Leinster hadn’t even completed their rout of the Fidelity SecureDrive Lions in Dublin when the Vodacom URC communications department were in action - ‘Heavyweight showdowns headline semifinal card’ was their take in the press release announcing times and venues.
And they are right - there have been some years where teams outside of the top four on the final log have made it into the semifinal mix, with Munster famously winning the trophy from fifth position in 2023, but not this year. It is the top four who have gone through, with the semifinals turning out to be the ones that would have been anticipated after the final round of league play. The Vodacom Bulls will be heading to Scotland to play the Glasgow Warriors on Saturday afternoon, while the DHL Stormers clash with champions Leinster in Dublin in the later game.
The Stormers should be kicking themselves for having to travel as, on the evidence of the physicality they brought to their destruction of Cardiff, they would have stood a fair chance of beating Leinster had they been hosting this weekend as Leinster did look physically vulnerable when they were well beaten by Bordeaux-Begles in last weekend’s Investec Champions Cup final.
However, their loss to Cardiff on the 4G surface at Cardiff Arms Park in their final league game saw them drop out of the top two, which would have ensured a plum home semifinal this week, and instead condemned them to travel to a venue where Leinster have not lost this season (their only home defeat in any competition was to Munster at Croke Park).
STORMERS INJURY BLOWS LENGTHEN THE ODDS
Leinster are a very different animal at home to what they are when they travel, as they showed with their one-sided 56-10 romp over the well-beaten Lions in the match of the quarterfinal round on Saturday night. At home they are confident and composed, and while the Lions did give them some problems in some of the set scrums, which is an opening for the Stormers, the hosts will start as strong favourites.
And their favourite status will have been strengthened by the heavy cost the Stormers paid in their 44-21 quarterfinal win over Cardiff at the DHL Stadium. They lost who Stormers director of rugby John Dobson described as “the most in-form player in world rugby” in Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to a second-half injury that will certainly keep him out of the semifinal and probably the southern hemisphere international season, plus wing Seabelo Senatla. The former Blitzbok left the field due to concussion and like Feinberg-Mngomezulu definitely won’t play next week.
There is also an injury doubt over experienced centre Dan du Plessis. While the Stormers do have depth at flyhalf and the midfield, they are going to struggle to replace Senatla’s pace, while obviously it is also not ideal to be going in without both first-choice halfbacks, with Cobus Reinach also out injured.
GRASSY MURRAYFIELD GIVES BULLS A LEG UP
The Bulls were on fire when they comprehensively thrashed Munster, with Munster frankly being lucky to get the 14 points they did manage as the Bulls could arguably have been better at exiting in both instances where the visitors scored. The big factor in their favour and what makes them more likely winners next week than the Stormers is that they will not be playing Glasgow at their usual home venue of The Scotstoun.
Due to a clash with the preparations of the Commonwealth Games, the Glasgow semifinal has been scheduled for Murrayfield, the home of Glasgow’s arch-rivals Edinburgh. Of course, many of the Glasgow players also play for Scotland, which has Murrayfield as the spiritual home, but why it should be easier for the Bulls to play at that venue is because the field is a grass surface.
Then there were four 🔮
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 31, 2026
The South Africans will travel up North for the semi-finals this weekend.#SSRugby | #VURC pic.twitter.com/Oa2QCt8CPL
The 4G pitch at The Scotstoun is one of the reasons Glasgow boasts such an impressive record there. They have lost just once at the venue this season, that being in the Investec Champions Cup quarterfinal against Toulon, with their record on grass not being nearly as good as it is on artificial surfaces.
The Stormers and Lions both scored big wins over Glasgow when they travelled to South Africa in April and could be vulnerable even though they hit their straps in overcoming a dangerous Connacht team in their quarterfinal at the start of the weekend.
Vodacom URC semifinals (Saturday, 6 June)
Glasgow Warriors v Vodacom Bulls (Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh, 3.30pm SA time)
Leinster v DHL Stormers (AVIVA Stadium, Dublin, 6.30pm SA time)