URC state of play: Bulls, Sharks on course for home playoffs, Lions lose ground

After another action-packed weekend in the United Rugby Championship (URC), South African franchises enjoyed a relatively successful time of things with three out of four picking up wins, with the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers the big winners.

Although it was extremely nerve racking for Bulls and Sharks fans, the Pretoria and Durban outfits emerged with very late wins over Leinster and Zebre respectively to solidify their positions in the top four.

Thanks to Glasgow Warriors’ comeback win over Munster, it pushed both SA sides further ahead of the chasing pack, with the third-placed Bulls now on 45 points, the fourth-placed Sharks on 44 and Cardiff now in fifth on 35.

That breathing room could come in handy down the back stretch of the pool stage, although Glasgow also solidified their spot in second on 49 points, which will make it tricky to overhaul them.

Golden opportunity

The Bulls almost blew a golden opportunity against a weakened Leinster side, producing a dismal first half showing to luckily only trail 10-6 at the break, and although they improved a bit in the second half, they still needed a penalty after the fulltime hooter from David Kriel to earn them a 21-20 win.

It was Leinster’s first defeat of the competition, though they are still comfortable at the top of the log on 58 points, and although the Sharks will be favourites for their match against the Irish men this coming weekend in Durban, they should still finish top, especially when their Irish internationals return to the fold.

The Sharks were just as bad as the Bulls as they nearly ended up with egg on their face, as they almost suffered back to back defeats against Italian side Zebre.

Last season the Sharks were dismal in the URC, and went down to Zebre 12-10 in Parma, which at the time broke an incredible 28-match losing streak in the competition for the Italian team.

This season, however, both have been much improved, although Zebre still sit 15^th on the log, and it took a 77^th minute try from Ethan Hooker, converted by Jordan Hendrikse, to give the Sharks an uncomfortable 35-34 win.

Big mover

The big mover on the weekend ended up being the Stormers who jumped from 13^th on the log to eighth thanks to a 29-18 bonus point win over Scarlets in Llanelli.

Although they took the lead early in the first half and held it over the rest of the game, the Stormers were never comfortable and always in range of the hosts, who almost scored with five minutes left which would have seen them take the lead.

Instead, a converted try by Andre-Hugo Venter a few minutes later sealed the try scoring bonus point and win for the Cape Town side.

The only SA team to lose on the weekend ended up being the Lions, and their costly 20-17 defeat to Cardiff dropped them from eighth to 13^th.

It was a game they should have won and they will now be kicking themselves as they have to target an upset win over Glasgow in Scotland to try keep alive their URC playoff hopes.

Five rounds of matches remain before the playoffs take place.

For the full points table click here.

SA URC fixtures this weekend

Friday

Ulster v Stormers at the Kingspan Stadium – Kick-off 9:35pm

Saturday

Bulls v Zebre at Loftus Versveld – Kick-off 2:45pm

Sharks v Leinster at Kings Park – Kick-off 7:15pm

Glasgow Warriors v Lions at the Scotstoun Stadium – Kick-off 9:35pm