At Ellis Park in Johannesburg, the Lions lost a high-scoring encounter to Benetton, going down 42-31 to the visitors from Italy. 

Benetton claimed a historic bonus-point win – their first-ever victory in Johannesburg – dealing a major blow to the Lions’ URC playoff hopes. Former England fly-half Jacob Umaga, nephew of All Blacks legend Tana Umaga, led the charge with 22 points, including a try, three penalties, and four conversions.

Ignacio Mendy. Photo: Benetton

The Italian outfit got off to a flying start, racing to a 22-3 lead within 23 minutes, with Ignacio Mendy grabbing two tries. The Lions hit back with tries from Ruan Venter, Marius Louw, Edwill van der Merwe and JC Pretorius, but handling errors and shaky defence hampered their comeback efforts.

Even with Benetton reduced to 13 men after receiving three yellow cards in the second half, the Lions couldn’t make the numerical advantage count.

This result marks the Lions’ fifth straight loss in all competitions and leaves them 14th on the URC log with 31 points – effectively ending their playoff hopes.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Photo: X

Meanwhile, at Cape Town Stadium in the Mother City, Stormers flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu stole the spotlight with a first-half hat-trick in their hard-fought 34-29 win over a determined Connacht side from Ireland. 

Feinberg-Mngomezulu racked up 24 points in total, adding three conversions and a penalty to his three tries. Evan Roos and Suleiman Hartzenberg also dotted down for the home side.

Connacht fought back with five tries of their own, including a brace from Shane Jennings, and further scores from Conor Oliver, Dylan Tierney-Martin, and Josh Murphy. However, Jack Carty’s missed conversions came back to haunt them.

Marcell Coetzee. Photo: X

In the dying moments, Santiago Cordero looked to have snatched a dramatic match-winner, but the try was chalked off for obstruction in the build-up. The loss further dents Connacht’s playoff ambitions, with just two wins from their last nine URC matches.

The Stormers, on the other hand, moved up to eighth on the log and into the playoff positions – but the job is far from done. Over in Limerick, it was a historic night for the Bulls, who became the first South African side to beat Munster at Thomond Park with a gritty 16-13 victory.

Marcell Coetzee dotted down early, and two penalties from Johan Goosen gave the visitors a 13-10 half-time lead. Munster stayed in the fight through Jack Crowley, who slotted two penalties and converted his own try.

‘Win keeps the Bulls in the running to move into second place on the log’

But it was a late penalty in the 73rd minute from replacement Keagan Johannes that proved to be the difference. Despite a relentless 17-phase attack in the dying moments, Munster couldn’t break down the Bulls’ determined defence.

The win keeps the Bulls in the running to move into second place on the log next week – if they can beat defending champions Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium.

Franco Smith’s side remains just ahead of the Bulls after they managed to grind out a 14-6 win over Zebre in Parma on Saturday night.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek mvh