Springbok stars back to boost SA teams’ URC hopes

The return of their Springbok stars will give a significant boost to the South African franchises as they battle it out in their final pool stage away fixtures of the United Rugby Championship (URC) over the coming weekend.

With just three games left in the pool stage, all four SA sides play away this weekend and then host teams over the final two rounds before going into the competition knockouts.

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Returning Boks

The biggest game of the weekend sees the top of the table clash between the second placed Stormers and runaway leaders Leinster at the RDS Arena in Dublin, while the Bulls and Ulster will battle it out in another mouth-watering matchup at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.

The other games see the Sharks up against Scarlets at the Parc Y Scarlets in Llanelli, while the Lions take on Benetton at the Stadio Monigo in Treviso.

The Stormers and Sharks will see a host of Springboks return for their games which will be a major boost, while a couple of players will return to the Bulls and the Lions unfortunately have no reinforcements.

The Springbok stars have been unavailable for the URC sides over the past few months due to resting protocols and a Springbok camp in Cape Town, so they will be fired up and ready to get back down to business.

Damian Willemse will lead a host of stars back to the Stormers, including props Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe, and it will be very interesting to see if Leinster will name a full strength team for the match.

With all of their Irish stars fresh off a grand slam Six Nations triumph, the hosts may be tempted to throw their international stars straight back into URC action, before resting them over the final two games when they tour South Africa.

If it is a full strength Leinster side it could well be the match of the pool stage as the top two teams go all out against each other.

Bulls and Sharks

The Bulls will be hoping that their two returning Boks, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie, can help them bounce back from a dreadful run of form when they take on high flying Ulster, in what could turn out to be a cracking encounter.

With the Bulls currently in sixth place on the log and having not yet secured their place in the knockouts they will be desperate for a win to arrest their poor recent run of form, but they may need to accept a loss this weekend and focus their efforts on their final two home games.

The Sharks will be grateful for the return of Springbok skipper Siya Kolisi, as well as Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi among others, which should give them the shot in the arm to beat Scarlets.

The Sharks are currently seventh on the log and with the Bulls facing a tough fixture, as well as the sides in fourth and fifth, Glasgow Warriors and Munster, facing each other, they could be set for a move up the log, but it may be too late to make a play for a top four placing.

The Lions have no Bok stars to call on, but having beaten Glasgow and the Bulls in their last two URC games they head to Treviso with plenty of confidence and looking to upstage Benetton.

The Lions are currently 11^th on the log and a place into the competition knockouts is out of their hands and they will need to win their final three pool games while hoping that other results go their way if they want to stand any chance of reaching them.