The Sharks fought back from a 13-point second half deficit before clinching a 20-19 victory against the Dragons in their United Rugby Championship encounter at Rodney Parade on Saturday.

The men from Durban were made to work very hard but eventually got the job done with Grant Williams and Thaakir Abrahams crossing for tries, while Boeta Chamberlain contributed 12 points courtesy of two conversions and theee penalties.

For the home side, Elliot Dee scored a try and Will Reed added four penalties and a conversion.

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The Dragons were leading with four minutes to go until a try from Abrahams along with Chamberlain’s conversion meant the hosts had to make do with a losing bonus point.

In the early stages of this contest the Sharks sent the Dragons scrum backwards at a rate of knots which allowed Chamberlain to open the scoring from the kicking tee.

Reed got the Dragons level with a successful penalty, and he kicked them ahead after the visitors were penalised for illegally collapsing a maul.

The Dragons turned the tables on the Sharks at the scrum with Ntuthuko Mchunu penalised which allowed Reed to extend the Welsh club’s lead.

Chamberlain and Reed exchanged penalties before the break meaning the Dragons turned around with a 12-6 lead.

The home side turned the screw after the interval and threatened to break clear.

A lovely offload from Rio Dyer sent Angus O’Brien racing through a gap. The former Scarlet found Rhodri Williams, who was unable to find a supporting team-mate but the referee was playing advantage which allowed Reed to pump the ball into the Sharks 22.

The home side set themselves well in the resulting maul with Dee powering over from short range for a try which Reed converted.

The Sharks threw the kitchen sink at the Dragons as they desperately tried to force their way back into the game.

The South African side created opportunities with Phepsi Buthelezi breaking through only to be turned over by Basham.

On another occasion Werner Kok raced 50 metres up field and managed to release Ben Tapuai but the Dragons’ scramble defence kept them at bay.

But, with less than 20 minutes remaining, the Sharks got back in the game when Williams intercepted a loose pass from O’Brien to score.

The visitors then took the lead with just four minutes left, and it proved decisive.

Sikhumbuzo Notshe broke through Reed’s tackle before offloading to Marnus Potgieter who put Abrahams over for the try which Chamberlain, crucially, converted.

Munster see off Zebre Parma to seal first win of the season

Munster’s superior maul delivered their opening win of the season as they overcame Zebre Parma 21-5 in a drab United Rugby Championship encounter at Musgrave Park.

Ben Healy converted tries from Niall Scannell (2) and Keynan Knox to give Graham Rowntree’s side a 21-0 half-time lead. Zebre suffered a couple of injury blows and had lock Gabriele Venditti sin-binned.

Replacement Lorenzo Pani’s opportunist 44th-minute effort got the Italians off the mark, but a sloppy closing half an hour saw Munster miss out on the bonus point.

Benetton hold off Scarlets fightback in Treviso

A second-half Scarlets fightback fell short as the Welsh region suffered a 34-23 defeat to Benetton in Treviso.

Dwayne Peel’s men trailed 26-9 heading into the final quarter but rallied with tries from Sione Kalamafoni and Johnny Williams, while the returning Leigh Halfpenny contributed nine points and Rhys Patchell four to the Scarlets’ cause.

However, fly-half Tomas Albornoz had laid a strong foundation for the home side, scoring their first 19 points, including a try on the half-hour mark. Edoardo Padovani and Tommaso Menoncello also went over after the break.

Rhyno Smith took on kicking duties from Albornoz late on and added five points as Benetton claimed a first win over the Scarlets since 2019.

Keelan Giles shines as Ospreys put Glasgow Warriors to the sword

Keelan Giles scored a pair of tries as the Ospreys registered a 32-17 bonus-point victory over Glasgow in Swansea – their first win of the season.

The speedy winger had another ruled out by the TMO for a knock-on but still took his try tally this season to four to give Wales head coach Wayne Pivac a nudge ahead of the Autumn Nations Series.

The home side were full value for their win as they dominated for long periods and held a 10-3 lead at half-time.

In the end, the Ospreys ran in four tries with George North and Reuben Morgan-Williams also crossing the whitewash and their other points were scored by Gareth Anscombe, who added a penalty and a conversion and Jack Walsh, who succeeded with two conversions and three-pointer off the kicking tee.

For the Warriors, Tom Jordan slotted a penalty just before half-time but that was the only points they scored for most of the match before Oliver Kebble and Thomas Gordon scored consolation tries in the game’s dying moments and Domingo Miotti converted both scores.

Stormers get the better of Edinburgh in Cape Town

In the day’s early game. defending champions the Stormers continued with their fine start to the season as they claimed a 34-18 bonus point victory over Edinburgh in Cape Town on Saturday.

Mike Blair’s men were in control for most of the first half, with Pierre Schoeman’s try helping to open up a 10-0 lead.

However, Deon Fourie and Joseph Dweba touched down during a spell in the sin bin for Stuart McInally that straddled the half-time break.

Suleiman Hartzenberg’s 67th-minute score gave the hosts further control and, though Dave Cherry went over after Sazi Sandi was red-carded late on, Hartzenberg crossed for the bonus-point try at the death.

Manie Libbok kicked 14 points for the Stormers while Blair Kinghorn booted eight for Edinburgh.

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