Can the Stormers win the United Rugby Championship?
Just three South African franchises remain as the 2021/22 United Rugby Championship heads into the quarter-final stages this weekend with the Stormers, Bulls and Sharks among the eight remaining title hopefuls.
After the culmination of the regular season, the Stormers enter the finals with a serious chance of glory after finishing second on the log and winning the South African Shield. It was an impressive season for a side not expected to be playing in the playoffs.
The Stormers are joined in the playoffs by the Bulls and the Sharks, although just one of those will remain beyond the weekend as the fourth and fifth placed finishers collide in an all-South African quarter-final.
Can any of the trio of representatives go all the way and land the URC title? Let’s take a look at the prospects:
Stormers
The Stormers were not expected to be in the quarter-finals, but the boys from Cape Town have outperformed expectations and enter the finals as second seeds.
A 12–4 win-loss record plus two draws saw the Stormers finish second to log leaders Leinster and no side will want to face John Dobson’s marauding outfit.
From outsiders for the title, the Stormers are now an 8.5 (15/2) chance to go all the way with PNXBet, who are currently offering a promo code NEWBONUS, and become United Rugby Championship winners.
They get a home tie against seventh-placed finishers Edinburgh at Cape Town Stadium, in which they are strong 1.33 (1/3) favourites to win on Saturday, June 4.
It should be a thriller if the regular season meeting is another to go by with the sides playing out a 20–20 draw in the Scottish capital in October.
Vodacom Bulls
The Bulls face a familiar foe in the quarter-finals with the fourth-place side locking horns with fifth-place finishers, the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
The Vodacom Bulls pipped the Sharks to fourth spot by a single point thanks to a 11–7 record across the regular season for Jake White’s side.
The Bulls won eight of their last nine matches in a strong end to the season, and they are now 17.00 (16/1) to go all the way and be crowned champions.
For Saturday afternoon’s quarter-final, the Bulls are firm 1.50 (1/2) favourites despite losing both games to the Sharks during the regular season.
Sharks
Sean Everitt’s Sharks will have to do things the hard way if they are to be crowned United Rugby Championship winners having ended up in the wrong half of the draw.
Three away wins are needed if they are to reach the final and be crowned champions.
Defeat to fellow quarter-finalists Ulster last weekend cost the Sharks fourth spot on the log, and they now find themselves as 34.00 (33/1) outsiders to go all the way now.
The Sharks will take the confidence of 30–16 and 29–22 wins over the Bulls this season into the quarter-final, for which they are priced at 2.60 (13/5) to win in Pretoria.
