URC SCENE SETTER: SA teams can storm the top eight

There’s an obvious caveat that needs to be added, but there is a chance that this weekend could see the South African teams get over their EPCR competition hangovers by populating the top eight of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log.

The rider is that two local teams are playing each other, with the Vodacom Bulls travelling to Emirates Airlines Park to face the Emirates Lions on Saturday in what for both of them is their second derby of the campaign. It would require the Lions to beat the Bulls for them to climb from their current 12th position into the top eight, which at the moment is three points away (8th placed Edinburgh have 22 points to the Lions’ 19).

But even if that happens there is something that needs to be pointed out - given that the currently fourth placed Bulls have two games in hand on most of the teams around them, a defeat won’t significantly hurt their challenge. And neither will it drop them out of the top eight given which teams are playing each other this weekend.

The Stormers are the other local team outside of the top eight, which signifies qualification for both the URC playoffs and next season’s Investec Champions Cup. They are currently 10th, but they are just one point behind eighth placed Edinburgh, and have a game in hand on the Scottish team.

STORMERS FACE RUNAWAY LEADERS

The catch of course is that the Stormers are in Dublin this week for Saturday’s clash with Leinster, who are the runaway leaders on the log, with 43 points, 10 ahead of second placed Glasgow Warriors, the reigning champions. They will be hoping that the degree of comfort Leinster are enjoying will lead to complacency, and make them ripe to be knocked over, and one of the things in the Stormers’ favour is that Leinster will have to significantly change up their team from the one that thrashed Gallagher Premiership log leaders Bath last week because most of their first team squad will be at an Ireland training camp in Portugal.

A Stormers win with a bonus point will lift them to 26 and without a bonus point to 25, where the Bulls are now, and if that happens it could see them end the weekend as high as sixth. There are a lot of historically strong teams hovering around the position the Stormers currently occupy on the log, including Ulster, who are one point ahead of the Cape team having played a game more, and Munster, who have the same number of points as the team they beat in the 2022/23 final but have played a game more.

It is tight and is an indication that once again the URC is delivering when it comes to high stakes and jeopardy, with the third last team on the log, Ospreys, being just five points away from being in the top eight bracket.

SHARKS GOING FOR TOP FOUR

The Hollywoodbets Sharks are already in the top eight, currently placed fifth, one point behind the Bulls but having played one game more. The Sharks have a game in hand on all the teams immediately behind them except the Stormers, who have played the same number of games as the Durbanites and are three points adrift.

The Sharks’ prize for beating Cardiff at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday night will not be a place in the top eight but rather a place in the top four, as Cardiff are currently third, four points ahead of them. However, the Sharks will need a bonus point and at the same time deny Cardiff one.

Other games this weekend that could have a significant impact on the log positions are Benetton’s away trip to Ospreys, with the Italians, currently placed seventh, likely to lose several of the players who starred in last weekend’s epic Champions Cup upset of La Rochelle to the Italian national team’s preparation for their Six Nations campaign. A Benetton defeat will be a big setback for them and a big boost to the Ospreys, who will lift themselves away from their current position in the cellars.

Ulster should see off Zebre in Belfast so the smart money should be on them being in the top eight at the end of the weekend, although much will depend on how Edinburgh go against the resurgent Scarlets, who join Cardiff in giving Wales a 25 per cent share in the top eight as it stands currently.

The loser of that game should drop out of the top eight if the Stormers and Ulster both win their games. It makes for an intriguing brief return to the URC before the overseas teams take a break while the Six Nations is being played. It won’t be much of a break for the local teams who go into an important and potentially season defining derby phase, although the games are fairly spread out.

Weekend Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixtures

Ospreys v Benetton (Swansea, Friday 21.35)

Glasgow Warriors v Connacht (Glasgow, Friday 21.35)

Emirates Lions v Vodacom Bulls (Johannesburg, Saturday 14.45)

Scarlets v Edinburgh (Llanelli, Saturday 17.00)

Leinster v DHL Stormers (Dublin, Saturday 19.00)

Cardiff Rugby v Hollywoodbets Sharks (Cardiff, Saturday 19.15)

Dragons v Munster (Newport, Saturday 21.35)

Ulster v Zebre (Belfast, Sunday 19.30)