Stormers into second URC final, so where to now for the Sharks and Bulls?

A desperately poor season in Europe for both the Sharks and Bulls came to an end last weekend when both teams were dumped out of the United Rugby Championship (URC) at the quarterfinal stage.

The Lions didn’t even reach the last eight.

It was a disappointing second season in the URC, and first in the Champions Cup, for two teams from Durban and Pretoria that had shown a lot of promise in their first season in Europe.

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The Sharks will be the most disappointed of the South African franchises by far after they were unable to secure Champions Cup qualification for next season and will instead have to play in the second tier Challenge Cup.

That is a massive blow to a franchise that has massive financial backing and a large number of Springbok stars in their ranks.

Springboks unavailable

The biggest problem for the Sharks has been their dismal form when their Springbok players are unavailable due to international commitments and resting protocols.

Unlike the Stormers, who will play in their second straight URC final in two weeks’ time and have impressively built a squad of players that are able to step up to the plate and perform at a high level when their Springbok stars are unavailable, the Sharks have been unable to do that.

With them now out of the Champions Cup for the coming season they may struggle to bring in reinforcements as well, which will continue to hinder their progress.

Last season the Sharks finished a respectable fifth on the URC log, with them finishing eighth on the log this season.

This set them up with a quarterfinal against competition favourites Leinster, and although they were missing a number of star players through injury, Leinster sent out a weakened team and easily brushed them aside 35-5.

Although they were always considered underdogs, the manner of the defeat was disappointing and indicates that a lot of rebuilding has to be done in the off season.

The return of former Sharks coach John Plumtree could prove to be a big turning point for the franchise and could usher in a new dawn going forward.

Unhappy with their efforts

The Bulls, although not having as disappointing a season as the Sharks due to them securing Champions Cup qualification, will also be unhappy with their efforts.

After finishing fourth on the log in their first season in the competition, they hosted a quarterfinal, pulled off the upset of the season to beat Leinster in Dublin in the semi-finals and just lost out to the Stormers in the final.

This season they managed to finish sixth and were comfortably beaten by the Stormers in the quarterfinals, which was their sixth consecutive loss against their coastal rivals over the past two seasons.

Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White has a lot of work to do in the off season to improve what is already a strong squad and get them firing on all cylinders to reach their potential.

He has already admitted that he wants to bring in more x-factor players and will be looking to strengthen the squad over the coming months.