Vodacom URC quarter-finals confirmed in round of mixed fortunes for SA teams

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 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 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 Lions face the tough task of travelling to Dublin to meet the defending champions, Leinster, in their first URC play-off after they finished in seventh position despite a 24-17 defeat against Munster in Limerick.

The 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.

Cardiff survived a fast and furious start by the Stormers in a crunch closing URC pool match at Cardiff Arms Park in the Welsh capital on Friday evening to walk away with a vital bonus-point victory, which cemented their place in the top eight and in the process squashed the Capetonians’ chances of finishing the league stages in the top two.

The defeat for the Capetonians, who entered the match guaranteed of a home quarter-final, will undoubtedly serve as a timely wake-up call that they will have to be effective all around to keep alive their hopes of winning the title.

The Stormers showed good promise in the opening seven minutes as they out-scrummed and out-powered the home side. But they struggled to maintain this intensity as the match progressed and were left frustrated as Cardiff shut them out close to the tryline time and time again until the last move of the match.

The South Africans scored the first points in the seventh minute, compliments of Adre Smith, shortly after Cardiff received an early yellow card, but that proved to be their only try of the match as the Welshmen stepped up their defence and made the most of their opportunities on attack going into the second quarter, which saw them score two tries within four minutes for a 12-7 lead.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu reduced the visitors’ deficit to two points with a penalty in the 30th minute, but Cardiff struck again on the stroke of halftime after the Stormers were reduced to 14 men with Smith sin-binned, which handed the hosts a handy 17-10 half-time buffer.

Both teams showed commitment on attack and defence in a hard-fought second half, and this showed on the scoreboard with the only try being scored by Cardiff in the corner in the 49th minute, while the Stormers’ only points were compliments of two more penalties by Feinberg-Mngomezulu – the last of which was scored at the death to earn them a losing bonus point.

Cardiff 22 (17) – Tries: Jacob Beetham (2), Tom Bowen, Ioan Lloyd. Conversion: Lloyd.

DHL Stormers 16 (10) – Try: Adre Smith. Conversion: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Penalties: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3).

The Sharks finished their URC campaign on a memorable note on Saturday, as they completely outplayed Zebre Parma in front of their passionate supporters at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban, scoring an impressive eight tries to three by the Italians to guarantee a respectable 10th place finish in the competition.

Although it was a dead-rubber for both teams, who had already dropped out of the play-off race in their last few league matches, the Durbanites showed that they are on the right track to building a competitive team in future and it was a day to remember for Siya Kolisi, who scored a brace in his final match for the franchise.

The KwaZulu-Natalians dominated territory and possession throughout the match and it paid off with an impressive four first-half tries, as Jaco Williams, Zekethelo Siyaya and Kolisi crossed the chalk within the first 30 minutes.

Kolisi secured the bonus point for the Sharks with his second five-pointer on the stroke of half-time, when Zebre Parma were down to 14 men after receiving a yellow card for infringing close to the tryline. They backed this up with a solid defensive effort, which limited the visitors to only one try for an encouraging 26-7 lead going into the sheds.

The hosts picked up where they left off after the teams returned to the field, with Junior Springbok flyhalf Vusi Moyo scoring a try on debut for the franchise and Emmanuel Tshituka added his name to the scoresheet in the 54th minute to stretch their lead even further.

Despite this Zebre Parma remained focused on the task at hand and this saw them score their second try in the 63rd minute but this was cancelled out by back-to-back tries by Le Roux Malan and Ross Braude within three minutes to inflate the hosts’ score to 54 points.

Zebre Parma continued to show their fighting spirit and it paid off with their third try with four minutes to play, and with neither team able to add to their score, the Sharks walked away with the rewarding victory.

Hollywoodbets Sharks 54 (26) – Tries: Jaco Williams, Siya Kolisi (2), Zekethelo Siyaya, Vusi Moyo, Emmanuel Tshituka, Le Roux Malan, Ross Braude. Conversions: Moyo (5), Jean Smith (2).

Zebre Parma 19 (7) – Tries: Malik Faissal, Simone Gesi, Giovanni Quattrini. Conversions: Giovanni Montemauri (2).

The Bulls delivered on their determination to finish in the top four on the URC log as they thumped Benetton in a largely one-sided encounter at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, which not only ensured that they secured a home quarter-final but also stretched their winning run to six games.

Such was the home side’s dominance, they had their bonus-point try in the bag before half-time, as they scored four tries to two by the visitors – their last of which while the Italians were down to 14 men following a yellow card – and this saw the Bulls enter the break with a 26-12 lead.

They built on this in a competitive second half, adding three more tries to their tally to take their total to seven, while they held off a competitive challenge by the Italian visitors, limiting them to only one second-half try.

It took only four minutes for the men in blue to score their first try, compliments of Sergeal Petersen and Willie le Roux followed suit, before Benetton hit back with their first try.

Johan Grobbelaar and Cobus Wiese inflated their lead as they touched down but they leaked their second try on the stroke of halftime, which saw the Vodacom Bulls outfit enter the break with a comfortable 26-12 lead.

Benetton came out firing in the second half and added their third try within two minutes but with the Bulls controlling the game, the Italians were unable to shut out Petersen for his brace, as well as Celimpilo Gumede and Ruan Nortje, which earned the Bulls a satisfying victory.

Vodacom Bulls 45 (26) – Tries: Sergeal Petersen (2), Willie le Roux, Johan Grobbelaar, Cobus Wiese, Celimpilo Gumede, Ruan Nortje. Conversions: Handre Pollard (5).

Benetton 19 (12) – Tries: Louis Lynagh (2), Rhyno Smith. Conversions: Smith (2).

A strong defensive performance by Munster, who overcame a short spell with 13 players on the park, saw them hold off a determined Lions outfit at Thomond Park for an important victory in the final match of the URC regular season.

Both teams showed good intent with hard running on attack but Munster had the first say as they powered their way over the tryline from strong forward play in the seventh minute. This was cancelled out minutes later by a well-timed intercept by Quan Horn to level the scores at seven-all but the hosts slotted a penalty goal early in the second quarter to edge their way back into the lead.

Drama then unfolded for the Irishmen as they received two yellow cards within four minutes for deliberate knockdowns, which saw them being reduced to 13 men, which paved the way for the Lions to score their second try out wide by Kelly Mpeku.

The visitors’ hopes of entering half-time in the lead, however, were dashed as Munster again applied pressure close to the tryline and scored from a pick-and-go with a man down, which nudged them 17-14 ahead.

They added their third try in the 54th minute, while they limited the visitors to only a penalty for their efforts in the second half and with neither team able to add to their scores in the closing quarter, Munster walked away with the victory.

Munster 24 (17) – Tries: Evan O'Connell, Craig Casey, Tom Ahern. Conversions: JJ Hanrahan (3). Penalty: Hanrahan.

Fidelity Securedrive Lions 17 (14) – Tries: Quan Horn, Kelly Mpeku. Conversions: Chris Smith (2). Penalty: Smith.

Fixtures

Quarter-finals

Friday, May 29

QF1: (1) Glasgow Warriors v (8) Connacht @ Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow (7.45pm UK/8.45pm SA)

Live on Premier Sports, SuperSport, TG4, URC.tv, FloRugby

Saturday, May 30

QF4: (4) Vodacom Bulls v (5) Munster @ Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria (12pm UK/1pm SA)

Live on SuperSport, Premier Sports, URC.tv, FloRugby

QF3: (3) DHL Stormers v (6) Cardiff @ DHL Stadium, Cape Town (2.30pm UK/3.30pm SA)

Live on SuperSport, S4C, Premier Sports, URC.tv, FloRugby

QF2: (2) Leinster v (7) Fidelity SecureDrive Lions @ Aviva Stadium, Dublin (8pm UK/9pm SA)

Live on TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, URC.tv, FloRugby