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There was trepidation around the Stormers going into this season. Stories of yet another injury crisis, players away with the Springboks, a coach under pressure and awful performances in the Currie Cup suggested a rocky start to the season.
Ungerer (43'), Roos (62', 67'), Matthee (70')
Tries
Matthee (44', 63', 68')
Conversions
Matthee (6', 31', 41')
Penalties
There was trepidation around the Stormers going into this season. Stories of yet another injury crisis, players away with the Springboks, a coach under pressure and awful performances in the Currie Cup suggested a rocky start to the season.
When the team sheets for their game against Leinster were published, those fears grew. There was a scarcity of house-hold names for the hosts whilst the visitors from Dublin were welcoming back experienced Ireland internationals into what many were calling the strongest squad they'd ever sent south.
And yet, it finished 35-0. The performance wasn't perfect and the mistakes were numerous, but Stormers completely blew the defending champions off the park. A similar result next week will have people talking up their title chances…
The scoreline of 53-40 at Loftus may seem crazy, but the Bulls winning at home despite non-existent defense has actually become the norm over the past couple of seasons. There seems to be a complacency about the Pretorian team where they assume no one can challenge them at their altitude fortress.
The truth is, though, visiting teams are learning fast and the wins are no longer guaranteed. The Ospreys played as if they were expecting scoring opportunities and took almost all of them. Fortunately for the home side, they still had the quality to score 50 points of their own. However, fans are becoming frustrated by the lack of control in their game.
When Zebre won 5 games last season it almost felt like a miracle. We all assumed they could never repeat it this year due to losing several key players, but they already have a bonus point win in the bag thanks to a brilliant late penalty kick from debutant Farias.
For Edinburgh it's a case of same old story. The gap between their home performances - which are good enough to challenge even the best in the league - and the away performances is cavernous and impossible to explain.
Under pressure coach Sean Everitt is yet to win over hearts and minds in the Scottish capital. Strange decisions like taking big name players to Parma only to leave them on the bench will do little to convince people he has them on the right track.
There was little or no signs of rust from Munster as they put in an impressive performance to comfortably dispatch the Scarlets in Llanelli. New head coach Clayton MacMillan is playing catch-up compared to many rivals having arrived late following the conclusion of Super Rugby, but he already has his side looking sharp, in shape and focused.
The Scarlets were by no means terrible in this game; better hands could have seen the game within a score at half time, but Munster were always in control and their superior physicality made the difference in the end. The rest of the league is now on notice.
We are still getting used to this new, super high scoring era of rugby. Try counts in all competitions are through the roof and defense coaches are facing tricky mid year reviews throughout the game. Whilst the weather is somewhat decent and teams are still brushing off the summer's cobwebs, you can forgive a few lapses.
However, with the winning side in all but one game scoring at least 31 points and the losing side in but 3 games scoring at least 3 tries, almost everyone will be looking to tighten up for next week.
