In Cape Town, the DHL Stormers survived a second half onslaught from the visiting Reds to clinch a 40-22 home win in the early Saturday afternoon fixture.
The Cape side received a blow before kick-off when captain, Frans Malherbe, had to withdraw because of illness. His place in the front row was taken by Vincent Koch, while Springbok midfielder Damian de Allende took over the captaincy.
Meanwhile on Friday, the Rebels put in a strong second half performance to beat the Toyota Cheetahs 36-14 in Melbourne. They scored 26 unanswered points in the second half to clinch a bonus point win, which saw them take pole position on the Australian conference ladder.
In the first match played on Friday morning, rookie flyhalf Garth April succeeded with all five kicks at goal to guide the Cell C Sharks to a hard fought 15-14 win over a 14-man Highlanders at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. The win enabled the Cell C Sharks to snap a winless streak of four matches.
