URC SCENE SETTER: SA teams can go for broke

DHL Stormers prop Neethling Fouche has aptly summed up what will contribute to the ratcheting up of quality and intensity as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship heads into the last round of the first phase of the competition this weekend.

“We are going into a four week break after this so there is no reason not to leave everything out there on the field,” said Fouche of Saturday’s Stormers clash with Glasgow Warriors in Stellenbosch.

It’s the same for the other South African teams on what could prove a significant final weekend before the competition breaks until the last weekend of November to accommodate the international window in which the northern hemisphere autumn internationals will be played.

It will be a universal feeling of course, for the overseas teams will be heading into a break after this too, but all the local sides do have a lot to play for in what for them is the fifth round of games.

The other teams will be playing their sixth games because of the postponement of the first round in South Africa, which was set to feature derbies that have been postponed until February or March, when there will be a window created by the Six Nations.

There is a lot to gain for all South African sides in round 5, and also a lot to lose. The Bulls will want to regain some winning momentum in their last tour game against Benetton after they lost by a solitary point to Scarlets last weekend.

Bulls director of rugby Jake White mixed up his selections for the game in Llanelli, which he really had little option over if he wanted to keep his first choice players fresh and at the same time keep the fringe players in match playing fettle.

But he is sure to go what Stormers coach John Dobson would refer to as Full Metal Jacket in his selection for the game in Treviso against a side that comprehensively outplayed the Sharks two weeks ago and appears to have picked up some momentum after a poor start to the competition.

White and his players would also not have forgotten that it was at Treviso that their Rainbow Cup dream died in 2021.

TWO UNBEATEN SIDES

The Emirates Lions are the only unbeaten South African side after the Bulls loss last week, and they just happen to be playing the only other unbeaten team in the competition - Leinster. Normally that game wouldn’t attract that much interest, but as it is effectively the top two playing each other, the game in Dublin suggests itself as one of the games of the round.

Leinster will start as strong favourites after their imperious start to the season. They have yet to drop a point, while the Lions have had to dig deep for their two tour wins thus far after making a strong start on home soil in their first two games.

But the Lions have nothing to lose and have already let it be known that they are relishing the prospect of testing themselves away against the tournament front-runners.

With fewer international players than the other teams, they can also throw the kitchen sink at the game knowing that most of them have five weeks off after this.

For the two coastal teams, the weekend offers an opportunity to break into the top half of the log and consign the two tour defeats they both suffered to the margins. The Sharks host Munster, the 2022/2023 champions, and will want to follow up on the scalp of the current champions they claimed last week.

A win will ease some of the pressure when they come straight out of the international break on 30 November to face the Stormers, who will have fewer players committed to the November Bok tour of Scotland, England and Ireland.

The Stormers know that beating Glasgow will lift them from their current 12th into a position of relative comfort as they head into the derby phase of the URC season, which will dovetail with the opening rounds of the Investec Champions Cup over the December festive season and into January.

No South African team has lost at home yet this season and the Sharks and Stormers will want to continue that record but they both play tough opponents who will be as eager as they will be to end this phase of their campaign on a winning note.

Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixtures (25/26 October)

Benetton v Vodacom Bulls (Treviso, Friday 8:35pm)

Scarlets v Zebre (Llanelli, Friday 8:35pm)

DHL Stormers v Glasgow Warriors (Stellenbosch, Saturday 1:45pm)

Ospreys v Edinburgh (Swansea, Saturday 4pm)

Hollywoodbets Sharks v Munster (Durban, Saturday 4pm)

Leinster v Emirates Lions (Dublin, Saturday 6:15pm)

Cardiff Rugby v Ulster (Cardiff, Saturday 8:35pm)

Connacht v Dragons (Galway, Saturday 8:35pm)