Bulls rally to beat Jaguares as Stormers see off Sharks

The Bulls recovered from a rapid Jaguares start to win 43-34 in Super Rugby on Saturday, while the Stormers saw off the Sharks at home. 

Nicolas Sanchez, captain Pablo Matera and Gonzalo Bertranou scored tries, two of them converted, to open up a 19-0 advantage for the visiting Jaguares inside the opening 20 minutes at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

Roused into action, Bulls responded emphatically.

Johnny Kotze, Embrose Papier and Jesse Kriel went over and fly-half Handre Pollard added the extras to see the South African franchise take a narrow 21-19 lead into the half-time break.

Bertranou touched down again in the 46th minute and Sanchez slotted the conversion, but a brace of tries from Jamba Ulengo – together with a score from Marco van Staden – afforded the hosts a degree of comfort.

And Matera’s second try of the match arrived too late for the Argentine side to close the gap, as their seven-match winning streak came to an end. 

HIGHLIGHTS: 2018 Super Rugby Week 18: Bulls v Jaguares@BlueBullsRugby gave their fans something to cheer about in the last game of their home campaign after upsetting @JaguaresARG 43-34 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.#BULvJAG #Week18 #SuperRugby #BullsFamily50K pic.twitter.com/wxgcDttlFC

— Super Rugby (@SuperRugby) July 7, 2018

Later, first-half tries from Cobus Wiese, EW Viljoen and Raymond Rhule set Stormers up to see off Sharks 27-16.

After Robert du Preez kicked three penalties before the break to keep the visitors in touch, Kobus van Wyk ran in a 43rd-minute try, which fly-half Du Preez converted.

But two late Joshua Stander penalties made the result safe for Stormers.

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