A raft of Irish stars came to the fore as Leinster and Sharks whetted the appetite for next month’s Autumn Nations Series clash between Ireland and South Africa in Dublin.
Garry Ringrose crossed twice while Andrew Porter, Robbie Henshaw and Johnny Sexton also dotted down as Leinster ran out 54-34 winners in a 13-try extravaganza at the RDS Arena, Sexton adding seven conversions.
Sharks were shorn of their Springbok regulars, including captain Siya Kolisi, but Leinster’s Irish contingent will be relishing the chance to back up their domestic performances on the international scene when they welcome Kolisi’s side on November 5.
South Africa also visit Italy on their northern hemisphere tour and Herschel Jantjies will return with fond memories after scoring in Stormers’ 37-20 win over Zebre on Saturday, a match which also saw Damian Willemse and Salmaan Moerat line up for the visitors.
Scotland forwards Matt Fagerson and Scott Cummings crossed in Glasgow Warriors’ 35-21 win over Bulls while in-form Darcy Graham pulled off a fine finish in Edinburgh’s 22-19 defeat against Lions but later came off injured, as did compatriots Hamish Watson and Stuart McInally.
Elsewhere in the United Rugby Championship, Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams scored the decisive try in Cardiff’s 16-10 derby victory at Scarlets and Italy’s Edoardo Padovani touched down for Benetton in their 34-14 triumph against Dragons.
A host of Argentina internationals impressed in the English Premiership as Los Pumas continue to look ahead to their trip to Twickenham on November 6.
Matias Alemanno scored twice for Gloucester in their 21-17 win at neighbours Bath, Santiago Socino also going over, while Mateo Carreras crossed in a losing cause for Newcastle Falcons against Saracens.
Owen Farrell kicked nine points for the London outfit in their 34-14 win at Kingston Park, with Max Malins – who made his England debut in the 2020 autumn – scoring twice.
Also at the double was Jack Nowell, who starred in Exeter Chiefs’ convincing 50-14 win at Bristol Bears – Luke Cowan-Dickie also crossed for the Devonians.
Raffi Quirke impressed on his entrance to the international stage during last year’s Autumn Nations Series, scoring England’s winning try against South Africa, and had a significant impact off the bench to inspire Sale Sharks to victory over champions Leicester Tigers.
The scrum-half made one try for his international teammate Tom Curry and later crossed himself as the visitors overturned a 16-12 half-time deficit with 14 unanswered points in the second 40 minutes.
In the French Top 14, Antoine Dupont scored for leaders Toulouse as they overcame Clermont-Auvergne 46-10, Melvyn Jaminet sealing the victory with his first try for the club following his summer move from Perpignan.
Gaël Fickou made his mark in his first appearance of the season for Racing, scoring in the 26-13 win over Pau which included 16 points from the boot of Scotland fly-half Finn Russell.
And there was good news from a South African perspective as the electric Cheslin Kolbe marked his return from injury with a try inside two minutes of his Toulon comeback, helping them beat Brive 47-0.
