It is a huge weekend for the Vodacom URC and one that again emphasises South African rugby’s value to the global standing of the competition, writes MARK KEOHANE.
The Vodacom Bulls, DHL Stormers and Lions will have everything to play for in the final pool round of the URC on Saturday – when the SA Shield winners will also be determined.
The Bulls and Stormers will attempt to book the best possible log positions heading into the quarter-finals, while the Lions aim to secure a spot in the top eight in what is expected to be a thrilling round of local derbies.
The fifth-placed Stormers host the Lions, in ninth, at Cape Town Stadium, before the Sharks – already knocked out of the playoff race – andt the second-placed Bulls clash in Durban.
Writing for TimesLIVE, Keohane believes that SA derbies have consistently proved a league winner since the inception of the URC, and expects a crowd of more than 30 000 in the shadow of Table Mountain.
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He highlights that the Bulls have scored a league high 81 tries this season while arguing that the Sharks, fresh off a historic Challenge Cup title win, have the ideal opportunity to entertain their fans as well as make amends for a “horror URC campaign”.
“South Africa’s derby days make for Super Saturdays in the United Rugby Championship, and this weekend’s final round derbies will again showcase that ‘local is lekker’,” Keohane writes.
“The Lions, in experiencing their best URC season, can qualify for a first URC quarter-final with victory in Cape Town, and the talk all week has been of the Lions win against the Stormers in Cape Town in the 2021/22 season.
“The Sharks have won just four in 17 URC matches, but with Springboks Vincent Koch, Bongi Mbonambi and Eben Etzebeth monstrous in demolishing Gloucester at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, there is every reason to believe the Sharks can upstage the Bulls and potentially relegate them to a fourth-place finish.”
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/INPHO/Shutterstock
The post ‘Local is lekker’ in the URC appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
It is a huge weekend for the Vodacom URC and one that again emphasises South African rugby’s value to the global standing of the competition, writes MARK KEOHANE.
The post ‘Local is lekker’ in the URC appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
