Although the DHL Stormers secured an emphatic 56-5 victory over Benetton at DHL Stadium, their slim hopes of hosting a home quarterfinal got dashed as all four South African sides came out on top in Round 16 of the United Rugby Championship (URC).
Coach John Dobson’s Stormers ran in seven tries and only conceded one as they put in a massive shift, especially on defence, against a Benetton side that had no answers for the Cape side’s physicality.
Rookie Paul de Villiers was a demon at breakdown time for the Stormers as the stocky flanker made important turnovers and scored his first try to claim the man of the match award.
Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu also turned on the style with his all-round game, slotting six conversions and a drop goal before scoring a five-pointer of his own at the death.
Climbing The Ladder
The win sees the Stormers move up to sixth position on the URC log but should probably kiss their chances of ending the league phase in fourth position after fellow SA team, the HollywoodBets Sharks, turned around a 0-19 deficit to beat Ulster 22-19 in Belfast and consolidate their fourth place.
A penalty by Jordan Hendrikse sealed the win in the 78 th minute after the Sharks fought back through tries by Makazole Mapimpi, Vincent Tshituka and Jurenzo Julius with Hendrikse converting two of the five pointers.
The men from Durban, who are hunting their first home quarterfinal since joining the URC three seasons ago, are now in pole position to achieve this feat as they head home for two home games where two wins against Ospreys and Scarlets respectively will be enough to lock up the top-four.
Meanwhile, the Stormers know they can still book a fifth-place finish to the league phase if they manage to beat wooden spooners Dragons and a tough Cardiff (5 th ) side.
Rampaging Bulls
And while the Stormers and Sharks will be jostling for positions over the next two weeks, the Vodacom Bulls again look like Mzansi’s best bet to win the URC after extending their winning streak to four games with a hard-fought 26-19 victory over defending champions, Glasgow Warriors, at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow.
Coach Jake White’s herd face Cardiff and then Dragons in their final two league home games at Loftus Versfeld, and will eye a second-place finish to seal a home quarterfinal and possibly home semi-final for the second season.
With star players like flyhalf Johan Goosen and utility back Canan Moodie back to full fitness and playing a leading role in Friday’s win over the Warriors in Scotland, the Bulls look a more settled side at the back-end of this year’s competition.
And they might gain even more firepower as Springbok winger Kurt-Lee Arendse is expected to be back from his Japanese sabbatical when the knockout rounds start.
Lions Miss Out Again
Although Emirates Lions made amends for a disappointing loss to Benetton a week ago, Saturday’s convincing 26-7 win over Connacht could not do enough to reignite the hopes of coach Ivan “Cash van Rooyen’s team reaching a first-ever URC quarterfinal.
A 10th-place finish for the current 13th-placed team from Johannesburg looks like the more likely outcome as Van Rooyen’s team again flattered to deceive after making a wonderful start to the 2024/25 campaign.
And missing out on a knockout spot four years in-a-row, will certainly raise more questions about Van Rooyen and his ability to turn the Lions into a competitive URC side.
Pride will certainly be on the line as the men from the City of Gold tackle Scarlets and Ospreys in their remaining two games at Ellis Park.
All the URC teams will be back in action from the 9th of May as the competition takes a break for the playing of the European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Semi-Finals this coming weekend.
