The Bulls represent South Africa’s best chance of another United Rugby Championship (URC) title, as the playoffs for the intercontinental tournament loom.
In the wake of a largely disappointing 2022-2023 season that culminated in a quarterfinal defeat by the Stormers, the Bulls made 12 player changes, including the addition of Springboks Willie le Roux and Wilco Louw. Former Bok lock Andries Bekker and former Bok assistant coach Gary Gold were recruited to bolster coach Jake White’s management team.
At the weekend the Bulls finished the URC league phase in second place, two log points behind Irish side Munster. Having won 13 of 18 matches and scored a tournament-leading tally of 639 points and 85 tries, they have taken giant strides in results and playing style.
Over the next few weeks, however, they will be under pressure to convert that into a title triumph. Their second place on the log earned the right to host a quarterfinal against Benetton, whom they beat 56-35 at Loftus Versfeld only last month.
If they claim another win against the Italian club on Saturday they will host the winner of the playoff between Leinster and Ulster. And if they again prevail, and if Munster slip up along the way, the Bulls could host the final on June 22. In such an event, they will fancy their chances of securing the title, having won 11 out of 12 matches at Loftus this season.
South African teams generally have thrived since joining the URC in 2021. The Stormers and Bulls contested the inaugural final at Cape Town Stadium, with the Cape side the first to win a club title since the switch to the northern hemisphere. Last season, the Stormers progressed to a second home final, losing to Munster in the dying stages.
There’s reason to believe that a South African team will feature in the final for a third successive season. There’s also a slim chance that the two local qualifiers will meet in a repeat of the 2022 decider.
The Stormers haven’t been as consistent in 2024 as they were in 2023, and finished the league phase in fifth place. If they are to win the title from here, they will have to win three consecutive matches on the road, starting with a tough assignment against Glasgow Warriors in Scotland on Saturday night.
Earlier this year, the Stormers became the latest team to sign an equity deal. It’s hoped that the new partnership — and ultimately the financial boost — will allow the side to bolster its depth and improve results in the URC and Champions Cup in the coming seasons. But, as coach John Dobson confirmed after the recent win against the Lions in Cape Town, they are still in with a chance of claiming the 2024 crown.
If they defeat Glasgow, they will travel to Ireland to tackle reigning champions Munster. And if they score a win at Thomond Park, they would face Leinster in Dublin or the Bulls in Pretoria in the championship fixture.
Going home
The Sharks and Lions will watch the URC playoffs from their living rooms. Both have produced a mixed bag of results this season, and have failed to finish among the top eight.
From a URC point of view, the Sharks endured their worst season since the inception of the tournament. Having finished fifth in the standings in 2022, they ended eighth in 2023 and ultimately relinquished a qualifying spot for the all-important Champions Cup tournament.
Dispassionate South African rugby fans will feel for the Lions, who lack the players or resources of the Sharks, yet came within one win of qualifying for the URC playoffs this season
In recent months, they have sunk to even greater depths, losing 14 out of 18 league matches and finishing 14th on the 16-team log. The situation has been largely mitigated by their success in the Challenge Cup, the second-tier tournament in Europe. The Sharks beat Gloucester 36-22 in the final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London two weeks ago, and earned a spot in next season’s Champions Cup. The London triumph was the first South African title win at a European venue.
The result was widely celebrated because the star-studded Sharks regained the chance to face the best teams in Europe. From a South African point of view, it is a significant step forward because it represents the nation’s first club title since joining the northern hemisphere rugby competitions in 2021.
And yet, the South African rugby community, and the Sharks themselves, will recognise the greater importance of the URC and that a stronger performance will be needed in the Champions Cup. From next year the Sharks, boasting plenty of Springboks, will be under pressure to improve on their shoddy URC record and push for a place in the top seven. A new round of recruitments, and a change to the coaching team, is expected to help.
Dispassionate South African rugby fans will feel for the Lions, who lack the players or resources of the Sharks, yet came within one win of qualifying for the URC playoffs this season. Coach Ivan van Rooyen’s team went down 29-24 to the Stormers in Cape Town on the final day of the league phase. The Lions may have advanced to the playoffs if not for a late surge by Welsh club Ospreys, who beat Cardiff in their final fixture and qualified for the knockouts thanks to their superior win record.
The Lions have improved a great deal this season and, as Van Rooyen pointed out after the recent defeat, are well placed to provide four to six players in the Springbok squad. This has not been the case in the past three or four years.
The Lions’ win record, however, suggests that they have work to do before they are to challenge for the URC title, or even push for a place in the Champions Cup. They won half their matches in the URC, losing six of their nine away fixtures. While they have been tough to beat at Ellis Park, their performances on the road have often been inadequate.
The national game
The rugby conversation will shift to the Boks earlier than expected this year, with the national side set to play its first game against Wales at Twickenham on June 22 (the same day as the URC final).
Bok coach Rassie Erasmus will be without most of the players who helped win the 2023 World Cup because the Test against Wales is outside the international window. According to World Rugby regulations, clubs are under no obligation to release their Test players outside these prescribed windows.
The upshot is that South African stars based at European clubs, and possibly those featuring for the Bulls and Stormers in the latter stages of the URC, will miss the showdown at Twickenham.
Erasmus is set to rely on the Boks based at the Sharks and Lions, as well as nine World Cup winners returning from playing in Japan, to form the core of his side. Nevertheless, the side that takes the field at Twickenham is likely to include a few newcomers and several untried combinations.
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