URC WRAP: SA teams flex their muscles to set up strong final surge

There wasn’t any change at all to the South African teams’ standings in the Vodacom URC over the weekend but in terms of confidence and the platform that was built for a final surge that could result in this country’s best ever performance on the log it couldn’t have gone any better.

On a weekend where the Glasgow Warriors confirmed themselves as the team to beat when it comes to log position, although don’t bet against Leinster reversing the result at Scotstoun should they meet in the knockout rounds at full strength, all the local teams did what they needed to as they race together to make it four SA teams in the top eight at the end of the season.

There were a total of 168 points scored by the SA teams against just 45 across the four games played on home soil, and it would have been even more one-sided had the DHL Stormers properly converted their dominance in the final game of the weekend in Cape Town.

But while their director of rugby John Dobson might have hoped for a bit more, the Stormers were never in danger of losing and picked up their four-try bonus point to make it 20 log points out of a possible 20 from the weekend for local sides.

STORMERS KEEP PACE WITH GLASGOW AND WIDEN GAP ON FIFTH

That means the Stormers kept pace with Glasgow by matching their five points and are now clear in second place after both Leinster and Ulster dropped their games. And their fellow SA teams, the Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks, did the job that the Stormers would have hoped they would by knocking back the challenges of fifth placed Cardiff and sixth placed Munster respectively.

Not only did they beat those teams, but the Bulls and Sharks ensured that neither of them registered a bonus point - which was the case across all four games. With a fourth place finish that signifies home ground advantage in the first round of the Finals Series being all important, the Stormers have now seen the gap to the fifth placed side, which was one point, now widen to six.

The Bulls and Sharks can help widen that gap even further, and in the Bulls’ case close in on the top four bracket, if they can repeat their domination of round 13 when they host the teams the other side beat this coming weekend. In other words Munster will be heading from their whitewash at the hands of the Sharks to Loftus, while Cardiff will be in Durban.

CONNACHT’S WIN MAKES IT TIGHT FOR SHARKS

Wins remain critical for both SA sides as the log situation is tight. While Sharks coach JP Pietersen was rightly chuffed with his team’s performance, and described Saturday’s experience in Durban as “one of the best days of my life”, his team are still 11th and while the Stormers were helped by Ulster losing to Connacht, that wasn’t the case for the Sharks.

Connacht have now joined the Bulls in eighth place, with 35 log points apiece, with the Sharks still needing to make up six points, meaning more than a bonus point win, for them to get into the top half and qualify for the playoffs and next season’s Investec Champions Cup.

Benetton, who started the season slowly, have also shown signs of life with a good win over the Ospreys and when they have their Italy international players back they will also have pretensions of making the top eight bracket. They are currently 12th, one point behind the Sharks, who they will face in Durban later in the season.

The Sharks’ big win over Munster came in a bit of a weird game, with late scores from the Sharks conflating the margin and it is hard to argue that Munster played so poorly that they deserved the zero they had next to their name at the end of the game.

THE DAY A DIAMOND WAS DISCOVERED?

However, the Sharks’ dominance of the forward battle, particularly through their scrum and maul, gave Munster no real entry point into the game and the Sharks’ defensive system also gave them little room to breathe. It is not often Munster lose by 45 points and you could see the disappointment etched in the face of the captain JJ Hanrahan in the post-match television interview, so the Sharks do have good reason to feel proud of their performance.

It was a day where an old hero in the form of 2019 Springbok World Cup winner Makazole Mapimpi celebrated his landmark 100th appearance with two fine late tries, but it will probably be remembered as the debut of a young player who looks a real gem, Luan Gilliomee.

The fullback who hails from Breyton Paulse country in Ceres delivered an energetic and sparky performance that included a try and at least one try assist, and in doing so he thoroughly vindicated Pietersen’s decision to back him in the absence of the injured duo of Aphelele Fassi and Jaco Williams.

To me he looks like a combination of Pat Lambie and Cheslin Kolbe so enough said, but from the reaction after the game the view of him as a diamond that has been discovered is not a lone one. The Sharks still need to improve their attacking shape, but they will take a lot of confidence into their clash with Cardiff as they take the task of winning all their remaining fixtures one game at a time.

BULLS GOT BACK ON THE HORSE

What would have added to the pride of the Sharks coach was that the win was achieved in a game where they went in with some disruption following the late withdrawal of two key Springboks - centre Ethan Hooker through bereavement and Siya Kolisi with a calf injury.

The Bulls duly got back on the horse following the disappointment of their loss to the Stormers against Cardiff, with the Bok duo of Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse in their best form, as was Embrose Papier, with the scrumhalf playing well enough this season to make that a current Bok trio.

Not that there isn’t plenty of competition for the No 9 jersey, and Morne van den Bergh scored a try and was again outstanding while future star Haashim Pead scored a try as a replacement as the Lions completed what was arguably the best SA performance of round 13. If you haven’t seen the game make a point of watching it as it featured some tries that will surely qualify in the shortlist for URC tries of the season.

The Lions were forced to make three times as many tackles as Edinburgh but transitioned with lethal effect, often from deep positions, as they made it three comfortable wins out of three since they were humiliated on their own field by the Bulls at the end of January.

Weekend Vodacom United Rugby Championship Results

Vodacom Bulls 40 Cardiff Rugby 7

Ulster 19 Connacht 26

Scarlets 36 Zebre 17

Fidelity SureDrive Lions 54 Edinburgh 17

Benetton 31 Ospreys 19

Hollywoodbets Sharks 45 Munster 0

Glasgow Warriors 38 Leinster 17

DHL Stormers 29 Dragons 21

Log standings after 13 games: 1. Glasgow Warriors 50; 2. DHL Stormers 46; 3. Ulster 42; 4. Leinster 41; 5. Cardiff 40; 6. Munster 39; 7. Fidelity SureDrive Lions 38; 8. Vodacom Bulls 35; 9. Connacht 35; 10. Ospreys 29; 11. Hollywoodbets Sharks 29; 12. Benetton 28; 13. Edinburgh 23; 14. Scarlets 21; 15. Dragons 20; 16. Zebre 12.