The DHL Stormers, Vodacom Bulls, and Fidelity SecureDrive Lions all remained in the running for hosting Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinals in a riveting penultimate pool round, which delivered a dramatic draw, two bonus-point victories and only one defeat for the South African teams.
The DHL Stormers set the tone for the round as they secured a last-gasp 38-38 draw against Ulster in Belfast on Friday night, and the Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks followed with sensational bonus-point victories on Saturday, thumping Zebre Parma 54-19 in Pretoria, and Benetton 46-7 in Durban.
But it was a heartbreak for the Lions, who leaked three late tries in an epic battle against Investec Champions Cup finalists, Leinster, in Dublin to suffer a disappointing 31-7 defeat, which brought their six-match winning streak to a halt.
The weekend’s results saw the DHL Stormers (59 points) drop from first place on the standings to second – one point behind the Glasgow Warriors and one more than Leinster – while the Vodacom Bulls’ victory saw them leap up to fourth place (54 pts).
With Munster (51 pts) and Cardiff (50 pts) also on the losing side, the Fidelity SecureDrive Lions only dropped on spot to fifth (53 pts), leaving all three teams in contention for home quarterfinals going into the final pool round next week. The Hollywoodbets Sharks held onto the 10th spot on the table with 41 points.
PENALTY TRY SNATCHES VITAL DRAW FOR DHL STORMERS
There was high drama in Belfast on Friday night as a penalty try awarded to the DHL Stormers in the final minute secured them a 38-38 draw against Ulster in a 10-try Vodacom URC thriller at the Affidea Stadium.
With pressure on both teams to produce a top-drawer performance, the game had it all – good running rugby, ferocious defence, breakaway tries, and fantastic fight – and in the end, Ulster’s six tries to four by the DHL Stormers to add to their penalty try, saw the match finish in a stalemate.
The DHL Stormers do just enough for the draw in Belfast 🤝#VURC | #SSRugby pic.twitter.com/Y79TGMm587
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 8, 2026
The hosts opened the scoring in the fourth minute with former Blitzbok Werner Kok dotting down, but this was cancelled out almost immediately by Evan Roos, following a powerful run in the midfield.
The Irishmen found themselves a man down in the ninth minute following a yellow card for a croc roll on Deon Fourie, which was upgraded to a 20-minute red card, but this also took a toll on the South Africans as the DHL Stormers captain left the field injured.
The Capetonians capitalised on this and built momentum on attack, which paved the way for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to score in the 15th minute, and he added a penalty goal to stretch their lead to 17-7. Two tries before the break by Ulster, however, nudged the home side into a 21-17 halftime lead.
Ulster scored the first try in the second stanza, but the DHL Stormers responded with a great try by Imad Khan, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s brace in the 64th minute saw the Capetonians take a handy 31-26 lead.
Ulster, however, kept fighting, and the rewards followed with Kok earning his hat-trick in the 69th minute, and they added another try in the 75th minute to go 38-31 up with four minutes left to play.
Piling pressure on the DHL Stormers, Jurie Matthee was yellow-carded, which reduced them to 14 men for the remainder of the match. Despite this, the visitors fought back bravely, with Leolin Zas being held up over the tryline in the final minute, but a high tackle by the visitors in the process earned them a penalty try to see the match finish in a dramatic 38-all draw.
Scorers:
Ulster 38 (21) – Tries: Werner Kok (3), Zac Ward, Mike Lowry, Eric O'Sullivan. Conversions: Nathan Doak (4).
DHL Stormers 38 (17) – Tries: Evan Roos, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Imad Khan, penalty try. Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (4). Penalty Goal: Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
VODACOM BULLS OUTCLASS ZEBRE FOR VITAL BONUS POINT WIN
The Vodacom Bulls produced a classy display of rugby in a largely one-sided encounter against Zebre Parma at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday to secure an invaluable bonus-point 54-19 victory, with the hosts scoring an impressive eight tries to three, to take a rewarding leap up the Vodacom URC standings.
The men from Pretoria dominated territory and possession throughout the game and looked set to secure a big victory from the outset. They did not disappoint, earning their bonus point by the 30th minute, and they added four tries in the second half to strike a half-century of points.
The Bulls claim their 11th victory of the #VURC season 🐂🔵#SSRugby pic.twitter.com/3AKsPrTD7K
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 9, 2026
The Vodacom Bulls attacked strongly from the kick-off, and it took only two minutes for veteran Springbok Willie le Roux to score their first try from great running and passing, and they built on this with their second try in the 13th minute from a strong run by Canan Moodie on the outside to take a 14-0 lead.
Zebre Parma hit back with an intercept try in the 19th minute, but this was cancelled out as Cheswill Jooste and Sergeal Petersen added their names to the scoresheet to snatch their bonus point and an encouraging 26-7 lead. The Vodacom Bulls leaked their second try on the stroke of halftime, but this did not dampen their spirits, as they entered the sheds 26-12 up.
The men in blue picked up where they left off when play resumed with Ruan Vermaak touching down, but the Italians again hit back with their third try at the end of the third quarter to reduce their deficit to 33-19.
It was one-way traffic for the Vodacom Bulls in the final quarter, as Cameron Hanekom scored after picking up the ball at the base of a ruck, before Harold Vorster darted through a big hole in the defence, and Jeandre Rudolph took them over the 50-point mark after side-stepping a defender on the outside to force his way over, which sealed them an important 54-19 victory.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls 54 (26) – Tries: Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie, Cheswill Jooste, Sergeal Petersen, Ruan Vermaak, Cameron Hanekom, Harold Vorster, Jeandre Rudolph. Conversions: Le Roux (7).
Zebre Parma 19 (12) – Tries: Jacopo Trulla, Giampietro Ribaldi, Thomas Dominguez. Conversions: Martin Roger Farias (2).
JULIUS HAT-TRICK STEERS SHARKS TO BIG WIN OVER BENETTON
The Hollywoodbets Sharks bounced back strongly from two disappointing defeats on tour to give their fans something to smile about in their penultimate Vodacom URC match at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, as they delivered a stunning attacking display to outplay Benetton for an emphatic 46-7 victory, with Jurenzo Julius scoring a hat-trick, and Edwill van der Merwe a rewarding brace.
Such was the quality of their play, they had full control of the match from the outset, forcing the Italians to defend most of the time and feed off a few scraps, and it paid off with four tries to none by the visitors in the first half, and they added four more in the second stanza to finish the match with an impressive eight tries to one.
A dominant victory for the Hollywoodbets Sharks in their penultimate home game of the season 🏉🦈#VURC | #SSRugby pic.twitter.com/byCmkAtQQ9
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 9, 2026
The Durbanites applied pressure consistently, and it paid off with tries in regular intervals, the first of which was scored by Van der Merwe in the 11th minute, while Julius followed suit early in the second quarter to push them 10-0 up.
Benetton suffered a big blow in the 27th minute as Bautista Bernasconi received a yellow card, and the KwaZulu-Natalians immediately capitalised on this with Siya Kolisi forcing his way over the chalk, before breaking through for their bonus-point try on the stroke of halftime with Van der Merwe earning his brace shortly after Jacob Umaga received a red card to take a handy 20-0 lead.
They built on this after the break, with Andre Esterhuizen adding their fifth try after only three minutes of play, and there was no coming back for Benetton after Julius scored two more tries in quick succession for his hat-trick, which pushed them 41-0 up with 17 minutes left on the clock.
Benetton fought tooth and nail to finish the match strongly, and it paid off with a consolation try in the dying minutes, but the Hollywoodbets Sharks had the last say as Litelihle Bester dived over in the corner to steer his team to a gratifying 46-7 victory.
Scorers:
Hollywoodbets Sharks 46 (20) – Tries: Edwill van der Merwe (2), Jurenzo Julius (3), Siya Kolisi, Andre Esterhuizen, Litelihle Bester. Conversions: Zekethelo Siyaya, Jean Smith (2).
Benetton 7 (0) – Try: Cristiano Tizzano. Conversion: Alessandro Garbisi.
FIDELITY SECUREDRIVE LIONS GO DOWN FIGHTING AGAINST LEINSTER
The Fidelity SecureDrive Lions went down fighting in a nail-biting Vodacom URC encounter against the sdefending champions, Leinster, at the Aviva Stadium in a match which was only really decided in the closing 10 minutes when the hosts scored three late tries to earn the bonus-point 31-7 victory.
The first half was hard-fought as both teams tried to gain ascendancy, with Leinster doing well to retain possession and force the Johannesburgers to defend most of the time. This paid off with the Irishmen scoring two tries to one by the visitors for a 14-7 halftime lead.
The #VURC champions move into third on the standings 🔵🏉#SSRugby pic.twitter.com/RNR77YXoyj
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 9, 2026
The hosts made their presence felt from the outset, scoring their first try in the second minute from two well-timed kicks en route to the tryline, but both teams were denied possible tries before Leinster again crashed over from strong forward play in the 25th minute to take a 14-0 lead.
The Fidelity Securedrive Lions, however, forced their way back into the game six minutes before halftime as Francke Horn crashed over from a powerful run, and the successful conversion left them trailing by only seven points going into the break.
It was a fast and furious second half with both teams threatening on attack, and it took 29 minutes for the first points to be scored in the half as Leinster found space out wide and capitalised on their effective support play to score three tries within 10 minutes, which secured their bonus point and pushed the match out of range for the Gauteng outfit.
While the Fidelity Securedrive Lions can be proud of their admirable defence, which denied Leinster possible tries on a few occasions, they will be disappointed about the breakdown turnovers and errors at crucial times on attack, which stunted much of their hard work.
Scorers:
Leinster 31 (14) – Tries: Jamie Osborne, Tom Clarkson, Hugo Keenan, Rieko Ioane, Jimmy O'Brien. Conversions: Sam Prendergast (2), Ciaran Frawley.
Fidelity Securedrive Lions 7 (7) – Try: Francke Horn. Conversion: Chris Smith.