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URC WRAP: A reminder of South African rugby’s rich depth

football29 September 2025 07:40| © SuperSport
By:Gavin Rich
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Evan Roos © Gallo Images

It wasn’t a perfect weekend for the South African teams in the opening round of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship but then it was never going to be. The Hollywoodbets Sharks were without their Springboks and have injury problems and started away against Glasgow Warriors.

And while we may have given the Emirates Lions a chance of beating Cardiff away on the grounds that they should be battle hardened after going all in in their quest for a Currie Cup win, it would be a fool to bank too much on the Lions.

They clearly have very good youth systems in place, but that will take a while to bear fruit, and they also haemorrhage too many players once they mature.

LUKHANYO LOOKING MORE LIKE THE OLD AM

Edwill van der Merwe was one of those, and while the Sharks will be disappointed to have lost, they already know that in Van der Merwe they have acquired a player who could be the point of difference for them this season. And then there’s Lukhanyo Am.

A hero in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, Am has suffered injuries and has become a bit of a forgotten figure, particularly given the steadiness of Jesse Kriel when he plays for the Boks and Canan Moodie has marked himself as a special talent in the past few weeks.

But Am, back from injury now, gave an indication at the Scotstoun that he still has it, that he may be heading back to his former status as an ace stepper and reader of the game. More performances like that and Bok coach Rassie Erasmus will be giving serious consideration to using him on the end of year tour.

It is understood that Am has taken the advice of some of the Sharks coaches and put a special focus on his conditioning and eating habits in the knowledge that once you go over the age of 30 it is necessary to put in an extra effort that might not have been necessary earlier in your career.

There were other interesting features of the Sharks’ performances in defeat, such as the confirmation that in Ross Braude, the scrumhalf who has played for Canada but was born and schooled in Bloemfontein and is playing for the Durban team on loan from the Airlink Pumas, adds to an impressive array of scrumhalves (once Grant Williams is back from international duty) at the franchise and in the country.

JOOSTE SHOWS HIS PROMISE

But it would be remiss to focus too much on the Sharks on a weekend where two teams won well at home, and again there were huge positives from a national viewpoint to come out of the DHL Stormers and the Vodacom Bulls.

Let’s start with the latter. They struggled a bit initially in their first competitive match under the coaching of Johan Ackermann but in an early afternoon game the pace of the play was always going to count against the visiting Ospreys at altitude.

It felt safe even when it was close near the halfway mark, and the Ospreys were even leading, to predict that the Bulls would hit 50 - and they did.

Along the way we saw a reminder from Jan Serfontein of just how good he is and let’s not forget that in the Allister Coetzee era as Bok coach he was possibly the best player. And then there was Cheswill Jooste, one of several Junior Boks who will be making their way in the URC for the first time this season.

Jooste may not be a Bok before the end of the year as he plays a position where the Boks are particularly well served but he served notice that he is a special player and that the conveyor belt of talent that ultimately finds its way to the world champion team is working.

STATEMENT FROM STORMERS - AND VENTER

The performance of the weekend was undeniably that of the Stormers in Cape Town, with John Dobson’s men doing what they have failed to do in recent years by getting their campaign off to a positive start.

Of course it helped that for once that start was at DHL Stadium, and Leinster were under-strength, but not under-strength enough for the whitewashing at the hands of the Cape team not to be a meaningful result for the hosts.

Leinster did not field an academy team like the one that was thrashed by the Bulls a few years ago. Sam Pendergast was there, so was Robbie Henshaw and a few other players we know well and who have starred for Leinster in the past.

But on the night they ran into a Stormers team that, while showing signs of inevitable early season rust that meant they were held to a much narrower advantage at halftime (six points) than the balance of play demanded, was completely dominant.

Never more so than in the set-scrums, where after conceding an early scrum penalty the Stormers showed that their strong scrum culture remains intact despite the loss of Steven Kitshoff and the ongoing injury concerns for Frans Malherbe.

Indeed, if we are talking about Bok prospects, and given that there have been injuries at loosehead, how long will it take for Vernon Matongo to challenge for a place in the national plans.

Maybe not just yet, but certainly he is one for the future, with Neethling Fouche, who packs down regularly against him in training sessions, predicting last year that the former Durban schoolboy will go on to become a great Bok.

He was excellent against Leinster, and talking of KZN schoolboys, Dobson may have a problem, but one that he will welcome, when Maritzburg College old boy Ntuthuko Mchunu is over his injury and ready to make his debut for his new franchise.

It is understood that Mchunu moved to Cape Town as he didn’t want to be second fiddle to Ox Nche at the Sharks, meaning he wanted more game time. He is a Bok and only missed out on playing in this international season because of injury, but it is not clear cut that he should automatically start ahead of Matongo.

When it comes to immediate Bok prospects the man who made the biggest statement was probably the Stormers hooker, Andre-Huge Venter. He’s long been considered a big prospect, but he was playing behind Joseph Dweba last year and this season is his opportunity to nail down the first choice No 2 jersey and establish himself.

Jan-Hendrik Wessels is probably the back-up and successor now to Malcolm Marx in the Bok team but the national team will need a third hooker if Bongi Mbonambi doesn’t rediscover his old Mojo, and let’s face it Father Time isn’t his ally, and on Friday night’s performance in Cape Town Venter could be the man.

ROOS JUST SHOWED WHAT WE KNEW ALREADY

There are some who’d throw the name of Evan Roos into the mix, as he was excellent too, but you get the feeling that the Bok coach should have seen enough of the No 8 now to know his capabilities. Suffice to say though that South Africa must have ridiculous depth at loose-forward if Roos is not considered good enough to be in the squad…

Talking of loose-forwards, the Stormers openside Paul de Villiers is a monster, in a good way, and there’s no other way of putting it. The speed with which players like the former age-group star, and the likes of Matongo, have adapted to URC level rugby augurs well for the Stormers as they begin preparations for another home game, this time against the Ospreys on Friday.

Weekend Vodacom United Rugby Championship results

DHL Stormers 35 Leinster 0

Glasgow Warriors 35 Hollywoodbets Sharks 19

Vodacom Bulls 53 Ospreys 40

Zebre 31 Edinburgh 28

Scarlets 21 Munster 34

Connacht 26 Benetton 15

Cardiff Rugby 33 Emirates Lions 20

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