Dan du Preez faced off against British & Irish Lions No 8 Sam Simmonds as the Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs battled it out in this past weekend’s action.
PREMIERSHIP
The Sale Sharks completed their Premiership round-robin campaign with a 20-19 loss to the Exeter Chiefs, letting a 14-9 half-time lead slip.
Four players in the current Springbok squad – Faf de Klerk, Dan du Preez, Jean-Luc du Preez and Coenie Oosthuizen – all started for the Sharks, who also had Akker van der Merwe in their starting lineup.
The match presented a face-off between Dan du Preez, at No 8 for Sale, and Sam Simmonds, who started at No 8 for Exeter. In total, Du Preez made 12 carries for 36 metres, six passes, two offloads, beating one defender and making nine tackles.
It was also a good outing for Jean-Luc du Preez at lock, as he made 50m from 10 carries, one offload, one clean break and nine tackles.
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The Sale Sharks will face the Exeter Chiefs again in the Premiership semi-finals on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Jasper Wiese finished his 2020 domestic season on a high as the Leicester Tigers held on to claim a 38-31 win over Wasps.
Wiese played 57 minutes at No 8 for Leicester and made 44m from eight carries, two clean breaks, beating three defenders and completing 10 tackles.
RFU CHAMPIONSHIP
Bok tighthead Vincent Koch had a standout game as Saracens ruthlessly crushed the Ealing Trailfinders 60-0 in the first leg of the final on Sunday. Koch looked in good form and, together with England and British & Irish Lions internationals Jamie George and Mako Vunipola, dominated the scrum battle.
FRENCH TOP 14
Bordeaux, without hooker Joseph Dweba in their match-day 23, progressed to the Top 14 semi-finals after beating Clermont 25-16 in the qualifiers. They will be facing Cheslin Kolbe, Rynhardt Elstadt and Toulouse in the semi-finals on Saturday evening.
RAINBOW CUP SA
The Bulls progressed to the Rainbow Cup final after claiming a 34-22 win over the Sharks in Durban.
Most attention would have been on Marcell Coetzee, who is effectively on standby following the injury to Duane Vermeulen. Compared to last weekend’s stunning Bulls debut for the back rower, this was a much quieter performance, but he was industrious on defence and solid when it came to receiving kick-offs.
At flyhalf, Morne Steyn controlled proceedings superbly on a night to forget for Curwin Bosch, while Bulls opensider Marco van Staden also demonstrated why he has earned a call-up to the national squad despite serving a period in the sin bin.
Yet again, Cornal Hendricks also looked all class, and would have particularly brought a smile to the face of onlookers when he had to pack down at flank and celebrated a scrum penalty after the Bulls had been reduced to 14 men. However, his real highlight was another memorable solo try in the first stanza.
For the Sharks, Aphelele Fassi had a solid outing at fullback, while Lukhanyo Am provided a try-assist and Siya Kolisi scored a second-half try.
Photo: Alex Davidson/Getty Images
