelaar all came off the bench to score for the Bulls. The Sharks’ match-winning try began with a stolen Munster lineout. The Bok Women, by contrast, lost a player to the sin bin soon after Ireland had gone back in front.
Our view: the final quarter is where a season is won, and this weekend showed which of our teams have learned that.
What we took from it
1. The best performance: the Proteas finish the climb
Think back three weeks. Australia had just won in Durban by 214 runs, and the questions about this Test side wrote themselves. Two Tests later the Proteas have the series 2-1, after an innings win in Gqeberha and a 176-run win in Cape Town on Saturday, when Australia were bowled out for 111 chasing 288. Our third Test report has the final day, and Simon Harmer’s spell, in full.
The prize came with it. The ICC’s men’s Test team rankings now have South Africa first on a rating of 124, with Australia second on 122. The ICC also has South Africa back in the top two of the World Test Championship standings, behind New Zealand.
Our view: the way number one was earned matters more than the number. This side trailed by 100 on first innings in Cape Town and still set a target worth defending, through centuries from Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder. It no longer panics when it is behind.
2. The derby, and the hours that followed
Kaizer Chiefs had gone eight league games without losing. On Saturday afternoon at FNB Stadium, that run ended. Yanela Mbuthuma and Tshepang Moremi scored for Orlando Pirates either side of a Pule Mmodi equaliser, and the 2-1 win, told goal by goal in our derby report, put Pirates top of the Betway Premiership.
They stayed there until late that night. Sundowns kicked off at 20:15, beat Durban City 4-1 with two headers from Thabang Matuludi, as our Sundowns report records, and climbed back above them.
The PSL’s log this morning reads Sundowns 26 points from ten games and Pirates 25 from nine. Work through the wins column and neither has lost a league match yet. Chiefs are fifth on 14, eleven points behind Pirates.
Our view: the derby defeat stings, but the draws column is the bigger worry for Chiefs. Five of their nine league games have ended level, while the top two, Sundowns and Pirates, have drawn three between them.
3. The best away day: a first at Thomond Park, and points to take into the break
The Sharks had never won at Thomond Park. On Saturday night, in the Limerick rain, they did, 15-3 over Munster, with the decisive try scored while prop Ox Nche was in the sin bin. Our Munster v Sharks report has the lineout steal that started it. By SA Rugby magazine’s count, it is also the first time the Sharks have won back-to-back URC games overseas.
Earlier on Saturday both big home sides banked five points: the Stormers beat Ulster 33-7 with five tries, as our Stormers report sets out, and the Bulls ran in eight to beat the Scarlets 54-26, told in our Bulls report.
So three South African sides sit in the top four for the November break. SA Rugby magazine has the Bulls second, the Stormers third and the Sharks fourth. Saturday’s results leave the Bulls and Stormers on 21 points each and the Sharks on 19.
4. The biggest concern: two late leads let go
The Lions came close to the comeback of the weekend and still went home empty-handed. Down 19-3 at half-time in Glasgow on Friday, they scored three second-half tries and led 20-19 with ten minutes left. Glasgow replied with a converted try, then a penalty with the clock in the red, and a nine-point margin meant no losing bonus point either, as our Glasgow v Lions report explains. SA Rugby magazine counts a third away defeat in a row, and the Lions slip to 13th.
The Springbok Women’s Saturday followed a similar script. Vainah Ubisi’s try on 58 minutes put them 17-14 up; Ireland then scored four tries, won 38-17 and took the series 2-0, with Beibhinn Parsons finishing with a hat-trick. Our second Test report has the detail.
Our view: leading late is progress; closing it out is the next lesson. The Bok Women’s season is over, by SA Rugby’s account, and the Lions are not back in the URC until December, so both have time to work on it.
5. The one you may have missed: the rest of the Premiership
While Soweto held the cameras, the rest of the league was busy. These are the PSL’s results, matched by full-time round-ups from EWN and SuperSport.
| Saturday 31 October | Result |
|---|---|
| Milford FC v Sekhukhune United | 1-0 |
| Stellenbosch FC v Chippa United | 0-2 |
| AmaZulu FC v Golden Arrows | 1-0 |
| Polokwane City v TS Galaxy | 0-0 |
| Kruger United v Richards Bay | 3-1 |
Milford, in their first season in the top flight, won with a first-half goal and sit fourth on 18 points. Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya’s goal kept AmaZulu third, on 22 points from nine games. Harold Majadibodu and Imraan Jones scored for Chippa United, only their second league win of the season, according to SuperSport. Wonderboy Makhubu and Ebrahim Seedat had Kruger United, the other newly promoted club, in front before the break, and Richards Bay are now the only side in the league without a win.
And on Friday night, Marumo Gallants finally won one, 3-2 against Siwelele at the ninth attempt, as our Gallants report tells it.
What it means next
The calendar gives everyone a breath. The league round set for Wednesday 4 November has been postponed because of the local government elections, SuperSport and EWN report, so Pirates must wait to play their game in hand. Both Soweto clubs have home knockout cup quarter-finals to come, on dates the PSL has yet to announce.
Turin is next for the Springboks, who face Italy this Saturday in the first of their November Tests; our Nations Championship explainer sets out what is at stake. The South African sides are back in the URC on Saturday 5 December with two derbies: the Lions host the Bulls, and the Sharks host the Stormers.
The Proteas start life at the top against Bangladesh: the first Test is at the Wanderers in Johannesburg from 15 November, the second at Centurion from 23 November, according to the ICC’s schedule.
So here is the Monday thought for the braai. The scoreline tells you who won. The last twenty minutes tell you who is ready. On this weekend’s evidence, the Proteas, the Bulls, the Sharks and Sundowns are ready. The Lions and the Bok Women are closer than their results look, and that is worth holding on to.