URC WRAP: Away wins indicate some SA giants may be stirring

Whisper it softly because it may yet just be a mirage and the evidence is not yet conclusive, but the clutch of away results in this past weekend’s round of Vodacom URC matches gave just a hint of an indication that two South African giants may be awakening from their slumber.

Actually you can make that three, for while they didn’t win in Bridgend against the Ospreys, grabbing three points with their draw in the inclement conditions against a highly emotionally charged team that has it’s very existence threatened was as good as a win for the Lions.

Like the previous week in the EPCR Challenge Cup in Perpignan, it could so easily have been a win.

Angelo Davids won the race to the touchdown from a kick ahead off the last move of the game but just couldn’t control the ball. That said, the Ospreys had several opportunities before that to win the game themselves, but were denied by a sliced place kick into the elements and also let it be said some determined Lions defence.

LIONS HAVE SOMETHING GOING FOR THEM NOW

The Lions do appear to have something going for them at the moment - off the field they are being successful in nailing down some of the promising young stars long term, while blooding some highly impressive new ones like Hashim Pead and Batho Hlekani, and on the field there has been an upswing too.

Two overseas draws was preceded by an away win in the URC over the Hollywoodbets Sharks, while before that they won at Loftus and were perhaps unlucky not to escape with another draw, at minimum, from their visit to Cape Town just before Christmas.

Okay, so you’d hesitate to call the Lions awakening giants, but might just stick with the description when you recall that they were the best local team in Super Rugby from about 2016 through to 2020 and played in three losing finals. Are they on their way back to being contenders?

They aren’t there yet, but they are moving forward and suddenly they are no longer losing their better players to other SA teams or to overseas clubs.

STORMERS COACHES MUST STOP THE DENIAL

Of course, one of the two away wins wasn’t outside of the country but in Cape Town. But the fact it was in Cape Town was as good as it being overseas for a Sharks side that hadn’t won at the DHL Stadium in the URC era and who ended up doing it with something to spare.

Provided the Stormers coaches and players stop burying their heads in the sand and pretending that they’ve not moved away from the template that worked for them when they convincingly won five consecutive games overseas, their defeat need not be seen as a train smash.

It has been coming, because the Stormers have been loose and error-ridden, and the derby against the Sharks wasn’t the first time since they started their home run of matches where they looked at times like they might have thought they were playing touch rugby on Clifton Beach.

The Hollywoodbets Sharks stun the DHL Stormers in Cape Town 🦈🔥#SSRugby | #VURC pic.twitter.com/I2AuAclLd8 — SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 24, 2026

But until now that hadn’t hurt them, and while the highly impressive Glasgow Warriors now have momentum after good wins in both the Champions Cup and URC and have overtaken the Stormers on the log, the fine print of the log table needs to be looked at - Glasgow are three points ahead of the Cape team, but the Stormers have a game in hand.

That game in hand will be made up during the derby phase that continues for SA teams when the overseas teams are not in action during the Guinness Six Nations window. But the Stormers do need to wake up - the nonsense that they have to play to entertain when they are at home is just that, nonsense.

We are not suggesting they turn into a team that is as enjoyable to watch as watching paint dry, but for goodness sake just bring back some of the pragmatism of October and November.

SHARKS COACHES OUTSMARTED THEIR OPPONENTS

You did get the impression that the Sharks knew the Stormers might be a bit confused about what they wanted to do. Like the under-strength Leicester Tigers did the previous week, they stuck to the per centages and played territory, while it is also undeniable that JP Pietersen’s support staff, particularly lineout coach Warren Whiteley, excelled in this game.

Talking about a Sharks coaching team outsmarting an opposing group hasn’t happened for a while and that was the biggest step forward for the Durbanites. Not only are the players clearly playing for their new coach, who at this rate is set to turn the ‘interim’ tag into permanent, and well done to his predecessor John Plumtree for allowing that window of opportunity for him to happen, the Sharks are starting to get cleverer.

Up until this game it was possible to say the Sharks were starting to put more into their game but the jury was out on improvements to strategy. In fairness, we need a bit of time before we can say they’ve brought shape to their attack, and next week’s return game against the Stormers in Durban will be massive towards confirming whether the corner has indeed returned.

OPPONENTS WON’T BE COMPLACENT IN DURBAN

There was just a suggestion with their soft start, something that has become a trend for the Stormers in Cape Town, that they may have gone into the first derby complacent. They won’t be complacent in Durban and they do have the heft at forward to turn around the balance of power that was in the Sharks’ favour in Cape Town.

One big positive for the Sharks is that the past few weeks have provided evidence that their depth crisis might not be as deep as thought. When Bongi Mbonambi was withdrawn at the last minute it was felt it was a big blow for the Sharks, but Eduan Swart was excellent and played most of the 80 minutes before leaving the field late for the promising Ethan Bester, who is a star of the future returning from a long injury layoff.

Phepsi Buthelezi was outstanding, Nick Hatton is not only a fine young leader he can also be backed as a player at this level and the Hendrikse brothers gave the lie to the theory that the difference in the Stormers’ favour might be at halfback.

More games like that from Jordan and the Sharks can stop their search for a flyhalf. And then of course there’s Andre Esterhuizen, who with the help of national coach Rassie Erasmus has been turned into a monster. He always was physically, now he is as a player.

Two Bok wings, Makazole Mapimpi and Edwill van der Merwe, may return in Durban, but their replacements did well, with 20-year-old Jaco Williams expertly taking the opportunity offered to him by a pinpoint cross-kick to put the Sharks more than a score ahead early in the game.

SUCCESSIVE OVERSEAS WINS WILL BOOST BULLS’ CONFIDENCE

The win lifted the Sharks to 11th on the log, just two points outside of the top eight, and one place behind the ninth placed Bulls.

The first half of their game against Edinburgh was a return to the concerns around defence that were predominant during their seven match losing streak, but in the second half the Bulls looked like the old Bulls again and comprehensively outplayed Edinburgh.

It was close and the analytically minded will tell you they aren’t necessarily out of the woods yet, but two successive wins overseas has to do wonders for your confidence. They face the Lions in a derby in Johannesburg on Saturday that will be a telling point in the respective apparent comebacks of both teams.

Weekend Vodacom URC results

Ospreys 24 Lions 24

Edinburgh 17 Vodacom Bulls 19

Munster 22 Dragons 20

Scarlets 27 Ulster 22

Connacht 23 Leinster 34

DHL Stormers 19 Hollywoodbets Sharks 30

Zebre 21 Glasgow Warriors 26

Cardiff 17 Benetton 8