SARugbymag.co.za looks back at the South African players who featured for their respective clubs in the third round of the 2020-21 PRO14 season.
– The Scarlets got off the ground with their first win of the campaign by scrapping to a 10-3 victory over Benetton in Treviso on Friday evening. Both teams were without their international players, who had been called up for this past weekend’s Test matches. Uzair Cassiem returned to the Scarlets’ starting lineup after missing their first two games of the season, putting in a solid performance with 16 tackles. Meanwhile, Benetton had Irne Herbst and Eli Snyman as their second-row pairing, while Dewaldt Duvenage started at scrumhalf for the Italian side. Werner Kruger was among the Scarlets’ replacements.
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– Springbok loose forward Marcell Coetzee put in another standout performance to help Ulster continue their unbeaten start to the season with a 40-17 bonus-point win over the Dragons. Coetzee played 55 minutes at No 8 and scored one of Ulster’s six tries when he powered over the line in the fourth minute. Coetzee also picked up a try assist and made a total of 10 tackles, eight passes, 38 running metres from 11 carries and two offloads. Former Lions and Sharks wing Louis Ludik also enjoyed a fine performance for Ulster, scoring a quickfire brace of tries before half time while also beating three defenders. The Dragons had former Stormers loosehead prop Brok Harris on the bench.
– The Ospreys fought back from a 12-3 half-time deficit to beat the Glasgow Warriors for the first time since 2017 in a 23-15 victory. Former Stormers back Huw Jones was among the try-scorers as Glasgow went into the break with a nine-point lead. The Ospreys had tighthead prop Tom Botha on the bench.
– Michael Willemse‘s brace of tries for Edinburgh was in vain as his side fell to a 37-26 loss to Connacht on Sunday. Former Kings hooker Willemse started in an all South African front row alongside props Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel. Willemse scored either side of half time, adding to scrumhalf Nic Groom‘s first-half try, but it was not enough as Connacht condemned Edinburgh to their third successive loss. Jaco van der Walt started at flyhalf for Edinburgh and converted three of their four tries.
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Photo: John Dickson/Sportsfile via Getty Images
