The United Rugby Championship (URC) takes centre stage again during this coming weekend’s first break in the Six Nations season and for most teams the stakes are high as they kick off the second half of the season.
It is the local derbies in Johannesburg and Durban that will grab most of the attention in South Africa, with two eagerly awaited match ups having significant implications for the log and the teams’ chances of hitting target from the league phase of the season. First up, the Lions will host the Bulls on Saturday, followed by a coastal derby between the Sharks and Stormers.
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Springbok stars dominated the URC line-ups
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Reinhardt Ludwig, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Francois Kloppers, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Mpilo Gumede.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Hanru Sirgel, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 JP Smith
Substitutes: 16 PJ Botha, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Erich Cronje.
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Stormers team: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Evan Roos, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Substitutes: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Wandisile Simelane, 23 Angelo Davids
Sharks team: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Vincent Tshituka, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi
Fixtures (SA times)
Friday, 16 February:
21h35: Zebre v Edinburgh (Parma)
21h35: Scarlets v Munster (Llanelli)
Saturday, 17 February:
15h00: Lions v Bulls (Johannesburg)
17h00: Leinster v Benetton (Dublin)
17h05: Sharks v Stormers (Durban)
19h15: Cardiff Rugby v Connacht (Cardiff)
21h35: Glasgow Warriors v Dragons (Glasgow)
Sunday, 18 February:
17h00: Ospreys v Ulster (Swansea)
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The Bulls, courtesy of their last gasp win over the Emirates Lions in Pretoria a few weeks ago, are the best placed of the South African teams as they head into a fortnight of matches which sees the return clash with the team from Johannesburg this week and then the huge home derby against the Stormers in Pretoria two weeks later (2 March).
The South African Shield is decided only on clashes between the teams in the group this season, and the Stormers are ahead in that, but the Capetonians’ coach John Dobson himself said before Christmas that it would feel a bit flat if they win the Shield but the Bulls are ahead on the overall log.
The men from Pretoria are currently fourth to the Stormers’ sixth but there are just four points separating the two teams. That could change in either direction between now and the end of the round due to be played in the first weekend of May, with the Sharks no doubt supremely motivated to turn their season around by beating the Capetonians in Durban on Saturday.
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Dobson’s men did well to turn their URC season around in December. They returned from a tour where they lost every game listing deep in the second half of the log, but wins over Zebre in Stellenbosch and the Vodacom Bulls and Sharks over the festive week in Cape Town have enabled the Cape team to stabilise.
For them it’s no longer a case of having to struggle to make the Champions Cup, which looked possible after their tour, but to chase another top four position and home advantage in the first playoff game. But the Bulls are having a good season and will be sitting pretty on the URC log if they continue their momentum by winning the next two games ahead of their trip to Leinster at the end of March.
They were a tad fortunate though to get away with the win over the Lions in the first round game, so an improvement will be necessary when they travel down the N1 highway at the weekend. The Jozi team have much to play for as they are just two points outside of the URC top eight so have every chance of qualifying for the Champions Cup for the first time if the second half of their season goes well.
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