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Pollard perfect from the tee as Bulls claim eight-try Champions Cup rout
Handré Pollard converted all eight tries as the Bulls launched their Champions Cup campaign with a 56-20 bonus-point victory over Stade Français at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. Wing Cheswill Jooste scored a hat-trick in the Pool Four encounter, crossing after just 20 seconds before completing his treble late on. The Pretoria side ran in eight tries in total to secure maximum points against the French visitors.
Jooste hat-trick and Rudolph magic fire Bulls to 56-20 Champions Cup demolition of Stade
A 56-20 Bulls win doubles as a Springbok talent showcase — Jooste's pace, Hanekom's form, and a Rudolph moment of individual brilliance are the talking points dissected across five takeaways.
Jooste hat-trick leads Bulls to 56-20 demolition of Stade Francais at Loftus
The Bulls crushed Stade Francais 56-20 at Loftus in their Champions Cup Pool Four opener, with Cheswill Jooste scoring a hat-trick and Handre Pollard converting all eight tries in a dominant eight-try performance.
All Blacks close to within 0.82 of Springboks after hammering Wallabies in Sydney
New Zealand's 43-21 win in Sydney cuts their deficit to world-leading South Africa to 0.82 ranking points, while Australia slip to seventh after losing a chance to move into fourth.
Leyds and Moerat on bench as La Rochelle host Lions
Dillyn Leyds and Salmaan Moerat are named on the La Rochelle bench for their Champions Cup match against the Lions at Stade Marcel-Deflandre on Saturday.
Kitshoff unpacks the Finn Russell bar incident, Ireland's 'arrogance' and why Bok intensity broke him at Ulster
Kitshoff recalls the Paris bar incident with Finn Russell, confirms the 2023 World Cup handshake controversy, and traces the Ireland rivalry's roots to a 2017 pundit clip Erasmus used as motivational fuel — while also offering a frank account of his motivational collapse at Ulster after the intensity of the Bok environment.
Malherbe shows improvement but return timeline remains uncertain
Frans Malherbe has resumed non-contact team training with the Stormers and reports good improvement in his recovery from chronic neck and back injuries, though no decision on his future has been made ahead of what Stormers director of rugby John Dobson expects will be a new-year resolution.
Ackermann explains why this Champions Cup campaign starts from a completely different place
Ackermann explains how a full season working alongside his Bok players — compared to meeting them for the first time in January last year — has transformed the Bulls' Champions Cup preparation, with the Leinster squad-culture model as his benchmark.
Flament injury leaves Galthié short of locks ahead of Springbok clash
Thibaud Flament has confirmed he needs shoulder surgery and will miss France's entire November Nations Championship campaign, compounding the absence of Toulouse teammate Emmanuel Meafou and leaving Fabien Galthié without his preferred lock pairing for the Springbok clash on November 13.
Rennie: High ball chaos is universal — and the Boks aren't immune
Rennie argues the high-ball vulnerability attributed to the All Blacks is actually a universal problem — one in four balls caught clean by the receiving team — and says even the Boks don't dominate in the air. His tactical counter is deliberate back-tracking to legally contest kicks, and his selection of Moorby over Ioane for the second Bledisloe is directly tied to anticipated aerial conditions.
Giliomee at the Bulls: A sponge in the right environment
Giliomee's Bulls move is framed not as a snub to the Sharks but as a calculated environment upgrade — a young player seeking daily proximity to Le Roux and Pollard as he prepares for Champions Cup rugby.
Willemse: Stormers are done with quarterfinal exits
Willemse says the Stormers have made a club-wide decision to push beyond the quarterfinals this Champions Cup season, with the group targeting a maiden title after back-to-back early exits — including last year's one-point loss to Toulon.
Giliomee's Bulls move is about more than a paycheck — it's a masterclass in learning
Giliomee's mid-season move to the Bulls was less about the contract and more about positioning himself alongside players he'd grown up watching — and his early immersion suggests the gamble is working.
France lose Flament to shoulder injury ahead of Springbok Test in Paris
Thibaud Flament has been ruled out for several weeks with a shoulder injury, leaving France without both him and Emmanuel Meafou in the second row for the November Tests — including the Nations Championship clash with South Africa in Paris on 13 November.
Roos set for season debut against familiar opposition in Champions Cup
Evan Roos makes his return from the sidelines as the Stormers prepare for a home Champions Cup fixture in Cape Town on Saturday.
Louw backs hip-drop law changes — and warns Bulls face a set-piece battle against Stade Français
Louw endorses the new hip-drop tackle laws from personal experience, admits he's still working back to peak form post-injury, and previews a set-piece-heavy Champions Cup opener against Stade Français at Loftus.
Rennie's November offensive: the Boks' scrum and maul dominance is in the crosshairs again
Rennie is heading to November's World Rugby meeting intent on pushing scrum simplification and maul restrictions — changes that would directly undercut the Springboks' structural strengths. The piece dissects the political dynamics behind what's being framed as a law-improvement drive but reads more like a second attempt by the All Blacks camp to reshape the game after losing the argument at the Shape of the Game conference.
Crisis management or depth on display? Stormers' loose-forward headache has a silver lining
Dobson calls it a loose-forward crisis, and the injury list backs him up — but fielding a fully Bok back row while key men are sidelined makes the Stormers' depth hard to argue with. The bigger structural concern may be at lock, where departures and Dixon's concussion absence are quietly thinning the options.
Rennie's November offensive: The All Blacks want to reshape rugby's laws — and the Boks are in the crosshairs
Rennie is heading to November's World Rugby meeting with a hit list — scrums, mauls, and the broader setpiece dominance that currently favours the Boks and France. Nel unpacks the political and ideological battle lines forming ahead of what could be a significant moment for how the game is shaped.
Crisis? What crisis? Stormers' loose-forward depth tells a different story
Despite genuine injury disruption at loose forward, the Stormers can still field an all-Bok back row for their Champions Cup opener — Rich's piece examines how deep the squad really runs, and where the vulnerabilities actually lie.