We look back on the past weekend of URC rugby which saw the Lions comprehensively outclass the Sharks and the Bulls pick up their first URC win over the Stormers in eight matches.
Lions 40-10 Sharks in Johannesburg on Saturday
After leading 19-10 at the break, the Lions scored 21 points in the final quarter to hammer the Hollywodbets Sharks at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday. Ivan van Rooyen’s charges were buoyed by another spectacular performance from Man of the Match Sanele Nohamba, and sit just three points off the top eight in 11th place. With a tricky two-match tour of the UK and clashes against Leinster and Munster still to come, the Pride needs a big finish to their season if they are to feature in the knockouts.
The Durbanites remain rooted to the bottom of the overall standings with just one win from 11. Due to a combination of Springbok resting protocols and injuries, a number of first-choice players were unavailable for selection and the inexperience of those that did start on Saturday was on full display, particularly in the second-half. Still, they’ll look to carry their learnings forward with them.
𝐇𝐓 | 🦁 𝐋𝐈𝐎 𝟏𝟗-𝟏𝟎 𝐒𝐇𝐀 🦈
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) March 2, 2024
Sanele Nohamba inspires the Emirates Lions to a healthy half-time lead at Emirates Airline Park ⭐
📺 Stream #LIOvSHA live: https://t.co/bDeiretgWP#OriginRound pic.twitter.com/5ghHSghPiE
Bulls 40-22 Stormers in Pretoria on Saturday
The Bulls went second after finally besting the Stormers in the URC for a first win in eight games against their bitter rivals from the south. The hosts went into half-time leading 19-15 thanks largely to the boot of Johan Goosen, and were even more dominant in the second half, easing to a comfortable victory in the end.
The Capetonians are now ninth, with ground to make up ahead of a string of four home matches to come. Despite this latest wobble there’s every reason to believe they’ll be safely in the picture come the post-season.
A brutal North-South Derby battle in the rain.. you just had to be there ⛈️🍿 pic.twitter.com/yXxaFdzA8g
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) March 3, 2024
Four wins out of four for Irish contingent
There were wins for Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht in round 11 while both Scottish clubs claimed victories too. At Thomond Park on Friday, an inspired RG Snyman performance powered the Red Army to a 45-29 win over Zebre and sixth place, while Edinburgh edged Ospreys 19-15 at the DAM Health on the same day.
On Saturday, a 19-9 win at Benetton wasn’t enough to prevent Glasgow from dropping down to third, Connacht outplayed Scarlets 26-10 in Galway, Leinster brushed Cardiff aside 33-20 at the Arms Park and Ulster eased to a 49-26 defeat of Dragons in Belfast.
How epic were those offloads 🥵@DromoreRFC were no doubt on their feet cheering for that first Mike Lowry try, along with the rest of Kingspan Stadium!#BKTURC #URC | #OriginRound #GrassrootsToGreatness | #ULSvDRA pic.twitter.com/9vGNqbaAF3
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) March 2, 2024
