The Sharks slaughtered the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday night, winning 30-19.

These have been two powerful match Fridays for the Bulls — first in Pau and the most recent in Edinburgh.

All focus this weekend is on the URC

When the final whistle sounded in Pau, it felt as if the entire Bulls season turned on its axis in that instant.

It took the rugby gods 70 minutes to throw a tantrum, scream enough and deliver a shower of note to the Stormers for what had been a mixture of torrid, turgid and terrific.

Damian Willemse, who captains the Stormers against Harlequins in the Investec Champions Cup at Twickenham’s Stoop this afternoon, produced a pearler this week when chatting to the media about the team’s season and, particularly, Project 2029.

Arch-rivalry extends to SA, NZ women’s teams, who will be curtain raisers in first such official Test in SA

A momentous afternoon for Bristol’s Bears and the most miserable for a Bulls team for which there is no appropriate adjective when it comes to describing their lack of defensive effort.

World Rugby’s long-awaited Nations Championship kicks off in the new year, and — in the July and November international windows — it will deliver what Test rugby has lacked for decades, which is structure, purpose, meaning, consequence, and a champion.

Respect for the Bulls and reward for the Stormers. This was the north v south derby all of South Africa has wanted for some time. Brutal, never brilliant, but so beautiful.