The Vodacom Bulls beat the 10bet Lions 57-15 and the DHL Stormers beat the Hollywoodbets Sharks 39-22 in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship derbies on Saturday, 10 October 2026.
Both winners took five points. Both losers took nothing.
The Sharks and the Lions arrived unbeaten after two rounds. They leave with a blank line on a table that only has six matches in it.
What One Derby Costs In The South African Shield
The South African Shield is settled on derby results alone. Only matches between the four South African sides count towards it, and each side plays the other three home and away.
Six matches each, for a whole season. Lose one badly and a sixth of the Shield campaign is gone in eighty minutes.
- Vodacom Bulls — 5 points
- DHL Stormers — 5 points
- Hollywoodbets Sharks — 0 points
- 10bet Lions — 0 points
Five is the maximum from one derby: four for the win, one for the try bonus a side earns by scoring four tries or more.
Neither loser was within seven points at the final whistle, so neither picked up a losing bonus either.
The two leaders are level on five, but not on everything. The Bulls built a 42-point margin at Loftus Versfeld and the Stormers built 17 at DHL Stadium, and in a table this short that is the separator already doing its work.
The Springboks Walked Back In At Loftus Versfeld
The Bulls scored nine tries to two and led 31-10 at the break.
Grobbelaar, Steenekamp, Hanekom and Moodie started after Springbok duty, with Pollard, van Staden, Wiese and Louw on the bench. The Lions had built their 2-0 start while most of those players were away.
“It felt like we played against 10 or 12 Springboks today” – Ivan van Rooyen
Cameron Hanekom scored twice in his first match of the season for the side, one of them off a hand-off that put the first defender on the ground.
Bulls try scorers:
- Harold Vorster
- Johan Grobbelaar
- Cameron Hanekom (2)
- Jeandre Rudolph
- Canan Moodie
- JF van Heerden
- Cheswill Jooste
- Sebastian de Klerk
Curwin Bosch and Handre Pollard converted three each. Moodie finished a long pass, and Jooste and de Klerk came late.
Lions scrum-half Morne van den Berg went to the bin around the 26th minute for a cynical infringement. The Bulls scored twice while he sat.
Siba Qoma and Morne Brandon scored the Lions tries, with Chris Smith converting one and landing a penalty.
Johan Ackermann had spent the week worried about travel fatigue and illness after the trip to Italy and Ireland.
“It wasn’t perfect, there were still mistakes, but you could see they were buying into what we want to do.” – Johan Ackermann
Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s First Afternoon Back
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu played his first match of the campaign on Saturday, back from the high ankle syndesmosis injury he picked up in last season’s URC quarter-final and straight off Springbok duty.
He was named Player of the Match. He kicked a penalty and three conversions, and 19 times from hand for 606 metres.
The Stormers scored six tries to three and led 22-8 at the break, with 42,368 in DHL Stadium for their first home match of the season.
Three of the six tries came from the maul. Hacjivah Dayimani scored two of them off forward dominance, and the scrum won penalty after penalty.
Stormers try scorers:
- Seabelo Senatla
- Hacjivah Dayimani (2)
- André-Hugo Venter
- Leolin Zas
- JJ Kotze
Leolin Zas scored the bonus-point try early in the second half. The Sharks had beaten the Stormers twice in the URC last season, which gave the afternoon its edge.
“I never thought we were in trouble” – John Dobson
The Sharks lost flyhalf Vusi Moyo to a shoulder injury around the 19th minute, with Gianni Lombard coming on in his place.
Eben Etzebeth left in pain in the mid-thirties and could not continue.
Matt Romao and Manu Tshituka were both sin-binned either side of the break, which left the Sharks down to 13 men for a short spell. Sin-bin time is playing time, and Tshituka’s ran into the second half.
Tshituka, Romao and Phepsi Buthelezi scored the Sharks tries. Lombard added two conversions and a penalty, closing it to 34-22 before the Stormers shut the game down.
JP Pietersen confirmed both injury concerns afterwards and made the point that his side has to be better.
Where The Bulls And Stormers Sit On The Vodacom URC Log
All four South African teams sit inside the top seven after three rounds. Edinburgh lead on 14 points and Glasgow Warriors are second on 13, the only two sides still unbeaten.
| Position | Team | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Vodacom Bulls | 2 | 0 | 1 | +72 | 11 |
| 4 | DHL Stormers | 2 | 0 | 1 | +27 | 11 |
| 5 | Hollywoodbets Sharks | 2 | 0 | 1 | +6 | 10 |
| 7 | 10bet Lions | 2 | 0 | 1 | -25 | 9 |
The Bulls and the Stormers got to 11 points by exactly the same route: a bonus-point win, a four-point defeat in Round 2 that carried a losing bonus, and another bonus-point win on Saturday.
The Bulls lead the pair on points difference, having scored 126 and conceded 54 in three matches.
The URC now breaks for European competition, with the Bulls hosting Stade Français in the Investec Champions Cup.
Round 4 follows on 23 and 24 October 2026: Bulls against Ulster, Stormers against Scarlets, Sharks away to Cardiff and Lions away to Edinburgh.
