URC UPDATE: Bulls win aids Stormers at start of critical week

The local focus will be on the two derbies being played on the highveld, and in particular the one in Pretoria, but it will be a critical week for Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams across several fronts as the competition returns at the weekend with a full round.

The rescheduled derby between the Vodacom Bulls and the Emirates Lions at Loftus was the only URC game played at the weekend, and the Bulls win moved the Pretoria side to within two points of the second placed Glasgow Warriors, with both teams now having played the same number of games.

With the Bulls far ahead of them on the overall log, and effectively in a quest for a very different goal, supporters of the DHL Stormers would have found themselves in the rare position of wanting the Bulls to win. That is because the Lions are among the Stormers’ big challengers for a top eight spot that secures URC playoff qualification and a place in next season’s Investec Champions Cup.

The Stormers got their wish, with the Lions going down without a bonus point in Pretoria, thus leaving them still rooted in 12th place, where they started the weekend, two positions and one point behind the 10th placed Stormers.

CRUCIAL TWO WEEKS FOR SHARKS

It is important to stress that the Lions have a game in hand on the Stormers, but the Stormers will be hoping that their fellow coastal team, the Hollywoodbets Sharks, will do the business against the Lions home and away over the next two weeks.

The Sharks are in Johannesburg for the early game of an appetising highveld double header on Saturday afternoon before the venues are reversed the following weekend.

It is going to be a crucial two games for the Sharks if they hope to keep the heat on Glasgow and the Bulls in the quest for a top two finish that will guarantee home advantage for most of the Finals Series to be played in the last week of May and the first weeks of June.

Likewise it is critical for the Lions in their separate quest for a top eight finish. A win in one of the two games against the Sharks will be huge for them, and they will also be hoping that the Stormers suffer a similar fate to the one they did this past weekend when they head to Loftus on Saturday.

Stormers coach John Dobson has already spoken of the return derby at Loftus, with the Bulls having drawn first blood with their solitary point victory in Cape Town two weeks ago, as a must win and he's not wrong to do so.

His team's next two games are overseas before they return for a four game home run that could be profitable for the Cape side provided they are still in the log mix by then.

LIMERICK, GALWAY AND BELFAST GAMES BIG TOO

But it is not just the two derbies that will be of intense importance to the race for position in the two respective and different separate battles within a battle being raged in the URC - the one that is for a top four finish and the one that is for a top eight finish.

With it being a bye week in the Guinness Six Nations, there are eight games set to be played in round 12, and several of them will have a big impact on the log standings and the outlook of competing teams.

For instance, Munster will be looking to cement what is now becoming a top four challenge by beating Edinburgh at Thomond Park on Friday night, something which will help the Stormers and Lions as Edinburgh are still in the mix for a top eight finish.

Conversely, an Edinburgh win will help out the Sharks by keeping the Munster rise up the log in check.

MUNSTER BECOMING A THREAT

At the moment Munster are fifth, just three points behind the Sharks, but with the Durban team having played one game fewer.

The return derby between the Sharks and Lions at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on 8 March will be the only game played that weekend and will effectively bring all the teams onto the same page in terms of games played - 12.

Benetton, currently shaping well in seventh position, going to Connacht (11th and same number of points as the Stormers) on Saturday night is also effectively a face off for being in the top eight mix, and ditto the game played just before that in Belfast between Ulster (14th and level on points with the Lions) and the Scarlets (eighth and three points ahead of Stormers).

The Bulls and Sharks will be hoping the unpredictable Ospreys (13th) will feed off the spirit of revival in Welsh rugby following the change of coach at national level and the promising Six Nations performance against Ireland by denting the second placed Glasgow Warriors’ quest for a top two finish.

It makes for a spell binding return to action for the URC, with most of the games counting hugely to a log battle that will become more intense as the sands of time run out for the respective teams to either make an impression or defend their current positions.

VODACOM UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP DERBY RESULT

Vodacom Bulls 31 Emirates Lions 19

WEEKEND VODACOM URC FIXTURES

Munster v Edinburgh (Limerick, Friday 9:35pm)

Zebre v Dragons (Parma, Friday 9:35pm)

Emirates Lions v Hollywoodbets Sharks (Johannesburg, Saturday 2.30pm)

Leinster v Cardiff Rugby (Dublin, Saturday 5pm)

Vodacom Bulls v DHL Stormers (Pretoria, Saturday 5:30pm)

Ulster v Scarlets (Belfast, Saturday 7:15pm)

Glasgow Warriors v Ospreys (Glasgow, Saturday 9:35pm)

Connacht v Benetton (Galway, Saturday 9:35pm)

URC LOG POSITION

1. Leinster 52 points after 11 games, 2. Glasgow Warriors 42 points after 11 games, 3. Vodacom Bulls 40 points after 11 games, 4. Hollywoodbets Sharks 34 points after 10 games, 5. Munster 31 points after 11 games, 6. Cardiff Rugby 30 points after 11 games, 7. Benetton 28 points after 11 games, 8. Scarlets 27 points after 11 games, 9. Edinburgh 25 points after 11 games, 10. DHL Stormers 24 points after 11 games, 11. Connacht 24 points after 11 games, 12. Emirates Lions 23 points after 10, 13. Ospreys 23 points after 11 games, 14. Ulster 23 points after 11 games, 15. Zebre 20 points after 11 games, 16. Dragons 8 points after 11 games.