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The Lions top the Currie Cup table after an emphatic 42-19 win against the Bulls, but the match of the day happened in Cape Town, where the Stormers XXIII beat the Sharks XV 36-28.
The Lions, with one win in the opening two rounds, scored four tries in the first 35 minutes to overwhelm the Bulls, who are winless after three rounds.
The Lions led 28-0 at half-time and took just one minute after the restart to add a fifth try.
The win took them to 12 league points, one ahead of Griquas and the Cheetahs. The latter two played on Friday evening and Griquas won a thriller 24-21, to inflict a first defeat on the Cheetahs in this season’s competition.
Griquas, the defending champions, lost to the Stormers in the opening round, but have now won two on the bounce.
The Boland Cavaliers, with two wins from two starts, are the only undefeated team. They play at home against the Pumas today, and victory will take them to first place.
The Stormers were humiliated 41-3 in Wellington against Boland a week ago, and a much-changed 23 responded with a five-tries-to-four victory against the Sharks.
Muller dominance
Stormers centre Markus Muller, as he has done throughout his school’s career, dominated the pre-match headlines in anticipation of his Currie Cup debut. Muller, wearing No 13, scored a try and defensively was strong in the tackle.
This time last year, Muller was playing for Paarl Gimnasium in the school’s derby against Paarl Boys High. Fast forward into 2026, and the 19-year-old has made his United Rugby Championship (URC) debut for the Stormers, scored a try for South Africa ‘A’ against Zimbabwe’s Sables and scored South Africa’s only try in the title-winning World Rugby under 20 final against France in Georgia.
The DHL Stadium provided a hint of the healthy state of South African rugby and a glimpse into the future with Junior Boks world champions Muller and replacement prop Danie Kruger very good for the hosts.
World Championship-winning Junior Boks Liam van Wyk (hooker), Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka (prop) and Khuthadzo Rasivhaga (winger) played off the bench for the Sharks, with Junior Boks utility back Luan Gilliomee starting at fullback and finishing at flyhalf.
Gilliomee, who played for the Sharks in the URC last season, was the best of the visiting backs. He created two tries and added a conversion when taking over the goalkicking from veteran No 10 and former Stormer Tim Swiel.
Finest of backdrops
The weather gods delivered the finest of backdrops for the Coastal Derby, and close to 15,000 fans were in attendance, which was massive in the context of several Schools XV derbies played in the Western Cape yesterday.
The biggest of those was in Paarl, where 25,000 watched Paarl Gimnasium beat Paarl Boys High 25-11.
In Cape Town, ill-discipline in the third quarter proved troublesome for the Sharks, and they conceded too many penalties to threaten a win in the final quarter.
Stormers No 8 Wandile Mlaba edged Muller and Gilliomee for the Player of the Match, while teammate, flyhalf Kyle Smith, kicked four conversions and a penalty. Smith was so composed in his general play, he would have been in the discussion for individual match honours.
Both teams showed positive intent after an indifferent first 20 minutes. Equally the two teams were courageous defensively and on multiple occasions defended 15-phase plus attacks.
Up north, the Bulls picked seven Currie Cup debutants, including six of the world champion Junior Boks. It did not have the desired effect as the horror start to the competition continued.
The Bulls after two rounds were minus 44 points in points differential and after 42 minutes against the Lions in round three, they were minus 79 points.
