After six rounds of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, the STORMERS stand alone.

John Dobson’s men remain the only unbeaten team in the competition after a phenomenal 27-21 comeback over Munster in Limerick – a result that cements their status as early title favourites.

Trailing 21-6 after a flat first half, the Stormers detonated their Bomb Squad within minutes of the restart, flipping the contest with raw physicality and total control of the collisions.

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Jurie Matthee’s poise, Dylan Maart’s dream debut try and Ruhan Nel’s intercept swung momentum, while Paul de Villiers delivered a Man of the Match performance that underlined his rapid rise.

At 27 points from six games, the Stormers are setting the early pace, with their heavy artillery in the form of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach, Zachary Porthen and Ben-Jason Dixon still firing up.

The LIONS delivered the shock of the round with a superb 43-33 win over the VODACOM BULLS at Loftus. It wasn’t close for most of the afternoon: the visitors led 17-0 before the Bulls found their feet, and even then the Lions’ accuracy, tempo and maul dominance proved decisive.

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A two-try burst from Embrose Papier pulled the Bulls back into the fight, but Jarod Cairns, Etienne Oosthuizen and Eduan Keyter kept the Lions comfortably ahead.

Nico Steyn’s brace capped a statement performance that lifts the Johannesburg-based side to seventh on 16 points – one spot above the Bulls.

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The SHARKS remain stuck in neutral, with their 44-17 defeat in Galway confirming a worrying trend.

Connacht dominated early, racing to a 23-5 half-time lead and never looking threatened. Fez Mbatha, Makazole Mapimpi and Emile van Heerden crossed for the Durbanites, but their discipline, physicality and cohesion remain well short of URC standard.

The Sharks sit 14th on eight points – a long way off where a squad of this quality should be.

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The URC now takes a two-week break for the opening two rounds of the Investec Champions Cup.

Round 6 results:
Ulster 47 Benetton 13
Dragons 10 Leinster 24
Bulls 33 Lions 43
Zebre 14 Cardiff 29
Munster 21 Stormers 27
Edinburgh 19 Ospreys 17
Connacht 44 Sharks 17
Scarlets 23 Glasgow 0

Round 7 fixtures:
Friday, 19 December:
Leinster vs Ulster, 9:45pm
Cardiff vs Scarlets, 9:45pm
Saturday, 20 December:
Stormers vs Lions, 3:30pm
Benetton vs Zebre, 4pm
Glasgow vs Edinburgh, 5pm
Sharks vs Bulls, 6pm
Ospreys vs Munster, 7:30pm
Dragons vs Connacht, 9:45pm

Photo: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile via Getty Images