The Vodacom United Rugby Championship Race to the Eight will reach a thrilling conclusion this weekend with five teams fighting it out for the three remaining places in the Play-Offs.
DHL Stormers v Cardiff Rugby, Friday, 19:00 (SA Time)
Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt says making the Vodacom URC Play-Offs would be the icing on the cake of a much-improved season.
The visitors take on the fifth-placed DHL Stormers in Cape Town knowing that, realistically, they have to win to secure a top-eight finish.
It’s not inconceivable that a couple of bonus points in defeat could be enough for them, depending on results elsewhere, but Sherratt is clear in his own mind about what is required.
“It’s a must-win game in terms of getting in that top eight,” he said, with his team heading into the weekend in ninth spot on 46 points.
“We spoke a couple of months ago about what we were going to need to guarantee the play-offs, and we actually called it our ‘Fight for 50’.
“Fifty points is what has secured a top-eight finish over the last three or four seasons, and we knew we were probably going to have to win on the road.
“We believe we can beat the Stormers, and that’s what we have to do. That’s got to be our mindset going there. The only pressure on us is to try and put in our best performance that we possibly can.
“I think it would be brilliant to make the play-offs. Cardiff have never been in there, and with the club’s history and potential, we should be getting into the top eight.”
Reflecting on that quest, he said: “It’s been brilliant for the players. You can see the whole squad have loved being in the mix.
“It’s the first time since I’ve been at Cardiff where we are in the middle of May and we are right in the fight for the play-offs. It’s made the last six weeks so much more competitive and enjoyable. Sometimes a season can kind of peter out, and you are looking for the end, but there’s a really good feeling in the group at the moment.”
Sherratt added: “I’m pretty proud of the staff and the players this season. Our budget actually decreased from last year, so to get the improvements we’ve had has been good.
“We’ve doubled the amount of games we’ve won and turned a lot of those tight losses into tight wins.
“The icing on the cake would be to push into the top eight.
“It would probably be more than we imagined at the start of the season.
“I would like us to get in the play-offs because it’s something we haven’t done before and the upshot of that is you get into Europe.
“It’s going to be a tough ask. The Stormers are one of the form teams in the competition.
“But, in a one-off game, if we’ve got our players fit, I think we are a pretty dangerous team.”
Giving his thoughts, Stormers coach John Dobson said: “What Cardiff have achieved this season, with the reduction in budget and the circumstances Welsh rugby has gone through, I think they deserve a lot of credit.
“They are clearly going to put up a hell of a fight. Having put so much into the season and made progress, they won’t want it to fade out on a cold night in Cape Town, so we know what we’ve got coming.”
The Stormers have made ten changes in personnel, plus a couple of positional switches, while Cardiff have drafted Welsh internationals Taulupe Faletau, Callum Sheedy, Teddy Williams and Aled Davies into their starting line-up.
Edinburgh Rugby v Ulster Rugby, Friday, 20.35 (SA Time)
Edinburgh go into the weekend in tenth spot, but they know a victory over Ulster, ideally with a bonus point, may well earn them a spot in the Play-Offs, given the tough fixtures facing their rivals.
Coach Sean Everett feels the backing from a packed home crowd will be pivotal to his team’s chances of securing a top-eight finish.
“The passion and energy of our supporters at Hive Stadium has been incredible, and that atmosphere will be absolutely crucial in driving us forward once again,” said the South African.
“To be playing in front of a third consecutive sell-out crowd will be amazing. It underscores the connection we have with our city. We know we are playing for Edinburgh, for our supporters, and we are determined to deliver a performance they can be proud of. We’ve got everything to play for.”
Everett has made two changes from last weekend’s bonus point victory away to Connacht, as James Lang and Harry Paterson come into the back line, while departing front five forwards Kieran Treadwell and Andrew Warwick make their final appearances for 12th-placed Ulster.
Munster Rugby v Benetton Rugby, Friday, 21:00 (SA Time)
It’s a classic winner-takes-all contest in Cork with a place in the play-offs on the line as eighth hosts seventh.
Munster centre Tom Farrell - the league’s top try scorer and top carrier - is under no illusions about the magnitude of the challenge as he prepares to take on an international-laden Benetton side.
"We have said there's no tomorrow, so it's all eyes on this weekend and we haven't looked past it, to be honest," he said.
"We're in a fortunate position that it is in our hands. We know the consequences that are there, but we haven't really focused on them too much; we've literally focused on what we can control within our game. We feel if we put that out on the pitch, it will give us a really good shot at getting a victory.
"As a team, we'd like to think we're coming together at the right time. There were passages of play against Ulster in the last round where we did click well, but we need to do it for longer, with a more complete performance for the 80 minutes.
"We believe this game is going to be another step up in intensity. We're playing the guts of an international team, so we're fully aware of it."
Second row Jean Kleyn and scrum-half Craig Casey will make their 150th and 100th appearances respectively for Munster, while Benetton are unchanged from the side that thumped champions Glasgow 33-7 last weekend.
Vodacom Bulls v Dragons RFC, Saturday, 15:00 (SA Time)
Vodacom Bulls boss Jake White has called on his players to enjoy their bid to win the Vodacom URC title for the first time.
The team from Pretoria need only a point from their Loftus Versfeld meeting with bottom-of-the-table Dragons to ensure a second-place finish.
That would earn them home advantage not just for the Play-Off Quarter-Finals, but also the Semi-Finals should they reach the last four.
With a five-match winning run in the league under their belts, they are sure to be a force to be reckoned with as they set their sights on silverware.
“One of the messages I have said to the players is we must enjoy it,” said White.
“We have worked really hard as a group to set ourselves up to possibly finish second on the log. With that comes a lot of bonuses in terms of not having to travel until the final if you keep winning.
“We have got to enjoy where we are. We mustn't go into our shells. You have to play as well as you can to win the tournament.”
While the Bulls have the play-offs to look forward to, it’s the end of the road for the Dragons, who have lost 16 matches in a row in the league since their opening round victory over the Ospreys.
"It's one final push," said head coach Filo Tiatia. "It's the last game of the season.
“The environment we're going to in Pretoria is a challenging place. They are second in the league, they are playing a dominant style of rugby, which is the Bulls' DNA.
"So we're under no illusion on the challenge, but we want to finish strongly with the young players that are here."
Emirates Lions v Ospreys, Saturday, 17:15 (SA Time)
Ospreys scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams believes it’s getting harder every year to make the Vodacom URC Play-Offs, given the competitive nature of the league.
The Welsh region remained in the hunt until the penultimate round, but last weekend’s defeat to the Sharks in Durban ended their hopes.
“We are obviously disappointed that we haven’t been able to qualify for the top eight,” said Morgan-Williams.
“But that’s how it goes. It’s a tough competition. These days, you have to get at least 48 to 50 points to get top eight, which is a tough ask for any team, considering most teams are beating each other.
“You have probably got to go to South Africa and pick up a win to push you forward to get up there, and that’s a tough ask out here because they are all dangerous teams.
“It’s probably getting harder every year, to be honest. This has been one of the most competitive seasons yet.”
The Ospreys have claimed some notable scalps among their seven league wins, but nine defeats - including five in their first seven matches - ultimately proved their undoing.
“We probably haven’t been as consistent as we would have wanted to be. We have put in some good performances, but then ones that we weren’t happy with,” said Morgan-Williams.
“There are definitely games that we feel like we should have won, but we just didn’t get over the line.”
The Ospreys’ hosts in Johannesburg, the Lions, are also out of the running for the play-offs, having only claimed one victory in their last five league games.
That’s a decline which has seen them drop out of the top eight and down to 13th in the table, with their latest defeat having been at home to the Scarlets.
Zebre Parma v Connacht Rugby, Saturday, 18:00 (SA Time)
The other clash between two teams out of the play-off mix, with 15th hosting 14th.
Zebre have been much more competitive this season, winning five league matches and pushing a number of other teams hard.
But they had a very tough day at the Dublin office last weekend as they conceded 12 tries to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium, so they will want to deliver a response to that to provide a happier conclusion to a generally positive campaign.
Turning to Connacht, they have really fallen away over the past couple of months, losing their last five Vodacom URC matches to slip out of contention.
Hollywoodbets Sharks v Scarlets, Saturday, 19:30 (SA Time)
Taine Plumtree has been back on familiar soil this week, preparing to take on his old man.
As a youngster, the Scarlets No 8 spent seven years in Durban while his father John was coaching the Sharks.
Now he’s back in the coastal city, ready to lock horns with his dad, who is in his second spell at the helm of the South African side.
It’s a family reunion which has even greater significance as Plumtree Jr. is looking to help the Scarlets secure a spot in the Vodacom URC Play-Offs.
Speaking about his return to Durban, the Welsh international said: “It’s been good being able to show the boys around a bit.
“The hotel is in a place called UMhlanga, and that’s where I spent most of the time growing up when we used to live here.
“I loved it. It’s on the beach, and the people are awesome here. The weather is unbelievable, not just in the summer, but winter too, so it’s a cool lifestyle.”
The in-form Plumtree, who was born in Wales while his Kiwi dad was coaching Swansea, has taken the opportunity to spend some time with his family since arriving back in Durban.
“Mum has moved over now from New Zealand, too. She got here about two weeks ago, so it was quite good timing. I hadn’t seen her since the summer of last year.
“We went out for dinner one night, and then we were round to their place for a Braai with some of my other family. So it’s been good to be able to spend some time with them.”
As for the rugby chat with his dad, he says: “We’ve actually been quite quiet in terms of this weekend as obviously it’s an important game for both of us.
“There’s not a tension there, but we are not saying anything. We are just waiting to see what happens on Saturday.”
The Scarlets have given themselves a great chance of making the Play-Offs by rattling off four successive bonus point victories, the latest of those being last Sunday’s 32-19 win over the Lions in Johannesburg.
“We are looking forward to hopefully another result this weekend,” said Plumtree, who joined the west Wales region in 2023 after playing out in New Zealand.
“We know it’s going to be tough, but there’s a sort of silent confidence in the team that we are playing well together.
“We have clicked and got the results we wanted. We know how it is to win and how good that feels. Being on the right side of results is super important, especially come the business side of the season.
“We are confident within each other as a group. Hopefully, we make the play-offs and it’s not just the quarter-finals we make. We are really in contention for making the final and hopefully lifting some silverware.”
As for the Sharks, they are looking for a win which could well secure a third-place finish as they are just one point behind Glasgow.
Speaking of the reigning champions…
Leinster Rugby v Glasgow Warriors, Saturday, 20:35 (SA Time)
It’s first versus third at the Aviva Stadium in the final fixture of the final round of matches.
Leaders Leinster made sure of top spot with a record 76-5 victory over Zebre last weekend, but it was a very different story for Glasgow as they were beaten 33-7 by Benetton in Treviso.
That saw the champions drop down to third as the Bulls moved above them. Having sat in second for most of the season, they are now in danger of ending up fourth, with the Sharks just a point behind them.
Head coach Franco Smith said, "We were all obviously disappointed after last weekend.
"If that happened at the beginning of the season, one would think there's something big wrong, but I think it’s something that sometimes happens to all teams at the back end of the season.
"It's usually a lot of pressure that's been felt over the season that's now telling, but we can bounce back.”
He added: “If you’re the URC champions like we are, we play the opposition's final every week, but it's not an excuse, it's part of our learning curve.
"This season up to now, we absolutely fought every game to not lose, and we remained second in the league for 16 games.
“I think on top of that, with all the international games, there's a little bit of tiredness.
"I must say, the determination Benetton had on the field is something we'll have to take from them.
"We need a little bit more of that determination that we've had in so many games this year.”
As for Leinster, their focus remains firmly fixed on ending that much-talked-about four-year wait for a trophy, while being aware of just how tough a challenge they face.
Their Kiwi assistant coach, Tyler Bleyendaal, said: “The reality is there are many hungry teams trying to win the URC at the moment as well. We don’t feel entitled or anything. We’re going to have to work hard, we’re going to have to be committed.
“We’re preparing for Glasgow after a decent performance last weekend, and the challenge for us is to build on our own momentum through the things we can do well.”
