SA teams gear up for Welsh invasion

SA’s four United Rugby Championship (URC) teams are preparing for a Welsh invasion and will have everything to play for this weekend as the cross-hemisphere spectacle reaches the penultimate pool round.

While the Bulls have secured their spot in the top four already, all eyes will be on the Sharks, who are looking to seal a home quarterfinal, as well as the Stormers and Lions, who have to win their matches with the race to eight in full force.

Log leaders Leinster (67 points), second-placed defending champions the Glasgow Warriors (59), and the Bulls (58) are already guaranteed home quarterfinals, but the men from Pretoria will do everything in their power in the last two rounds to sneak into second place.

A victory for the Sharks (in fourth place with 53), in turn, will see them cement an invaluable home quarterfinal as they lead fifth-placed Cardiff by seven log points.

The Stormers (in sixth place with 45), in turn, could hop into fifth position if they win their match and the Bulls defeat Cardiff, while the Lions must win both their remaining matches with bonus points to keep their hazy hopes of a playoff spot alive.

Adding to the pressure on the Joburgers, defeat this weekend will shatter their chances of making the playoffs.

The Sharks will meet the 11th-placed Ospreys in Durban on Friday, while two matches will play out on Saturday — between the Bulls and Cardiff in Pretoria, and the Stormers and last-placed Dragons in Cape Town.

The Lions, meanwhile, will wrap up the action on Sunday afternoon when they host the seventh-placed Scarlets in Johannesburg.

The two remaining rounds will have extra significance for a handful of local players, including the Stormers trio of Ruben van Heerden, Leolin Zas and Warrick Gelant; Jordan Hendrikse and Siya Kolisi of the Sharks, and the Lions duo of Edwill van der Merwe and Quan Horn, who are in contention for the URC Awards, which will be announced at the conclusion of the pool stages.

In Durban, the Sharks will be hunting their third victory in a row after defeating Edinburgh and Ulster on the road in their last two outings, and with the favourable KwaZulu-Natal weather conditions and their passionate home crowd behind them, they will have all the motivation they need to register a victory against the Ospreys.

With 11 wins in their 16 matches to date to only seven by the Welsh outfit, the Durbanites will enter the match as favourites on paper, however, they will be careful to take this for granted as Ospreys have scored four more tries than them on attack this season and only conceded seven more points on defence, meaning it could be a tight battle.

The Bulls, meanwhile, will have their sights set on registering their sixth successive URC victory when they lock horns with Cardiff — and similarly to the Sharks — they will enter the match high on confidence after toppling Munster and defending champions, Glasgow, abroad in their last two outings.

The men from Pretoria, however, will be up against a determined Cardiff side, who are fully aware that a victory would entrench their spot in the top eight on the log, while a defeat could see them drop down the table, and place their playoff hopes in jeopardy as they face the Stormers in Cape Town next week.

The Stormers, in turn, will target a full house of points when they take on the Dragons at the Cape Town Stadium, especially with the visitors boasting only one win to eight by the hosts in the competition to date. SA Rugby Communications