Saturday’s thrilling South African derby round in the United Rugby Championship (URC) delivered victories for the lower ranked teams on the log with the Lions holding out the Stormers in Johannesburg before the Sharks shocked the Bulls in Pretoria.

These victories saw the teams from Johannesburg and Durban make up valuable ground on the standings and blew the race to the SA Shield wide open.

HERE IS HOW THE LATEST URC LOG LOOKS AS THE SHARKS AND LIONS MAKE IMPORTANT PROGRESS

RESULTS RECAP

The Lions delivered a quality first-half performance and built up a 24-6 halftime lead against the Stormers at Emirates Airline Park, which paved the way for a rewarding 30-23 victory.

Meanwhile the Sharks overcame three yellow cards, resulting in them being reduced to 12 men at one stage early in the second half, to outplay the Bulls for a memorable 29-19 bonus-point win at Loftus Versfeld.

Despite losing, the Bulls remain in third place on the table with 35 points – 17 behind log-leaders Leinster and trailing the second-placed Glasgow Warriors by two points, although the Scottish defending champions could extend their lead over the Pretoria outfit later on Sunday if they register a win against the Dragons in Wales.

Following their full-house of points in Pretoria, the Sharks are now only one point behind the Bulls on 34 after 10 matches, but both these sides still have a game in hand over their Northern Hemisphere counterparts.

The 12th placed Lions, on 23 points after nine matches, reduced their deficit against the 10th placed Stormers to only one point.

With only four points separating the eighth-placed Scarlets and the Lions, all four SA sides are still well in the race for playoff places later in the season with seven regular pool rounds remaining.

WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF THESE LATEST RESULTS?

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Src: TheSouthAfrican.com - https://rugga.co.za/sharks/updated-urc-log-after-bigs-wins-for-sharks-lions/