High drama ahead as Bulls, Stormers and Lions head to URC final round

Reading Time: 3 minutes

South African rugby fanatics can expect a Saturday of high drama as the Bulls, Stormers and Lions enter the final round of the United Rugby Championship (URC).

The Stormers host the Lions, and the Joburg franchise is hoping to pull off a famous victory that will see them join the Bulls and Stormers in the quarter-finals. The Bulls then face the Sharks, eyeing first place on the URC log.

With everything still to play for the Lions travel to Cape Town to face the Stormers, if they want to advance to the quarter-finals.

Level on 49 points with Benetton and Edinburgh, a win will see the Lions into the knock-out rounds.
It helps that Benetton and Edinburgh are playing one another in the final round.
The Lions play an exciting brand of rugby which has seen them beat Leinster and Glasgow at home,
but now they must repeat that feat in the Mother City against the Stormers.
Lions Defence coach, Jaque Fourie, says the Joburg side is still in contention because of their meticulous planning.

“I think we have made our plans… we just need to go and implement them on Saturday. We know what is at stake we have to get a win, even better with a bonus point but the crux of the situation is we have to go out and win on Saturday.”

The Stormers, meanwhile, are assured of a place in the quarter-finals and would want to enter the next phase of the URC in a good space. They are also just three points away from the Bulls in the battle for the South African shield and need a win to stay in contention for local bragging rights.

After the Stormers versus Lions clash, the Bulls will turn out in Durban against the Sharks just two points off the pace set by Munster at the top of the log.

Munster have a tricky clash against Ulster, giving the Bulls an opportunity to take first place in the standings, provided of course they beat the Sharks in Durban.

Bulls hooker, Johan Grobbelaar says they know exactly what is at stake if they want to lean on home-field advantage in the knock-out rounds.

“I can’t believe we are at the last round of the competition already it seems like yesterday that we were still in pre-season and if you look at our position at the moment on the log it is not too bad. We still have a big job to do in Durban and we are looking forward to it, it is going to be important for us to stay maybe first but at least at second place on the log.”

The Sharks, while out of the running for the quarter-finals, will be playing in front of their supporters at the Shark Tank with newly acquired silverware in the form of the European Challenge Cup.