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Why this year's URC is a must-see

rugby18 September 2024 13:00
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The Vodacom United Rugby Championship kicks off in all its glory this weekend. There is no doubt that the 24/25 season will be just as tense and tantalising as all three the previous seasons.

We've asked our writing team to give you a little taste of what to expect.

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Senior Correspondent Brenden Nel:

 

FIVE REASONS TO WATCH THIS YEAR'S URC

The Vodacom United Rugby Championship is upon us, and while we all still have one eye on the Springboks, the new season promises to be a feast of rugby where new heroes will be born, older ones will re-emerge and drama will fill our screens for the next nine months.

So if you weren’t already converted to the gospel of URC, here are five reasons to watch this year’s URC on your channel of champions.

 

  1. Will a new champion be crowned?

 

The subtext of the URC is all about winning, but there are so many twists and turns in the entire tournament that you never really know who will come out on top. Who would have predicted Munster’s golden run to win in Cape Town in URC two, or last season’s finale where Glasgow travelled to altitude and beat the Vodacom Bulls in their back yard to cap a monumental season for Franco Smith?

Naah, this is what makes this tournament so great. We never know who is going to win. Leinster led the tournament standings for the majority of the season and never even made a final in the last three URC tournaments.

So while there are so many more reasons, the main one to watch is who will be crowned champion? And will we have our fourth winner in four seasons?

Will it finally be Leinster’s year now that they have recruited superstars such as RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett to add to Jacques Nienaber’s defensive system?  The Dublin side are itching for a trophy and they may make another big bid to get to the top this season.

 

  1. There’s always a place for the underdog

 

The season breaks for the Six Nations and international duty that takes the Springboks away for the latter part of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship often makes the regulation league games more intriguing as teams need to have extra depth. So often sides have to rest their internationals, and they could be tripped up by teams that normally wouldn’t even bother the bookmakers.

Managing your squad minutes is extremely important and using your talent to the best of your abilities is equally good. But don’t ever write off the underdog. We’ve seen time and again how teams are shocked by so-called weaker teams.

And even when they’re not expected to win. Munster’s golden run in South Africa last season turned their season around, and who would forget Benetton shocking the Sharks in Durban, or the Ospreys ruining the Stormers’ hopes of a home semifinal with a shock win in Cape Town.

And that’s not even counting the semifinals, where the Bulls demolished Leinster and Glasgow went to Thomond Park and dumped the defending champions out of the competition.

So who will surprise us this season and how will it impact the log? We’re waiting, but one thing we do know is that an underdog will surprise at some point. And normally at the most crucial part of the season.

 

  1. Spot the Saffas

 

While we all are obsessed with the form of our own sides, and their progress in the URC, there are a number of South Africans playing and coaching in teams across the URC and their form is always breathtaking to watch.

From the Scottish Van der Merwe’s and Schoemans to Sean Everitt’s reign at Edinburgh, to the much anticipated arrival of hotstepper Thakir Abrahams at Munster, there are Saffas all over the competition.

RG Snyman will want to play a massive part at Leinster this year, while Daniel Kasende benefitted at the Ospreys from their partnership with the Cheetahs and will be playing his rugby in Wales this year. 

Another Cheetah - Marnus van der Merwe, who was invited to the Bok alignment camps, is at the Scarlets this season while Werner Kok’s locks will be on full display in Belfast as he becomes Ulster’s latest recruit. 

Across the competition, there are a number of Saffas trying to catch your eye. And when they do - like Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors and their hefty South African influence, they can win Championships.

 

  1. Rivalries galore

 

While the obvious rivalry that will make local fans salivate is the one between the Bulls and Stormers, which will take place twice again this year, there are a number of rivalries across the competition that will turn a dead rubber into a partisan battle that can bring out the passion in the mellowest of rugby fans.

Jake White and John Dobson will resume their rivalry after the Bulls finally broke their losing streak last season and finished above their Cape rivals to claim the SA shield.

But what about the others. While the local derbies serve up some amazing rugby - as the Boxing Day clashes always do in Europe, and Munster-Leinster will take top billing again this year, the new twist on the Edinburgh-Glasgow rivalry will be fascinating to watch with two South African coaches at the helm.

And then there are the “other” rivalries that have slowly built up - like the ones between the South African and Irish franchises. Ulster already have a history in Cape Town they would like to put right while Leinster will still be seething at losing the semifinal at Loftus Versfeld last season.

Connacht’s invincibility in Galway - where before last season they had never lost to a South African team - was demolished twice but the Sportsground’s hoodoo on SA teams will be tested again this season.

And then there is Benetton, who surprised many last year and have left some scars on SA sides - so much so that this new-found rivalry is still being whispered about. 

The sub-plots will be many, and as the competition grows, expect these to grow even more.

 

  1. Because it's Lekker!

 

By now if the first three seasons of URC haven't convinced you, then you need to look again. Where else can you see the top players of five different nations battling it out. Different hemispheres, different conditions and a jigsaw puzzle of player management over several months that sees players tested in every single way.

And that’s not even mentioning the tries! Or the epic moments, those heart-stopping plays that make us all lose our breath for a second, and spawns countless social media videos.

This is what rugby is all about. The intense battle, the clash of cultures and the incredible mastery of a tough season to determine a winner.

It may sound easy, but ask any coach how they navigate a season so complex, so intense, that you need a massive squad to survive.

We’ve had South African teams in the finals for all three seasons, and this year the SA challenge looks even greater as the Sharks have signed some heavies, the Bulls and Stormers have better depth and more international experience and even the Lions look like they’re about to blossom into a top international team.

That, combined with the stadium experience, and the awesome new venues that are a rugby fans’ dream combine to make URC one of the best experiences ever. 

And yes, more than that, it is lekker!

 

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Senior Correspondent Gavin Rich:

GIANTS MAY AWAKEN

They are both giants that need awakening, Leinster from Dublin and the Hollywoodbets Sharks from Durban, but for completely different reasons.

For Leinster, the first three Vodacom United Rugby Championship seasons have seen them be the most consistent team in terms of games won and lost and the end finish on the log. First twice and third once isn’t a bad record, its just that they’ve never converted that consistency in league play when it matters most - in the play-off phase.

FAILURE TO LAUNCH

For the Sharks there hasn’t been a late season fade or the frustration of losing at the final hurdle. At least not in the URC. While they did manage to make it into this year’s Investec Champions Cup by playing good finals rugby in the EPCR Challenge Cup, in both of the two most recent seasons they’ve simply failed to launch.

They did finish fifth in 2022, the first season of the URC, but subsequent to that they’ve gone to eighth, which meant failure to qualify for the Champions Cup as back then a Welsh team that finished lower had guaranteed qualification, and then 14th.

Given the players on their books, that is way below what should be considered acceptable for the Sharks. But it was John Plumtree’s first season as coach, he didn’t know the coaches he was working with much less the players. He’s become better acquainted with both, and on the playing side he reacted to the poor contracting of the past by getting rid of much of what he considered to be dead wood.

He has brought in a few big names, such as Andre Esterhuizen, the Springbok centre, and Trevor Nyakane, but the contracting has been wiser under Plumtree’s watch as he’s contracted for the period when the Boks won’t be available. Which looks likely to be for a significant proportion of the competition.

DEPTH EQUALS CONSISTENCY FOR LEINSTER

It was their ability to cover in those periods when the Ireland internationals were away, and there are times when at full strength they are Ireland in all but name, that led to the Leinster consistency in challenging for log supremacy. What they need to get right now though is getting across the line to winning a trophy, not just in the URC, where they’ve faltered in the last three semi-finals, but also in the prestigious Champions Cup, where they’ve been beaten by narrow margins in three consecutive finals.


In the Leinster case, the pressure is on to produce at the sharp end of the competition. For the Sharks, the pressure is on to get a good start and then consolidate on it so that they can be in a challenging position when the sharp end arrives and the Boks will all be available.


Players to watch for the Sharks are the two players imported from the Lions, Jordan Hendrikse and Emmanuel Tshituka, while Esterhuizen will make a big difference to the Sharks’ ability to take the ball up and ensure it is go forward ball.

MASUKU’S PLAYING STYLE A POINT OF DIFFERENCE

Flyhalf Siya Masuku is not a newcomer but it feels like he is because he wasn’t in the team for the first half of last season. He made a big difference to the Sharks once he was in the No10 and taking the ball to the line and just generally weaving his magic as a replacement for Curwin Bosch, who the Sharks stuck to for far too long and has now left Durban.


Leinster will have most of their stalwarts available again, minus lock Jason Jenkins who has moved to the Sharks, but the big buys are potentially game changing ones for them - Springbok double World Cup winner RG Snyman has moved from Munster while Jordie Barrett, the All Black centre, is there to slot in at the back, be it in the midfield where he plays his international rugby or at fullback.


Those two players added to a team that doesn’t go outside the region to the extent that other Irish provinces have in the past to fortify their resources could just be what makes the winning difference for Leinster when it matters.


For the Sharks, better contracting has been allied by a definite culture shift, something they writ large in neon lights with the way they hung in when down to 12 men against the Bulls in the Currie Cup semifinal.

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OTHER TEAMS TO WATCH

Glasgow Warriors

Coach Franco Smith says his players will enjoy the pressure of starting the season as reigning champions. Their win over the Bulls in last year’s final was against the odds and it is probably reasonable to say that in terms of development, Glasgow are still growing. After all, Smith is just going into his third season in charge and his stint started off with a rebuild. The Warriors are sure to be one of the teams challenging hard for a top four finish that signifies home ground advantage in the first playoff game.

Munster

Graham Rowntree’s team were probably better last season than they were the season before, when they won the competition by beating the DHL Stormers in an epic Cape Town final. Alas, they appeared to spit the dummy when the knock-outs arrived, going down unexpectedly to Glasgow in a home semi-final at Thomond Park. They have lost RG Snyman to rivals Leinster but should challenge strongly again, with their good record in South Africa at stake when they visit here to play the Sharks and Stormers in October.

Vodacom Bulls

Bulls director of rugby Jake White will have been a hugely frustrated man after his team lost the final to the Warriors last year. The Bulls had done the hard work by knocking out the tournament favourites, Leinster, at Loftus the previous week and went into the final as clear favourites. Not capitalising on good league form by losing in knock-out games is becoming a bit of an issue for the Bulls, but the good off season business White did before the start of last season paid off and his team is growing. You can expect them to challenge for another place in the final, although the competition, with the Sharks sure to be better, for top four places is going to be a lot stiffer.

DHL Stormers

For the inaugural champions, read as above for the Bulls - the competition for top four places is going to be a lot stiffer this year, and the probable re-emergence of the Sharks as a major force is one of the primary reasons for that. Unlike the Sharks and to some extent the Bulls, the Stormers haven’t dipped too much into their pockets to recruit players form outside, but are instead relying on their fertile breeding ground of home grown talent. As an example of that policy working, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Ben-Jason Dixon have become Springboks since the Stormers last played, and Salmaan Moerat has had experience of leading his country. One of the biggest challenges facing director of rugby John Dobson is how he is going to fit two Springbok flyhalves, for lets not forget how good Manie Libbok is in the No10 jersey, into one team.


Provided there aren’t too many injuries, for they already have a few and the season hasn’t even started, they will challenge for a top four spot.

Ulster

The Northern Irishmen experienced a bit of a turbulent season last time out, and made a change of coach in mid-season. More stability should see them emerge again as challengers, as they were in the first two seasons when they finished third and second on the overall log respectively. It is debatable though that they have the big guns to match their rivals from Dublin, Leinster, although they did beat Leinster twice in league play last season.

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ROUND 1 INSIGHTS

 

 


Edinburgh v Leinster

 

Edinburgh

- Ben Healy scored more points than any other player last season, a total of 175. His goalkicking success rate was the highest among the top five point-scorers (85.2%).

- Duhan van der Merwe beat a league-high 61 defenders last season. He also made more clean breaks (17) and metres (812) than any other Edinburgh player.

- Jamie Ritchie won 22 turnovers last season - four more than any other player. 17 of these turnovers were jackals at the ruck.

Leinster

- RG Snyman made more offloads last season than any other forward (24) despite only making ten appearances for Munster - an average of 2.4 per match.

- Leinster scored a league-high average of 4.5 tries per 80 minutes last season. They scored the most tries from scrums (13) and kick return (13).

- Last season, Leinster made an average of 815 kick in play metres per 80 minutes - more than any other team. They also averaged the most 22 entries (12.2).

 

Cardiff Rugby v Zebre Parma

Cardiff Rugby

- Cardiff won a league-high average of 8.4 turnovers per 80 minutes last season. Their tackle success rate was also the second-highest in the URC (82.9%).

- Cardiff averaged more kicks in play per 80 minutes than any other team in URC 3 (28.3). They also averaged the second-most kick in play metres (787).

- Cam Winnet made more defensive catches than any other player last season (86). His catch success rate was higher than any other player in the top four (82.6%).

Zebre Parma

- A higher percentage of Zebre’s ball touches were carries last season than any other team (37%). Similarly, a league-high 11.8% of their touches were kicks. A league-low 51.2% of their touches were passes.

- Zebre missed a league-high average of 24.2 tackles per 80 minutes last season.

- Last season, Zebre scored 15 tries in the opening three rounds, earning a try bonus point in each.

 

Dragons v Ospreys

Dragons

- The Dragons made fewer carries than any other team last season, an average of 95.6 per 80 minutes. 41.5% of these were made in the wide channels - the second-highest proportion in the URC.

- The Dragons had the lowest tackle success rate in URC 3 (77.3%).

- In matches they won last season, the Dragons made an average of 913 kick in play metres per 80 minutes - 216 more than when they lost.

Ospreys

- Morgan Morris assisted more tries than any other forward last season, a total of seven. This was also more than any other Ospreys player.

- The Ospreys conceded the fewest turnovers per 80 minutes in the league last season, an average of 11.

- The Ospreys won a total of 45 scrum penalties in URC 3 - the second-most in the league and an average of 2.4 per 80 minutes.

 

Munster v Connacht

Munster

- Gavin Coombes made the most carries in URC 3 (235). This accounted for 9.1% of Munster’s carries last season.

- Of all the URC teams last season, Munster made the highest proportion of their kicks in play with the left boot (26.1%). All 107 of Craig Casey’s kicks in play were made with his left boot.

- Just 37.5% of Munster’s possessions last season ended with a kick - the third-lowest proportion in the league.

Connacht

- Cathal Forde made more dominant carries last season than any other back, a total of 50. He made an average of 4.9 dominant collisions per 80 minutes - the second-most in the Connacht squad.

- Connacht played an average of 3.5 phases per possession last season - more than any other team. A league-high 58.3% of their touches were passes.

- Connacht made an average of 35.5 dominant collisions per 80 minutes in URC 3 - the second-most in the league.

 

Benetton v Scarlets

Benetton

- Benetton conceded an average of 8.3 penalties per 80 minutes last season - fewer than any other team.

- 5.6% of Benetton’s tackles last season were dominant - the third-highest percentage in the league. Alessandro Izekor (18) and Onisi Ratave (14) were the only two Benetton players who made more than ten dominant tackles.

- 45.8% of Benetton’s possessions ended with a kick last season - the third-highest percentage in the league.

Scarlets

- The Scarlets stole more opposition lineouts last season than any other team, a total of 32. Individually, Vaea Fifita stole a league-high 15 - seven more than any other player.

- The Scarlets had the lowest rate of tackle dominance last season (2.8%) and the third-lowest rate of carry dominance (20.5%).

- Alex Craig was one of five players last season who made over 200 tackles (201). He was one of two with a tackle success rate of over 90% (90.5%).

Ulster v Glasgow Warriors

Ulster

- Ulster beat just 14.4 defenders per 80 minutes last season - fewer than any other team.

- Ulster made an average of 147 tackles per 80 minutes in URC 3 - the second-most in the league. Their tackle success rate was 81.8% (4th).

- Ulster scored an average of 2.9 points per 80 minutes last season - the second-highest average in the URC.

Glasgow Warriors

- Johnny Matthews finished last season as the league’s top try scorer (15). Among URC hookers, he played the most minutes (1,051), made the most metres (343), and made the most clean breaks (seven).

- Josh McKay made the most metres (1,250) and beat the second-most defenders (60) in URC 3. He beat eight defenders in the Final alone.

- Tom Jordan won more turnovers than any other back or Warriors player last season, a total of 12.

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