Pretoria franchise can do their southern rivals a favour with win over Munster
18 April 2024 - 19:29
byGAVIN RICH
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Bulls director of rugby Jake White, right, is preparing his team for their United Rugby Championship clash with Munster on Saturday. Picture: SHUTTERSTOCK/ANDY WATTS
It is that time of the United Rugby Championship (URC) season when necessity creates some odd alliances, and there may well be one that develops over the next few weeks between two SA teams that consider themselves arch-rivals.
As far-fetched as it may seem, there is good reason for Stormers fans, players and coaches to get behind the Bulls when they clash with Munster in Pretoria on Saturday.
If one looks at the log after 13 rounds, it is easy to understand why.
The Stormers are desperate to host a quarterfinal — as they have en route to an appearance in the final in both of the URC seasons played so far — and that means they need to end in the top four. The immediate obstacle to that objective just happens to be the Munster team that took the champions tag off the inaugural winners in 2023’s closely fought final.
Munster are four points ahead of the Stormers with five matches to play. Provided the Stormers do what they need to by beating the Ospreys at the Cape Town Stadium — preferably getting a try-scoring bonus point in the process, a Bulls win over Munster in an earlier game on Saturday will make it possible for the Stormers to leapfrog the Irish team into fourth.
It doesn’t end there though.
The Bulls will have their reasons for needing to beat Glasgow Warriors when the teams clash at Loftus on May 11. They will be aiming to finish second on the log to ensure a home semifinal, and it is Glasgow who hold down second at present, four points ahead of the third-placed Bulls and six ahead of Munster.
The Bulls might have been hoping that the Sharks would help them out by knocking Glasgow over in Glasgow on Friday night. But while that might have been a distinct possibility with the full-strength Sharks team rapidly gaining form, it appears the need to be fresh for their EPCR Challenge Cup semifinal on May 4 may override other considerations for the Durbanites.
If the Sharks did win though, it would be the third time they’ve helped their coastal rivals as their wins over two contending teams, Ulster and Edinburgh, pushed them down the log.
And if the Bulls do the same when they host Glasgow in a couple of weeks, that would make Franco Smith’s team vulnerable to the intentions of the Stormers.
Given how difficult it is to come to SA, there is still a prospect of SA teams finishing second and third on the final log.
If the Bulls are beaten by Munster and Glasgow in the next few weeks, there is a chance the Stormers could overtake them. But right now, with the Bulls playing most of their remaining matches at home, the Pretoria side dealing with those two teams looks the most likely route to a possible top-four spot for John Dobson’s men.
Ulster are still in contention for a top-four spot as they are just four points adrift of the Stormers. But they will be under pressure to put what has been a testing few weeks for their new coach behind them when they host Cardiff on Friday night.
They’ve lost to the Sharks and the Stormers in their last two URC games and followed that up by being outplayed by Clermont-Auvergne in their Challenge Cup quarterfinal last weekend.
The Lions could also help out the Stormers as they host Munster the week after the URC champions play at Loftus, and also get to host Glasgow in mid-May.
Two other games where the Stormers and Lions should be cheering on a fellow SA team are the Sharks hosting Benetton on May 11 and then the Bulls against Benetton a week later.
Benetton have lost their way a bit after being in the top four early in the season, but they did recover a bit before the break for the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup fixtures and are now sixth, just two points behind the Stormers.
With their Italy players no doubt thriving on the confidence they picked up in an impressive Six Nations showing, Benetton will be dangerous and were in good form in beating Connacht in their Challenge Cup quarterfinal.
SA URC fixtures:
Friday: Glasgow Warriors vs Sharks (8.35pm)
Saturday: Lions vs Leinster (3pm), Bulls vs Munster (5.05pm), Stormers vs Ospreys (7.15pm) — SuperSport.com
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Time for Stormers to cheer on the Bulls
Pretoria franchise can do their southern rivals a favour with win over Munster
It is that time of the United Rugby Championship (URC) season when necessity creates some odd alliances, and there may well be one that develops over the next few weeks between two SA teams that consider themselves arch-rivals.
As far-fetched as it may seem, there is good reason for Stormers fans, players and coaches to get behind the Bulls when they clash with Munster in Pretoria on Saturday.
If one looks at the log after 13 rounds, it is easy to understand why.
The Stormers are desperate to host a quarterfinal — as they have en route to an appearance in the final in both of the URC seasons played so far — and that means they need to end in the top four. The immediate obstacle to that objective just happens to be the Munster team that took the champions tag off the inaugural winners in 2023’s closely fought final.
Munster are four points ahead of the Stormers with five matches to play. Provided the Stormers do what they need to by beating the Ospreys at the Cape Town Stadium — preferably getting a try-scoring bonus point in the process, a Bulls win over Munster in an earlier game on Saturday will make it possible for the Stormers to leapfrog the Irish team into fourth.
It doesn’t end there though.
The Bulls will have their reasons for needing to beat Glasgow Warriors when the teams clash at Loftus on May 11. They will be aiming to finish second on the log to ensure a home semifinal, and it is Glasgow who hold down second at present, four points ahead of the third-placed Bulls and six ahead of Munster.
The Bulls might have been hoping that the Sharks would help them out by knocking Glasgow over in Glasgow on Friday night. But while that might have been a distinct possibility with the full-strength Sharks team rapidly gaining form, it appears the need to be fresh for their EPCR Challenge Cup semifinal on May 4 may override other considerations for the Durbanites.
If the Sharks did win though, it would be the third time they’ve helped their coastal rivals as their wins over two contending teams, Ulster and Edinburgh, pushed them down the log.
And if the Bulls do the same when they host Glasgow in a couple of weeks, that would make Franco Smith’s team vulnerable to the intentions of the Stormers.
Given how difficult it is to come to SA, there is still a prospect of SA teams finishing second and third on the final log.
If the Bulls are beaten by Munster and Glasgow in the next few weeks, there is a chance the Stormers could overtake them. But right now, with the Bulls playing most of their remaining matches at home, the Pretoria side dealing with those two teams looks the most likely route to a possible top-four spot for John Dobson’s men.
Ulster are still in contention for a top-four spot as they are just four points adrift of the Stormers. But they will be under pressure to put what has been a testing few weeks for their new coach behind them when they host Cardiff on Friday night.
They’ve lost to the Sharks and the Stormers in their last two URC games and followed that up by being outplayed by Clermont-Auvergne in their Challenge Cup quarterfinal last weekend.
The Lions could also help out the Stormers as they host Munster the week after the URC champions play at Loftus, and also get to host Glasgow in mid-May.
Two other games where the Stormers and Lions should be cheering on a fellow SA team are the Sharks hosting Benetton on May 11 and then the Bulls against Benetton a week later.
Benetton have lost their way a bit after being in the top four early in the season, but they did recover a bit before the break for the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup fixtures and are now sixth, just two points behind the Stormers.
With their Italy players no doubt thriving on the confidence they picked up in an impressive Six Nations showing, Benetton will be dangerous and were in good form in beating Connacht in their Challenge Cup quarterfinal.
SA URC fixtures:
Friday: Glasgow Warriors vs Sharks (8.35pm)
Saturday: Lions vs Leinster (3pm), Bulls vs Munster (5.05pm), Stormers vs Ospreys (7.15pm) — SuperSport.com
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