Who the South African franchises face this weekend

The Vodacom United Rugby Championship returns this weekend and for the first time South African franchises will be able to play at home after four rounds away in Europe. With good conditions expected and pace rugby on the cards, all four games will be keenly watched to see just how good the South African sides do against the touring sides.

DHL STORMERS

Facing: Zebre Parma
Log position: 16th
Record: Played 5, won 0, Lost 5
Where: DHL Stadium
When: Saturday 3pm
Coach: Michael Bradley
Captain: Giulio Bisegni

The Stormers will be buoyed by a bunch of returning Springbok fringe players while Zebre face a tough task as they are still the only side in the competition still to register a win.

The Stormers were arguably the best South African side and don’t often get beaten on their home ground although they can’t afford to take the Italian side too lightly. But not having played since their 24-10 over the Dragons on October 15 may see a bit of rust. Stormers lost their only previous fixture against an Italian opponent when they went down 22-18 to Rainbow Cup champions Benetton in Treviso in Round 1.

Zebre head to South Africa looking for their first win in any competition since beating the Dragons in Parma in February.

They have won three of their eight meetings with South African sides, their sole win in the country coming against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth four years ago.

CELL C SHARKS

Facing: Scarlets
Log position: 10th
Record: Played 5, won 2 Lost 3
Where: Jonssons Kings Park
When: Saturday 5.30pm
Coach: Dwayne Peel
Captain: Jonathan Davies

The Sharks are still smarting after losing their last tour game to Cardiff before the international break and will be chomping at the bit to kick off their home campaign in style. While the week has seen them in preparations while many of their Springboks were in Geneva doing PR work for the side, those at home will be hoping the home ground advantage will get them their second win after the Ospreys victory earlier in the season.

Seen as one of the two top SA sides, the Sharks have been poor by their own standards thus far, but will be wary of Scarlets.

Scarlets overcome Benetton 34-28 in a Round 5 thriller at Parc y Scarlets and both of their wins this season have been on home soil.

They have suffered just one defeat to a South African opponent - a 28-21 reverse to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in December 2017.

VODACOM BULLS

Facing: Munster
Log position: 3rd
Record: Played 5, won 4, Lost 1
Where: Loftus Versfeld
When: Saturday 7.45pm
Coach: Johann van Graan
Captain: Peter O’Mahony

Undoubtedly the game of the weekend for SA fans, this one is a humdinger as the Bulls have been unbeaten at home since February 2020 but have not faced overseas opposition since then.

Jake White’s side face a tough poser, given their patchy form in the opening four rounds away and will want to use the altitude and home ground advantage to kickstart their campaign.

Making it even spicier is Johann van Graan’s return to the ground where he grew up, was a ballboy and coached with a Bulls side that dominated a decade ago. Van Graan was overlooked twice for the Bulls job and eventually went to Munster, so the game will be deeply personal for him.

Munster are resting many of their test players and the Bulls have decided the same, but there will still be a lot of talent on the field.

The Bulls have claimed a solitary victory so far, beating Cardiff in Round 3, while Munster made a flying start in the URC, putting together a four-game winning run before they came unstuck 18-10 against the Ospreys in Round 5.

Their record against South African sides is extremely impressive, losing one of 11 previous encounters, and that was a 40-16 reversal against the Cheetahs two years ago.

Munster can also take heart from the Bulls' record against Irish opposition, which currently stands at played two, lost two.

EMIRATES LIONS

Facing: Cardiff
Log position: 7th
Record: Played 5, won 3, Lost 2
Where: Emirates Airline Park
When: Sunday 4pm
Coach: Ivan van Zyl
Captain: Burger Odendaal.

The Emirates Lions opened their URC campaign with a victory over Zebre, but struggled after that with some decisions going against them and have now had some extra time in the break to find their feet with a new coaching team.

There will be a lot of emotion in the side following the tragedy of their tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis, who lost his son last weekend and it is likely this will fuel their performance.

With Willem Alberts and Tiaan Swanepoel back, the Lions will look to use the altitude and good conditions for a fast game that they enjoy.

The Lions won their opening URC game but then slipped to successive defeats at the hands of Scarlets, Glasgow and Ulster.

Cardiff, though, have not enjoyed much recent success on the road, with a solitary win in their last five away games being a 29-20 success at Scarlets in May.

But the Welsh side have lost only one of their last five encounters against South African teams while they have a 50 per cent success rate in South Africa.