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The Bulls and Sharks are in position to secure a top four spot, while the Stormers and Lions must work hard in the coming weeks to book their playoff places.
Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell looks on as his players prepare for the final four games of the URC regular season. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
While it is disappointing that no South African teams remain alive in either the Champions Cup or Challenge Cup, the good news is the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers can now fully focus on the United Rugby Championship.
And that means there is no room for excuses or for the respective coaches to rest and rotate players heavily in the coming weeks as the URC competition enters its final four rounds of action.
Everyone’s full attention should now be on the URC and finishing as high as possible on the points table.
And the reality is South Africa could have four teams in that top eight, even if the task is a big one for the Lions.
While Ivan van Rooyen and his team have produced a mixed bag of performances, and results, and find themselves 14th in the standings with 30 points, their four remaining matches are all at home at Ellis Park. And right now, they’re just six points off the top eight.
Wins against Benetton, Connacht, Scarlets and Ospreys could be enough to get them into the playoffs.
South Africa’s top-placed team, the Bulls, face a tricky fortnight in Europe, though they’ve already been abroad for a few weeks because of Challenge Cup commitments, with their next URC matches against Munster and Glasgow. They finish at home against Cardiff and the Dragons.
They’re currently third in the standings with 50 points, with just the Sharks (fourth, 45 points) snapping at their heels. Munster, in fifth, are on 39 points so the Bulls have a little breathing room, but they won’t want to get into a last-game scrap to make the top four and will no doubt be chasing a top-two finish anyway. Glasgow are just four points ahead of them.
The Sharks are also abroad for their next two matches, against Edinburgh and Ulster, and will hope an injection of Springbok blood in the form of Eben Etzebeth, Grant Williams, Aphelele Fassi and Lukhanyo Am will help them stay in the top four. Their final two matches are at home to Ospreys and Scarlets.
The Stormers, like the Lions, face a bit of an uphill battle to make it into the top eight (they’re 10th with 35 log points), but they, too, are at home for their final four matches.
They host Connacht, Benetton, the Dragons and Cardiff Rugby on consecutive weekends and will also be boosted by the availability of experienced lock JD Schickerling.
With a final week’s break after the next two rounds (on the weekend of May 3) for players to rest up and recover, there’s no excuse for the four South African URC teams to not put in a big effort in the final rounds of league action.
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