URC WRAP: Clarity of plan has turned Lions into real contenders

Another weekend of Vodacom URC rugby and another round where the Fidelity SecureDrive Lions added further momentum to their quest for what would be regarded as a fairytale win similar to the one achieved by the DHL Stormers in the first edition of the competition.

It’s tough from here for the Lions, and make no mistake, there wasn’t really that much of a surprise about Connacht’s win against the Stormers in Cape Town. Connacht are a well coached team with both an excellent attacking and defensive game and they will be going all out for victory when they head to Ellis Park on Saturday to present the Lions with their next challenge.

But win that and the Lions will need one win from their two games in Ireland that end the regular season for them in order to set up a home quarterfinal. And the Lions have shown over the past weeks that at home they can beat all comers in Johannesburg.

Glasgow weren’t at full strength but it was another great win for the Lions by a scoreline of unexpected magnitude, although the Lions have done something similar to Glasgow in Johannesburg before. Two years ago, the last time Glasgow visited Ellis Park for a URC game, they conceded a score in the 40s.

And it was built around the Lions’ staple - meaning sharp and brutal efficiency at the breakdown and clinical play off their transitions, plus some strong scrummaging thrown into the mix. There is nothing shabby about the Lions’ pack, but they don’t boast the strength there that the Stormers and Vodacom Bulls do, so they rely on different strengths.

They forced seven breakdown penalties in the first half and it was really there that the Glasgow quest for victory was stymied by the hosts. That they know their strengths and play to them is one advantage the Lions may have on the two other South African teams challenging for top four spots on the URC log - the Stormers and the Bulls.

GOOD WIN BUT BULLS’ OLD TRICKS RE-EMERGED IN FIRST HALF

The Bulls scored a comprehensive win over the Dragons in Newport so it can hardly be said that it cost them, but the Pretoria team were up to their old tricks again in the first half. In other words, they were overplaying, trying to run the ball too much, rather than be more direct and use their powerful forward pack more.

It was one of the main reasons they struggled earlier in the season and currently still have ground to make up on the top four. They lost far too many games at the start of Johan Ackermann’s tenure as coach because they appeared to be trying to ape the Lions team he coached last decade before heading for a stint overseas.

At least this time they were up against opponents who weren’t quite good enough to punish them and they were able to figure it out at halftime. In the second half they suffocated the Dragons and drove them into the ground, with the one-sidedness of the win being conflated by a 21-point burst, in other words three converted tries, in the last seven minutes.

What the Bulls ultimately did to the Dragons was what the Stormers did to them, meaning the Bulls, in Pretoria five weeks ago - they just wore them down with their forward play and then took full advantage.

BIG W in Wales 🫡@Vodacom #URC | @URCOfficial_RSA pic.twitter.com/yVlluN4423 — Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) April 17, 2026

STORMERS FORGET WHAT WORKS WHEN THEY PLAY AT HOME

Some might argue that the Connacht pack can match the Bulls when it comes to power but there wouldn’t be many in agreement. So why did the Stormers neglect that avenue, that strength, in their early Saturday afternoon game at the DHL Stadium?

The Stormers claimed afterwards that they weren’t loose in the first half, and were on plan, but even then there were moments when they were loose.

In the second half, when they should have been consolidating and backing their forwards to do what they did against the Bulls both in Cape Town and Loftus this season, and ensuring they played in only the right areas of the field as dictated by the conditions, the Stormers did what they have done too often in the latter parts of this season.

They effectively gave it away, with two 10 point leads being followed by moments of sloppiness or lack of concentration, or were they just rightly punished for not learning the lesson from previous games at their home stadium this season by trying to bring too much bling to what should have been grunt.

If you look at the Stormers’ season, it has been one where their finest performances have been mostly put in away from home. The last hour of the Munster game in Limerick, the match at Loftus, the second half against Benetton in Treviso, the win over Bayonne in the Champions Cup, and even the one that ended in a narrow defeat against Toulon a few weeks ago.

In the overseas games the Stormers have employed what you can describe as their northern hemisphere template where there are more kicks, structure and balance, and after clearly diverting from that in the home leg of the season through late December to the end of January, they returned to it at Loftus with devastating effect.

The Stormers pack delivered a forward performance for the ages in that game and the win was all about the big men and what was a tactical kicking masterclass from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

But come back to Cape Town and for some reason the Stormers forget all of that, even on a day when it was so imperative they did play tight as although it didn’t rain during play it was effectively a wet weather game.

The Stormers have done well to be second but they are going to have to figure out who they are if they host play-off games, which now suddenly doesn’t look the dead certainty it was. They can be overtaken by both the Lions and the Bulls and have work to do to avoid having to potentially travel for the playoffs.

They are still in a good position and if they return to what worked for them at Loftus they can still finish top, with this week’s game against Glasgow being a playoff for top of the log status heading into the EPCR break.

Every point is carrying weight now 👀

Nothing settled in the Race To The Eight 🔥@Vodacom #URC | #RaceToTheEight pic.twitter.com/qQzQJvGvka — Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) April 19, 2026

ONLY PRIDE FOR SHARKS TO PLAY FOR NOW


At least in the case of the Stormers, like the Lions and the Bulls, there is still plenty on the line. For the Sharks, who have long been the worst when it comes to not really having a distinct clarity of plan - except when they play the Stormers - it is really season over after their defeat to the Ospreys.

Mathematically they can still sneak a top eight finish, but it is not a realistic hope given that the other teams just need to reach a points total of 49 to be out of reach of them and most of them are already pretty close to that with three games to play.

They didn't play well against the Ospreys and the excuse about injuries doesn't necessarily hold up if you look at how many Boks were still on the field in Bridgend. They should have been expected to beat an Ospreys team that itself wasn't particularly flush.

However, they were a bit unlucky too, for it looked like they were affecting their their planned scrum inspired momentum shift when Ox Nche and Vincent Koch came onto the field only for uncontested scrums to be called not long after their arrival because of the home team's front row injuries.

Round 15 Vodacom URC results

Edinburgh 31 Zebre 30

Dragons 7 Vodacom Bulls 47

Ulster 21 Leinster 29

DHL Stormers 24 Connacht 33

Fidelity SecureDrive Lions 54 Glasgow Warriors 12

Scarlets 24 Cardiff Rugby 28

Benetton 15 Munster 45

Ospreys 21 Hollywoodbets Sharks 17

Log position after 15 games: 1. Glasgow 55 points, 2. Stormers 51, 3. Leinster 51,4. Lions 48, 5. Ulster 47, 6. Munster 46, 7. Cardiff Rugby 46, 8. Vodacom Bulls 45, 9. Connacht 44, 10. Ospreys 34, 11. Sharks 34, 12. Edinburgh 28, 13. Benetton 28, 14. Scarlets 23, 15. Dragons 21, 16. Zebre 14