South Africa’s three Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarter-finalists face their biggest task of the season this weekend as they line up against top opposition in the quarter-final of the cross-hemisphere series, where victories will be non-negotiable to advance to the semi-final stages.
The DHL Stormers probably face the toughest task of them all as they travel to Scotland to face the defending champions, the Glasgow Warriors, on Friday, while the Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks will have the luxury of home ground advantage against Edinburgh in Pretoria and Munster in Durban, respectively.
With the playoff stages wrapped up, there will be no room for error as all three teams eye spots in the top four.
The Vodacom Bulls – runners up in 2022 and 2024 – will secure themselves a home semi-final if they emerge victorious, which will fuel their motivation immensely as they cast an eye further ahead by attempting to repeat the double by advancing to the Grand Final for the second season in a row.
The DHL Stormers will have unfinished business in their clash against the Glasgow Warriors after suffering a defeat against them at the DHL Stadium in the league stages – their third straight against the Scottish team after the men from Cape Town last managed to win this encounter in 2022.
The fact that the Capetonians have won their last four Vodacom URC games in a row, will charge them up even more and bolster their confidence, while Glasgow, in turn, have lost their last three matches, and will certainly look to bounce back.
Glasgow will draw inspiration from the fact that they won seven out of nine of their home matches this season, but the DHL Stormers will draw comfort from the fact that three of those victories were by three points or fewer.
Adding to the excitement, Glasgow have only won one more match than the DHL Stormers this season, but the South Africans boast a better attacking record, with 39 more points scored than the opposition in their 18 pool matches, although Glasgow have the second-best defensive record in the tournament, with 17 fewer tries conceded.
However, history has proven that anything can happen in playoff matches and that the team that make the most of their opportunities will in all likelihood, emerge victorious.
The match-up between the Vodacom Bulls and Edinburgh is expected to be equally thrilling, given the close contest between the sides early in the season, where the Pretoria outfit emerged 22-16 victors at home in the second round, before the Scots turned the tables with a 34-28 win in the EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final.
With seven straight Vodacom URC victories to their name and the team having suffered only four defeats this season, the Vodacom Bulls will enter the clash as favourites. However, they will be wary of underestimating Edinburgh, who – over-and-above from knocking them out of the EPCR Challenge Cup – have had a fair run of form of late, losing only one of their last five matches, while one ended in a draw.
In fact, their only defeat in this series of events was against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban by one point, but that said, they will have to enter the match strong-willed to break their disappointing away-win record, which shows six defeats in nine outings.
In stark contrast, the Vodacom Bulls have suffered only one home defeat in the competition this season, and adding to this, they have won six more matches than the Scots in the pool stages, and have a better record on attack and defence. This, however, will undoubtedly fire up Edinburgh.
In Durban, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will have to lift their quality of play immensely to come away with a victory and book their first-ever Vodacom URC semi-final berth when they line up against 2023 champions Munster, despite the Irish giants having finished the pool stages three places below them on the standings in sixth place.
With the Durbanites occupying third place on the log and having suffered only one defeat at home this season, many would have punted them as outright favourites. However, they struggled to a 12-3 victory against the Scarlets two weeks ago, and were under pressure to deliver a strong second-half performance against Ospreys a week earlier after entering the break 10-3 up.
As if that were not enough motivation for the team to deliver their best performance of the season this week, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will be mindful that Munster have been marginally more effective on attack, although the Durbanites have been better on defence, which will set the scene for a gripping encounter.
Vodacom URC Quarter-final Match Information:
Glasgow Warriors v DHL Stormers
Date: Friday, 30 May
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
SA Time: 20h35
Referee: Andrew Brace
TV: SuperSport
Vodacom Bulls v Edinburgh
Date: Saturday, 31 May
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
SA Time: 13h30
Referee: Adam Jones
TV: SuperSport
Hollywoodbets Sharks v Munster
Date: Saturday, 31 May
Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
SA Time: 18h30
Referee: Mike Adamson
TV: SuperSport
Blink
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