Bulls and Sharks face tricky EPCR-URC balancing act

The Bulls and Sharks are facing a tricky balancing act between the EPCR Challenge Cup and United Rugby Championship (URC), as they both prepare to battle it out in the last 16 of Europe’s second tier competition.

Both teams will be in action in France over the coming weekend, with the Bulls up against Aviron Bayonnais on Saturday afternoon, while the Sharks will be facing Lyon on Sunday evening.

The Champions Cup is the pinnacle of European rugby, and having dropped out of that competition in the pool stage, you have to wonder how much interest the Bulls and Sharks will have in progressing in the Challenge Cup.

No team goes out to lose, and although it is the second tier it is still a major trophy, but both sides are currently in the top four of the URC, with the Bulls third and Sharks fourth, and both will want to finish as high as possible to give themselves the best possible home run come the knockouts.

The Sharks are also the current Challenge Cup defending champions, after they put all their efforts into lifting the title last season, having endured an extremely difficult URC campaign that saw them finish 14^th on the log, way off the playoff places.

Top SA URC team

For the Bulls, they are currently the best placed SA team in the URC, with a five-point buffer over the Sharks and four points off second-placed Glasgow, and if they beat Bayonnais, they head into next weekend’s EPCR quarterfinal, and then straight into a tough two-game URC tour.

They will face fifth-placed Munster in Limerick, followed by a blockbuster meeting with Glasgow in Scotland, and if they win both they could find themselves second on the URC log with two pool games to play.

So it will be interesting to see if they will be going all out in the Challenge Cup and backing a full strength team against Bayonnais, or if they will deploy a second string group, with an eye firmly on the URC.

The Sharks face a similar dilemma, as although they have a six-point lead over Munster in the URC, if they make a charge over the next two weekends in the Challenge Cup, and slip up on their two-game URC tour, with matches against Edinburgh and Ulster, they could drop out of the top four.

So will we see their sizable Springbok contingent, led by Bok captain Siya Kolisi, in action this weekend in Lyon, or will they be rested with the focus more on the URC.

If the Bulls and Sharks win their last 16 encounters this weekend, they will go on to face the Lions or Edinburgh, and Ospreys or Scarlets respectively in the Challenge Cup quarterfinals.