Bulls, Sharks, Stormers sitting pretty as URC gathers for final push to the play-offs

South Africa’s United Rugby Championship (URC) teams bagged a full house of victories at the weekend and are sitting pretty as the tournament approaches the playoffs stage.

The 16 teams have completed 16 of the 18 league rounds and after taking a break for this week’s Challenge and Champions Cup semi-finals, there will be a frantic fortnight of games before the top eight is settled and the quarter-finalists identified.

The Bulls and Sharks are guaranteed quarter-final spots, and the Stormers are just about there, thanks to a strong surge up the table in recent weeks.

The Lions ended a five-match losing streak by well beating Connacht at Ellis Park, but they might have left their push for the play-offs too late. They are in 13th position and technically could still make it, but they would need the five teams above them on the log to mostly go winless in their last two games. The Lions would also have to nail five-point wins in their final games.

The good news for the South African challenge is that all four teams are at home for the remaining two rounds, and all the games are against Welsh opposition.

But the SA teams know better than to disrespect the four teams from the principality because it is only the Dragons that are out of the Top 8 race. The Welsh teams miserably started the URC but have improved significantly, with Cardiff in fifth place and breathing down the necks of the fourth-placed Sharks.

Also, the Scarlets produced the shock of the tournament at the weekend when they beat runaway log leaders Leinster. Admittedly, it was a second-string Leinster as they rested their stars ahead of the Champions Cup semis this week, but the Sharks could not beat a similar strength Leinster in Durban, and the Bulls beat them by the skin of their teeth.

At the weekend, the Bulls and Sharks enjoyed momentous wins in Glasgow and Belfast respectively, and they will be heavily targeting the vital second place on the log, currently and tenuously occupied by the Warriors.

Remaining SA URC fixtures

Bulls (58 points, third place)

May 10: vs Cardiff in Pretoria

May 17: vs Dragons in Pretoria

Sharks (53 points, fourth place)

May 9: vs Ospreys in Durban

May 17: vs Scarlets in Durban

Stormers (45 points, sixth place)

May 10: vs Dragons in Cape Town

May 16: vs Cardiff in Cape Town

Lions (35 points, 13th place)

May 11: vs Scarlets in Johannesburg

May 17: vs Ospreys in Johannesburg