State of the URC: Race for play-off spots resumes

The Sharks became the first SA team to advance to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, but it wasn’t to be for the Bulls after Jake White’s charges were knocked out of the Champions Cup.

The action in the URC returns this week with the Sharks shuttling off to Glasgow to tackle the Warriors on Friday, before Saturday’s schedule has the Lions take on Leinster at Ellis Park, the Bulls host defending champions Munster in Pretoria and the DHL Stormers square up to Ospreys at Cape Town Stadium.

With five rounds of the regular season remaining, the Bulls are in third place on the overall log with 45 points, behind leaders Leinster (54) and Glasgow (49) in second. The Stormers are in fifth (39), the Lions in 11th (34) and the Sharks are 16 points adrift in 13th spot on the log.

In the SA Shield, the Bulls lead the charge on 20 points from five derbies, closely followed by the Stormers with 17. The SA champion will be determined in the final round when both teams end the league phase of the 2023-24 season with an SA derby at the beginning of June.

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As inevitable as Leinster’s pole position may appear, the logjam from second to 11th primes the table for big swings in the coming weeks and every loss is potentially damaging for teams still in the play-off hunt.

The race for second is especially compelling and tight. Glasgow have a four-point advantage on the Bulls, but still have to come to Loftus Versfeld.

The Bulls are two points ahead of Munster, who are just four points ahead of the team they beat in last year’s final, the Stormers. The visits of Munster, Glasgow and Leinster to the Republic are going to have a telling impact on how the SA teams finish.

Benetton and Ospreys occupy sixth and seventh places respectively, positions dependent on how well they perform in South Africa.

Ulster, meanwhile, managed to hang onto eighth spot by clinching a losing bonus point in a low-scoring reverse against the Stormers in Cape Town prior to a two-week break in the competition.

But Edinburgh left with nothing from their SA tour, tumbling down the log from fourth to ninth in the space of just two matches, with the Lions and Connacht, in 10th, poised to capitalise on any further slip-ups.

Round 13 results:

Leinster 47-14 Bulls

Dragons 20-13 Zebre

Benetton 18-14 Connacht

Sharks 23-Edinburgh

Ospreys 36-21 Lions

Stormers 13-7 Ulster

Scarlets 3-45 Glasgow

Munster 20-15 Cardiff

Round 14 fixtures:

Friday, April 19

Ulster vs Cardiff (20:35)

Glasgow vs Sharks (20:35)

Saturday, April 20

Benetton vs Dragons (15:00)

Lions vs Leinster (15:00)

Bulls vs Munster (17:05)

Stormers vs Ospreys (19:15)

Edinburgh vs Scarlets (20:35)

Connacht vs Zebre (20:35)