Looking ahead to Round 3 of the URC

Round 3 of the United Rugby Championship gets underway when Ulster tackle Benetton at Kingspan Stadium on Friday evening. The northern Irish outfit have been rumbling along strongly, posting two victories from the first two rounds against Glasgow and Zebre respectively while Benetton are in similar form with wins over the Stormers in Round 1 and Edinburgh in Round 2.  

As for the rest of the Irish contingent, Leinster will also do battle against an Italian outfit in the form of Zebre (at the RDS) while Connacht will have their hands full hosting Dragons and Munster travel to Wales to lock horns with Scarlets. 

The South African sides have had a baptism of fire in the opening two rounds with only the Lions managing a victory thus far. If desperation evolves into determination this weekend, things could start looking up.  

First up, the Sharks will take on Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on Friday night. The Welsh outfit are unbeaten as of yet and the men from Durban will be forced to pull out all the stops if they hope to achieve a favourable result. The Lions will do battle with the Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium. The Glaswegians already boast their first South African scalp of the competition after finishing off the Sharks last weekend and their winning momentum could be difficult for the Lions to handle. 

In the other South African/Scottish duel, the Stormers travel to DAM Health Stadium where Edinburgh lie in wait. The latter lost out by one point to Benetton last week while the men from Cape Town succumbed to the might of Munster at Thomond Park.  

Cardiff do battle with the Bulls at Cardiff Arms Park. In their derby last weekend, Cardiff lost out to Ospreys in a four-point thriller. The were taken apart for the second time in as many weeks by an Irish outfit, this time in the form of Connacht.