It was a much better weekend for the South African teams in the United Rugby Championship with only the Stormers being unable to secure a win.

On Friday evening the Stormers earned their fourth consecutive defeat in Europe after losing 31-24 to the Cardiff Blues.

On Saturday the Lions were impressive with a 61-19 win against Zebre in Johannesburg, while in Pretoria, the Bulls were too strong for Connacht as they recorded a 53-27 win.

Over in Durban, the Sharks finally broke their duck after five straight defeats with a big 69-14 win against the Dragons.

The Sharks coach, John Plumtree, said the win has certainly given their confidence a boost.

“I thought the returning Springboks were all great,” said Plumtree.

“It's not easy when you come back from such a high like that. Some of them haven't played rugby for quite a while, so they were a little bit rusty and a little bit nervous.

“But the time they had tonight will be good for next week. They were all great during the week as well. They just provide that confidence for the rest of the group.

“We're still not there yet, not as clinical as we want to be, especially in our own 22, and there’s still plenty to work on but at least Monday becomes a little bit easier this week.

“We know how tough it's going to be next week at Loftus. They are playing well. They pretty easily put away Connacht that we lost to, so I've got a lot of respect for that Bulls team and it's certainly going to be a tough challenge.”

The Bulls coach, Jake White, in turn said he was proud of the way his team managed to return to winning ways and that being able to win home games remains very important.

“You need to win your home games and you need to win away games,” said White.

“Away games are like bonuses and home games are non-negotiable. You look at the record, and I think there is about a 65 percent chance of winning your home games, across the board.

“Playing away from home, every bonus point you can get is like gold.

This week the Bulls face the Sharks, the Lions will entertain the Dragons and the Stormers are home to Zebre.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport