South African teams continue to dominate the United Rugby Championship, with all four franchises populating the top 8 of the league table.

To date, they have won 19 of 20 fixtures, with their only loss being a self-inflicted defeat, when the Bulls toppled the Lions in Round 1.

This comes after the Stormers and Bulls faced off in last season's URC final, toppling challengers from Ireland and Scotland in the playoffs.

So far this season, all four South African teams have collected wins for the second game-week in a row.

The Sharks were the only ones to miss out on a try bonus-point, after they avoided a shock loss to Dragons on Saturday, relying on a late comeback to steal the win by a single point.

The Dragons started the better of the two sides and managed to mount a 19-6 lead, thanks to a try from Elliott Dee. The Welsh province watched that advantage slowly slip away, as Grant Williams and Thaakir Abrahams crossed the whitewash in the last 18 minutes to give the visitors a vital win at Rodney Parade.

Sharks head coach Sean Everitt was impressed with his side's fighting spirit in the face of a determined and dogged Dragons team.

"I am very happy with the result and very proud of the character that the guys showed in getting the win," Everitt said. "The discipline in the second half, when we were under the pump, was really good, and I thought the guys thoroughly deserved the win in the end."

Everitt attributed his team's slow start to the work put in by Dragons players at the breakdown, which dulled the attacking pedigree of the South African side.

"The first half was disappointing for us," he said. "We couldn't get our attack flowing."

A day before, the Bulls clocked their third straight win - their second successive bonus-point victory - with a comprehensive 28-14 beating of Connacht in Pretoria.

Zak Burger was the man of the hour after crossing the line twice to help the men in blue come out on top.

The Stormers followed suit, holding firm in the face of an early Edinburgh surge, to earn another full-house win in Cape Town. 

Emerging star Suleiman Hartzenberg shined for the reigning champions, scoring a second half double to topple their Scottish opponents, 34-18.

"The game feels like last season," Stormers head coach John Dobson said after the match. "The only thing perhaps which I flagged, is that we didn't work hard at the start of the game, which is unlike us." 

The Stormers had a number of players returning from Springbok duty, and Dobson believed this influenced his side's slow start, particularly since many of them hadn't seen much match action in the Rugby Championship.

"As captain Marvin [Orie] pointed out, we paid a bit of rent today," Dobson said. "Joseph hasn't played much, Brannas hasn't played much, Neethling hasn't played much, Salmaan hasn't played much. I don't think we must read much into it. We will be much better for today."

“Imagine what we could do if we get some possession.” says @TheStormers’ John Dobson 🎙

Round 3 reaction 👇#BKTURC #URC

— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 3, 2022

Interestingly, Dobson went on to admit he and his coaching staff were surprised by Edinburgh's fast start. 

The Scots brought physicality to the contact area and rattled the Stormer's scrum in the opening half-hour, but their dominance subsided in the later stages, when the URC champions rallied and showed their class.

"It was amazing leadership today, and I have to give Marvin and his leadership group credit for the way we got back into the fight," Dobson said. "Edinburgh really brought it. We didn't expect that, I must be honest. We didn't prepare the players properly for that forward thrust. We thought it would be more all-court.

"To stand up and get off the canvas like that was really special. It echoes last season. We didn't hit our straps, but when we get more possession, which comes from discipline, then we will get better."

It was not all plain sailing for the South African side. They conceded a total of 12 penalties and were on the receiving end of a red card, after replacement prop Sazi Sandi was cited for a head-on-head tackle.

"We start giving away those defensive penalties when we are not physical and when we are not fronting up, and I think that was the problem," Dobson said. "I am not irritated with my team for the ill-discipline - it's just our work rate, which puts our discipline under pressure."

South Africa's perfect weekend in the URC was capped by the Lions, who completed an impressive Welsh double, picking up a majestic 31-18 win over Cardiff Rugby, a week after beating the Ospreys 28-27.

The men from Johannesburg burst alight in the second period at Cardiff Arms Park, scoring 21 points, carried by the dominance of their scrum in wet and windy conditions.

Of all the South African teams, the Lions are the only ones to have lost so far this season. However, the 31-15 defeat came at the hands of the Sharks in Week 1, meaning the URC's four newest arrivals have yet to be beaten by foreign opposition.

🦁 @LionsRugbyCo's pack goes full throttle 💪@Vodacom #URC | #CARvLIO pic.twitter.com/wiBNvix8Q5

— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) September 30, 2022

It also means the league's top 8 is densely populated by these unflappable sides. 

The Bulls sit in second place on 14 points from three wins, equaling the points haul of league leader Leinster. The Stormers lie behind in fourth, with 10 points, earned from two games.

The Sharks are in fifth with nine points, and the Lions sit the lowest of the quartet in seventh place with nine points. 

Written by Stefan Frost