Embrose Papier runs away from James Venter during the Bulls' URC match against the Sharks at the weekend. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
The 2023/24 United Rugby Championship regular season is now done and dusted and there are just the playoff matches to come, starting this weekend.
It was a mixed bag from the four South African teams, with the Bulls finishing second and the Stormers fifth and making the playoffs, while the Lions (ninth) and Sharks (14th) missed out on quarter-final spots.
This weekend the Bulls will host Benetton of Italy in their last-eight game, while the Stormers will be in Glasgow taking on the Warriors.
Here then is The Citizen’s assessment of the four SA teams in this year’s URC.
The Bulls made good progress this season and deserve their spot in the top two. They played good clinical attacking rugby and right now stand a good chance of going all the way in the competition.
In the 2021/22 season they won 11 and lost seven, while last season (2022/23) they won 10 and lost eight, so coach Jake White will be pleased his team have made good strides in season three of the URC.
Under White the Bulls have built good depth and the emergence of several young players and the form of older veterans mean the Pretoria-based side are in a good space at the moment.
Rating: A
Standout performers: David Kriel, Embrose Papier, Cameron Hanekom, Akker van der Merwe
The most consistent thing about the Lions under Ivan van Rooyen is that they’re so disappointingly inconsistent, winning one week and losing the next. And this has left them languishing in mid-table again, missing out for the third season in a row of a place in the playoffs.
In their first season in the URC the Lions finished 12th with eight wins and 10 losses and last season they were also ninth, with nine wins and nine losses. The Lions though earned five more log points this year, for finishes within seven points of the winning team, showing they got close to registering more wins.
Rating: C
Standout performers: Emmanuel Tshituka, Sanele Nohamba, Edwill van der Merwe, Quan Horn
We’ve heard all the talk about the Sharks being without their World Cup Springboks for large parts of the season and the players needing to get used to the new coaching team under John Plumtree, but those are all excuses … the Sharks flopped badly in the URC, period.
There was just too much inconsistency and bad rugby for them to be competitive and not until late in the season with Siya Masuku arriving on the scene did they look like a side that could win.
In their first season in the URC, they finished fifth with 11 wins, while last term they were eighth with nine wins.
The Sharks simply have to kick on from winning the Challenge Cup and be a force next season.
Rating: E
Standout performers: Aphelele Fassi, Siya Masuku, Eben Etzebeth
It was a bit of an up-and-down season results-wise for John Dobson and his men and for the first time since joining the competition will play away from home in the playoffs.
It must be noted though the Stormers have now played three seasons of URC rugby and in every campaign have won 12 times; in their first season they finished second with 12 wins, two draws and four losses, while last season they were third with 12 wins, two draws and four losses. Consistency is pretty much the name of the game for the Stormers.
They’re a settled team who play good high quality rugby and they’ve got some good depth, too. They’re in a good place and will look to next season with plenty of energy.
Rating: B
Standout performers: Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok, Hacjivah Dayimani, Ruben van Heerden, Neethling Fouche
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