SARugbymag.co.za looks back at the past weekend's English Premiership and Celtic Pro12 matches, which involved South African players.
ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP
– The Leicester Tigers broke into the fop four with a narrow 18-15 victory over Gloucester. Lock Sebastian de Chaves played for the Tigers, in a tryless contest at Welford Road.
– London Welsh were thrashed 52-12 by the Sale Sharks at Kassam Stadium. Flank Ben Pienaar was named in London Welsh's match-day squad.
– Saracens, with centre Brad Barritt, scrumhalf Neil de Kock, flank Ernst Joubert, lock Alistair Hargreaves and prop Petrus du Plessis, claimed a vital 34-24 win over Bath in London. Springbok flank Francois Louw started for Bath, who lost despite a late surge.
CELTIC PRO12
– Ruan Pienaar slotted five conversions and a penalty, as Ulster hammered Treviso 43-3 at Ravenhill. Louis Ludik, Franco van der Merwe, Wiehahn Herbst and Rob Herring all represented Ulster from the start, while Robbie Diack came on in the 53rd minute. Lock Corniel van Zyl and flank Meyer Swanepoel turned out for the Italian side.
– Edinburgh defeated the Neath-Swansea Ospreys 24-16 in the Scottish capital. Lock Anton Bresler and WP Nel were on duty for the winners, with former EP Kings captain Andries Strauss among the reserves.
– Prop BJ Botha and his Munster teammates delivered a powerful second-half performance to record a 33-16 win against the Cardiff Blues. The result moved Munster to the top of the standings.
– The Llanelli Scarlets toppled Connacht 32-14 to boost their chances of a top-six finish. Locks Johan Snyman and prop Jacobie Adriaanse played for the Scarlets. Wing Danie Poolman was in the unfamiliar position of outside centre for Connacht and Quinn Roux played lock.
– Zebre lost 54-10 to the Glasgow Warriors at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi. Flank Tyrone Holmes and wing DTH van der Merwe started for Glasgow with the latter scoring one of their eight tries. Josh Strauss and Rossouw de Klerk came off the bench for the winners, while fullback Hennie Daniller made Zebre's run-on XV.
– The Newport Gwent Dragons recorded their first victory over Leinster since 2009, when they held on for a narrow 16-14 win at the RDS Arena. Prop Brok Harris and lock Ligtoring Landman did service for the Dragons, while hooker Richardt Strauss turned out for Leinster.
Compiled by Mariette Adams
Photo: Peter Muhley/AFP Photo
