The pressure will rise significantly for the four South African teams in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship this weekend as they face opponents from the Northern Hemisphere in their penultimate round of home matches, where victories will be invaluable with an eye on playoff places.
In other developments in the cross-hemisphere showpiece, the tournament organisers announced earlier on Thursday that the Grand Final will be hosted at the home venue of the highest-ranked team where the first Vodacom URC champions will be crowned, while they also virtually unveiled a unique new trophy for the competition.
Looking at this weekend’s action, the four SA teams have only three matches remaining – including this round – to secure quarter-final places, and with the DHL Stormers, Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Bulls currently hanging onto spots in the top eight on the log, they will be determined to avoid any slip-ups, especially with their final round of league matches in May set to be played on foreign territory.
The DHL Stormers will open the weekend’s action against the Glasgow Warriors in Cape Town on Friday at 18h30, and this will be followed by a jam-packed Saturday, with the Vodacom Bulls hosting Benetton in Pretoria (14h00), the Emirates Lions taking on Connacht in Johannesburg (16h05) and the Cell C Sharks meeting log-leaders Leinster in Durban (18h15).
A win for the DHL Stormers would see them secure their sixth victory in a row, and even more significantly, it could push them into the top three on the log if they topple the third-placed Glasgow Warriors and the second-placed Ulster go down against the fourth-placed Munster.
The Vodacom Bulls will be determined to bounce back from their defeat against the DHL Stormers and hold onto their spot in the top eight, and possibly even leap up in the standings depending on the other results this weekend when they go up against Benetton at Loftus Versfeld.
The Pretoria outfit suffered their first defeat in five outings in their last match, and the fact that it was by a mere two points, will give them confidence, as will the fact that their 2021 Rainbow Cup final opponents come off five straight defeats – albeit against most of the top teams in the competition.
The men from Pretoria would not have forgotten what happened the last time the teams met in Treviso, where they suffered a disappointing 35-8 defeat in the Rainbow Cup final, so they will be wary about underestimating their opponents.
In Johannesburg, the Emirates Lions will look to return to their winning ways after going down against the Cell C Sharks two weeks ago in what marked their first defeat in five matches when they line up against Connacht.
The Irish visitors have been up and down this year although they will enter the match high on confidence after holding out Benetton away from home last time out to bounce back from back-to-back defeats.
Both teams harbor slim hopes of sneaking into the top eight on the table in the next few weeks, and with everything to gain, neither team is expected to give an inch. Interestingly, Connacht have won their last eight matches against South African teams, which is something the hosts will have in the back of their minds.
The Johannesburgers will, however, have the extra motivation of playing in front of their home crowd for the second-last time this season, and this will fuel their determination to come out on top.
The Cell C Sharks will hunt their third victory in a row and aim to remain in a comfortable position for a quarter-final spot when they host log-leaders Leinster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday, where the visitors will also have their sights set on maintaining their stronghold at the top of the table.
Both teams come off comfortable victories in their last two outings and they will be hoping to build winning momentum as the competition reaches the business end.
While the hosts will have the advantage of being used to the conditions in Durban, Leinster are a consistent outfit that are able to win home and away. They have only lost once against a team from South Africa away from home since 2017, meaning it could be a tight tussle.