It was a round of mixed fortunes for South Africa’s four Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams as the curtain came down on the regular season, with the Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks finishing the pool stages with impressive wins, while the DHL Stormers and Fidelity Securedrive Lions suffered disappointing defeats, but remained in the top eight for quarter-final berths.
The DHL Stormers, who finished the league stages in third place, will host Cardiff in Cape Town in the second outing between the teams in a row after they went down 22-16 against the Welshmen away on Friday, while the Vodacom Bulls, who secured a rewarding fourth-place finish thanks to their bonus-point 45-19 victory against Benetton at home, will meet Munster in Pretoria in their quarter-final.
The Fidelity Securedrive Lions face the tough task of travelling to Dublin to meet the defending champions, Leinster, in their first Vodacom URC playoff after they finished in seventh position despite a 24-17 defeat against Munster in Limerick.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks, meanwhile, ensured that they finished their campaign on a strong note as they thumped Zebre Parma 54-19 in Durban, which saw them hold onto their credible 10th place finish on the table.
With the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup finals taking place next weekend, the teams will have an extra week to sharpen up before the Vodacom URC quarter-finals play out in two weeks’ time.
Vodacom URC quarter-finals:
Friday, 29 May
QF1: Glasgow Warriors v Connacht
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
SA time: 20h45
Saturday, 30 May
QF4: Vodacom Bulls v Munster
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
KO: 13h00
QF3: DHL Stormers v Cardiff
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
SA time 15h30
QF2: Leinster v Fidelity SecureDrive Lions
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
SA time 21h00
