SA teams make mixed start to 2024/25 URC competition

It was a mixed bag for South Africa’s United Rugby Championship (URC) sides as the Lions and Bulls kicked of their campaigns with home wins, while the Sharks and Stormers suffered defeats on the road.

The URC officially kicked off last weekend, but the SA teams’ derbies that were meant to be played were postponed due to the Currie Cup final, which meant they finally got under way this weekend.

The Lions were the star SA performers with them clinching a bonus point 35-22 win over Irish giants Ulster at Ellis Park, while the Bulls were made to work hard before clinching a 22-16 over Edinburgh at Loftus.

The Sharks and Stormers then both let themselves down as they slipped to opening defeats, 36-30 against Connacht in Ireland and 37-24 against Ospreys in Wales respectively.

Lions start with a win

For the Lions it wasn’t a perfect performance, but it was a perfect result as they started their campaign with a full house of points.

They got off to a strong start as they took an 8-0 lead after 14 minutes thanks to a Rabz Maxwane try and Kade Wolhuter penalty, and extended it to 15-0 in the 34^th minute with a converted try to Francke Horn.

However Ulster fought back well, with unconverted tries after the halftime hooter and three minutes into the second half to drag themselves back into the game at 15-10.

But the Lions pulled away with two tries in three minutes, to Franco Marais and Henco van Wyk, while another Wolhuter penalty pushed them into a 30-10 lead after 57 minutes.

Ulster responded well again with two tries to make it 30-22 with three minutes to play, followed by Wolhuter sealing the win with a try at the death.

Five points was the goal

“The goal was five points. We still have a lot of things to fix. But if you look at the bigger picture, we had two sessions to prepare and six URC debutants in this game, so for us to beat Ulster for the first time, I’ll take the five points,” said Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen.

In the Bulls game they were given a scare by Edinburgh after they got off to a good start with tries to Jannes Kirsten and Jaco van der Walt to take a 12-10 lead into halftime.

However Edinburgh took a 13-12 lead in the 47^th minute with a penalty, before the Bulls pulled away with a converted Canan Moodie try and penalty to Boeta Chamberlain, to secure the win.

The Sharks and Stormers’ games almost mirrored each other as both teams took good leads, before watching the hosts come powering back.

The Sharks were the guiltiest, after taking a 27-7 halftime lead over Connacht, before they then needed a penalty from Siya Masuku after the fulltime hooter to bring them within seven points to pick up a losing bonus point.

The Stormers also slipped up, after taking a 19-13 lead in the 44^th minute thanks to a Damian Willemse drop goal, they allowed Ospreys to hit back and pull away for a comfortable win.