The Lions were the only local team to suffer defeat, going down 29-20 to the unbeaten Glasgow Warriors in Scotland on Friday evening.

However, Saturday belonged to the South African sides, with the Stormers producing a strong second-half display to beat Ulster 33-7 in Cape Town, before the Bulls ran in eight tries in a convincing 54-26 victory over the Scarlets in Pretoria.

The Sharks completed a memorable weekend with a hard-fought 15-3 triumph over Munster in Limerick, securing only their second victory in Ireland.

Glasgow remain at the summit of the standings on 23 points, with the Bulls second on 21. The Stormers occupy third place, also on 21 points, while the Sharks and Edinburgh are tied on 19.

The Lions, meanwhile, have slipped to 13th position on nine points after a difficult run of results.

The competition resumes on Saturday, 5 December, with two eagerly anticipated South African derbies. The Lions host the Bulls in Johannesburg, while the Stormers welcome the Sharks to Cape Town.

The Lions will be disappointed with their defeat in Glasgow, particularly after producing a spirited comeback in the second half.

Trailing 19-3 at the break, the Johannesburg side showed plenty of character to turn the contest around. Tries by Morné van den Berg and Siba Mahashe brought them back into contention before Morné Brandon crossed with 10 minutes remaining to give the visitors a 20-19 lead.

However, Glasgow had the final say, with Ollie Smith scoring a converted try in the closing stages before George Horne added a penalty in injury time to secure the victory.

In Cape Town, the Stormers had to be patient before finding their rhythm against Ulster. The visitors opened the scoring through David McCann, but JD Schickerling's try brought the teams level before half-time.

Paul de Villiers then capitalised on a charged-down kick to put the hosts ahead, before Evan Roos produced a superb 60-metre solo effort to extend their advantage.

The Stormers finished strongly, with Ruhan Nel collecting a pinpoint cross-kick from Yaqeen Ahmed for the bonus-point try. Ahmed added the finishing touch himself to complete a five-try performance.

At Loftus Versfeld, the Bulls were made to work for their victory despite opening up a 19-0 lead against the Scarlets.

The Welsh visitors fought their way back into the match and briefly drew level at 26-26 early in the second half. However, the Bulls found another gear in the closing stages, using their forward dominance and attacking quality to pull clear.

Marcell Coetzee and Dylan Maart both crossed twice, while Jeandre Rudolph, Willie le Roux, Sebastian de Klerk and Johan Grobbelaar also got onto the scoresheet in an eight-try performance.

The Sharks, meanwhile, produced arguably the weekend's most significant result by overcoming Munster at the intimidating Thomond Park.

Gianni Lombard opened the scoring with a try in the first half, and the Durban side defended resolutely to restrict their hosts to just three points.

Yaqeen Ahmed - X

Despite losing Springbok prop Ox Nché to the sin bin, the Sharks remained composed. A strong run by Nick Hatton created the opportunity for Ivan van Zyl to score their second try, with Lombard adding the conversion and a penalty.

The 15-3 victory was only the Sharks' second in 13 matches on Irish soil and reinforced their credentials as genuine contenders this season.

With three South African teams firmly established in the top four, the local challenge is well placed heading into the international break.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport