The four South African teams will enter the weekend desperate to register victories as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship reaches boiling point with 15 of the 16 teams still in contention for playoff places with only five games left to book their quarter-final spots.
The third-placed Vodacom Bulls (45 points) and fourth-placed Hollywoodbets Sharks (44 points) are in pole position among the SA teams to qualify for the playoff stages with the KwaZulu-Natalians holding an 11-point advantage over the eighth-placed DHL Stormers (33 points) on the table, but with the 15th-placed Zebre Parma only six points behind – trailing the 13th-placed Emirates Lions (30 points) by only three points – every team in the running will approach their matches with a do-or-die mindset.
The DHL Stormers will take the field first against Ulster in Northern Ireland on Friday night, while SA’s rugby faithful have a jam-packed Saturday lined up with the Vodacom Bulls hosting Zebre Parma in Pretoria, the Hollywoodbets Sharks taking on log-leaders Leinster in Durban, and the Emirates Lions lining up against defending champions, the Glasgow Warriors, in Scotland.
With only one log position and one point separating the DHL Stormers and ninth-placed Ulster on the table, the battle in Belfast is expected to be epic as the Capetonians look retain their place in the top eight, while the Irish hosts will be desperate to displace the visitors and leap into the top half of the table.
John Dobson’s side would undoubtedly have taken confidence from their 29-17 away win against the Scarlets last week and will look to build winning momentum ahead of their final tour match against Connacht next week.
However, they will be wary of the hosts, who have scored two more points on attack this season and who are keen to make the most of their home ground advantage and build on their last win at Kingspan Stadium – which also happened to be against the Scarlets.
The DHL Stormers will draw inspiration from the fact that their defence has been superior so far this season, but with both teams having won six of their 13 matches and a place in the top eight up for grabs, the match could come down to the wire.
Adding to their motivation, the Capetonians have won three of their last four outings against Ulster, although all of them were at home, while they will want to make amends for the heavy 35-5 defeat they suffered against Ulster the last time the teams crossed paths in Belfast.
The Vodacom Bulls, meanwhile, will enter their match against Zebre Parma at Loftus Versfeld as overwhelming favourites with their impressive form this season seeing them register nine victories to only five by the Italians.
Over and above this, Jake White’s men are 18 log points ahead of Zebre, they’ve suffered only one home defeat this season, and they come off a morale-boosting victory against Leinster, which marked the Irish giants’ first defeat of the season.
The Vodacom Bulls also boast a better record on attack and defence over the Italians, but they will be careful to write off the visitors, who almost staged an upset against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban last week and who have claimed big scalps away from home against Ulster and Edinburgh, while also securing four losing bonus points.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks, in turn, will face one of their biggest challenges this season when they line up against a bruised Leinster outfit who will be hellbent on making up for their last-minute defeat against the Vodacom Bulls last week.
While the teams have not been far off in terms of their points scored, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will brace themselves for a tense battle as Leinster are by far the best defensive team in the competition with only 187 points conceded in their 13 matches to date.
Leinster may have won their last three outings against John Plumtree’s team, but the Hollywoodbets Sharks emerged victorious in their last match in KwaZulu-Natal in 2022 – a feat they will look to replicate on Saturday to close the gap at the top of the table and remain in a comfortable position to possibly host a quarter-final.
The Emirates Lions, meanwhile, face a daunting challenge against the second-placed Glasgow Warriors at the Scotstoun Stadium where they will give everything to avoid suffering their third defeat in a row, especially after their heart-breaking 20-17 loss against Cardiff last week in a match they could well have won.
While a victory for the Emirates Lions will ensure that they are in a realistic position to finish the pool stages in the top eight, a victory for the home team will in all likelihood see them remain in second place on the standings, which will be invaluable in trying to stay in the top two on the log.
With Glasgow boasting nine victories to only six by the visitors this season and the team positioned 11 places above the Emirates Lions on the standings, they will enter the match as favourites, but they will wary of the fact that Cash van Rooyen’s unit have proved that they can win away from home after coming within inches of beating Cardiff and defeating the Dragons and Zebre Parma abroad.
Match Information:
Ulster v DHL Stormers
Date: Friday, 28 March
Venue: Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
SA Time: 21h35
Referee: Andrea Piardi
TV: SuperSport
Vodacom Bulls v Zebre Parma
Date: Saturday, 29 March
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
SA Time: 14h45
Referee: Mike Adamson
TV: SuperSport
Hollywoodbets Sharks v Leinster
Date: Saturday, 29 March
Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
SA Time: 19h15
Referee: Ben Breakspear
TV: SuperSport
Glasgow Warriors v Emirates Lions
Date: Saturday, 29 March
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
SA Time: 21h35
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi
TV: SuperSport
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