Saffas Abroad: Du Preez twins excel despite Sale defeat

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SARugbymag.co.za looks back at the South African players who featured for their respective clubs in the Premiership this weekend.

– Bath climbed into third place on the Premiership table by claiming a 37-22 bonus-point victory over the Sale Sharks, who dropped down from second to fourth. Jean-Luc du Preez started at lock for the Sharks and enjoyed a standout game with ball in hand, making 13 carries for 41 metres, beating seven defenders, with two clean breaks, two passes and one offload. On defence, Du Preez made six tackle attempts, missing two, while he also poached a lineout. His twin brother, Daniel, came off the bench for the Sharks early in the second half and made five carries for 19m and beat two defenders. Both Du Preez brothers scored tries in the second half of the match. Rohan Janse van Rensburg also continued his good form for the Sharks, making eight carries for 42m, beating three defenders and opening the scoring when he powered over the tryline in the third minute of the match. Faf de Klerk made two linebreaks for Sale, while hooker Akker van der Merwe missed none of his seven tackle attempts. The Sharks were captained by Jono Ross, who was yellow-carded in the first half, but still had an impact, missing none of his seven tackles and beating three defenders. Ross had to play hooker in the final 10 minutes, when Van der Merwe went off injured, but nailed both of his lineout throws. Bath brought loosehead prop Juan Schoeman off the bench and he made five tackles in 13 minutes. Coenie Oosthuizen and Cobus Wiese were both on the bench for Sale.

WATCH: Du Preez twins fire for Sale

– Francois Hougaard scored a brace of tries to help the struggling Worcester Warriors end a three-match losing streak by beating London Irish 40-25. The scrumhalf scored a try in each half and assisted another try to help his side to a bonus-point win. In total, Hougaard made 92 passes, 33m from six carries, three clean breaks, one offload and beat two defenders. The Warriors also had Francois Venter at outside centre and Nic Schonert at tighthead prop, who was replaced by fellow South African Richard Palframan in the second half. Scotland-capped No 8 Cornell du Preez was typically solid in defence for the Warriors, missing none of his 12 tackles while he also made 13 passes and two offloads. London Irish had Sebastian de Chaves at lock, who made 12 tackles in just under 60 minutes.

– Namibia international Janco Venter made a massive impact in his very first start for Saracens, scoring a try to help them beat the league-leading Exeter Chiefs 40-17. Venter outshone opposite number and Chiefs captain Don Armand as both sides fielded much-changed lineups with a view to a busy upcoming schedule starting with this weekend’s European Champions Cup quarter-finals. In total, Venter, who played in South Africa for Maties and Western Province, made 41m from 11 carries, 13 tackles (missing two) and three clean breaks.

– The Leicester Tigers arrested a losing run of three matches as they fought to claim a 28-24 win over the Northampton Saints, who are now five matches without a victory. Hanro Liebenberg started at No 8 for the Tigers and made 10 carries for 48m, beating four defenders, making two offloads and one clean break.  The Northampton Saints had loosehead prop Francois van Wyk in their starting lineup.

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Photo: Getty Images

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Dylan Jack