While the Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls will be determined to maintain their unbeaten runs in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship this weekend, the Hollywoodbets Sharks and DHL Stormers will have their sights set firmly on bouncing back from disappointing defeats.
The Gauteng sides are still on tour, but the two coastal teams return to the field in front of their faithful home crowds – and boosted by a number of returning Springboks – for the first time this season in the fifth round of the competition this weekend.
The Scarlets host the Vodacom Bulls in Wales on Friday evening, while three matches will play out on Saturday, with Zebre Parma taking on the Emirates Lions in Italy, the Hollywoodbets Sharks hosting defending champions the Glasgow Warriors in Durban, and the DHL Stormers taking on Munster in Cape Town.
The Vodacom Bulls – 2023/24 finalists – will be hunting their fourth victory in a row this season when they take on the Scarlets who come off their first victory last week against Cardiff away – a result that boost their confidence going into the clash.
They will, however, be mindful of the fact that they need to deliver an effective performance on attack and defence to topple the men from Pretoria who are in hot form and who showed their true character in challenging second half against the Ospreys last week, in which they had to overcome a red card and two yellow cards to finish the match with 12 players with uncontested scrums to earn the 29-19 win.
The Vodacom Bulls’ confidence will be bolstered by the fact that they have scored 15 more points than the Scarlets in three outings to the Welsh outfit’s four, while they have also conceded 31 points fewer in these matches.
They will, however, be careful to write off the Scarlets, who played to a 20-20 draw against Benetton away in their opening game of the season, before suffering a nine-point defeat against Cardiff, and heart-breaking one-point defeat against Glasgow on their home ground in their last two outings. These results will undoubtedly fuel their motivation to bounce back with a bang and to do their best to possibly lunge into the top eight on the standings.
The teams have met in the competition on three previous occasions with the Vodacom Bulls winning two of those matches – both in Pretoria with 57 points or more – but they suffered a 37-28 defeat against the Scarlets in Wales last season – a defeat they will certainly want to set right.
The Emirates Lions will also target extending their unbeaten run to four matches when they line up against Zebre Parma in Italy on Saturday, and they will draw inspiration from the fact that the home side have secured only one win in their four matches so far this season.
The Johannesburgers defeated Ulster and Edinburgh at home before grinding out a valuable 23-19 victory against the Dragons in Newport last week, but they will be careful to write off the Italians who, despite suffering heavy defeats against the DHL Stormers and Glasgow in the last two weeks, started off the season on an encouraging note going down by only five points against Cardiff away before creating an upset by defeating Munster 42-33 at home.
The Emirates Lions have been far more effective on attack despite the hosts having a game in hand with 113 points scored to Zebre Parma’s 67 in their three outings, while the Italians have conceded exactly double the number of points, meaning they will have to step up their defence, in particular, to keep alive hopes of coming away with a victory.
The visitors from Johannesburg will draw additional inspiration from the fact that they have won all three of their previous matches against the Italians, the first of which was at the same ground, Stadio Sergio Lafranchi.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks, meanwhile, return to Durban after a three-week tour and will want to put on a good show in front of their home fans against the Glasgow Warriors, who, in turn, will be keen to make a strong statement in their first of two games in South Africa.
The defending champions from Glasgow, who have won three of their four matches this season – the last of which was an emphatic 33-3 win against Zebre Parma – will be keen to build on the form that has seen them power their way to second place on the standings (on 16 pts – trailing Leinster by four), which is vastly different to the KwaZulu-Natalians’ results so far and 14th place log position.
The visitors, however, will be expecting a massive battle due to the vastly different weather conditions in Durban and they will be wary of the fact that the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ supporters will boost them immensely in their first game at home.
That said, the Scots will enter the match with their sights set on racking up their fourth win a row – with their lowest score being 33 points – but they will be wary of the fact that the Durbanites also scored 30 points or more in their first two games, before going down 38-10 against Benetton last week.
The KwaZulu-Natalians, however, will be bracing themselves for a proper onslaught as the Glasgow Warriors are the best attacking team in the competition at this stage with 146 points scored in their four matches to 73 by the home side in three games, while their defence has also been effective, with only 69 points conceded to 104 by the Hollywoodbets Sharks. But these statistics could have little to no significance when the teams take the field.
Bolstering the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ inspiration, they suffered five defeats in their last six home matches in the competition – a record they will be determined to sway – and although they lost their two away matches against Glasgow in the competition to date, they registered a comprehensive 40-12 victory against the Scots the last time the sides met in Durban in 2022.
In Cape Town, the DHL Stormers, who are currently sitting at the foot of the log, will also want to make the most of the opportunity to play in front of their home crowd for the first time when they meet Munster in a repeat of the 2022/23 grand final.
Spicing up the clash, both teams will be desperate to bounce back after disappointing performances last week where the DHL Stormers went down against Edinburgh, and Munster against Leinster, which will add to their desperation going into this clash.
The DHL Stormers will be aware of the fact that they need to step up their attack, in particular, with 67 points scored to Munsters’ 103 to date – although the hosts do have a game in hand – but they will place a heavy emphasis on their more effective defensive display with only 80 points conceded compared to Munster’s 101, which will certainly boost their confidence.
Interestingly, Munster have won all four of the matches they played against the DHL Stormers in the tournament dating back to 2021, however, the hosts will want to keep their impressive home record of late intact which shows only one defeat in their last nine outings in Cape Town.
Match information:
Scarlets v Vodacom Bulls
Date: Friday, 18 October
Venue: Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli
SA Time: 20h35
Referee: Federico Vedovelli
TV: SuperSport
Zebre Parma v Emirates Lions
Date: Saturday, 19 October
Venue: Stadio Sergio Lafranchi, Parma
SA Time: 13h30
Referee: Ben Connor
TV: SuperSport
Hollywoodbets Sharks v Glasgow Warriors
Date: Saturday, 19 October
Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
SA Time: 15h45
Referee: Chris Busby
TV: SuperSport
DHL Stormers v Munster
Date: Saturday, 19 October
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
SA Time: 18h00
Referee: Mike Adamson
TV: SuperSport
Mother Night
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