SA derbies take centre stage in URC yet again

Two gripping South African derbies will take centre stage in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday as the competition reaches round 11, which also marks the first of two Origins Rounds where the players will celebrate their rugby roots by wearing their school or club socks.

With the next two rounds of matches comprising local derbies, these games will be decisive in the race for the South African Shield where the teams will give their all for supremacy on the domestic front in the 2024/25 URC season, adding even more spice to the competition.

The 13th-placed Lions will host the 10th-placed Storers in Johannesburg in the first match-up, which kicks off at 14h30, with incumbent SA Shield holders, the Bulls, hosting the Sharks across the Jukskei River in Pretoria shortly after at 17h00.

These matches will mark the second time the teams line up against one another since 21 December – albeit at different venues – when the Capetonians and Durbanites emerged victorious at home.

Adding to the significance of the next two rounds, it will play a vital role in all four teams’ quest to either remain in the top four on the standings – positions the Bulls and Sharks currently enjoy – to stay in the running for home playoff matches, while the Stormers and Lions will look to claw their way either into the top eight or closer to the top-half of the log as they continue their hunt playoff spots. All four South African sides still have a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The clash at Airline Park is expected to be an entertaining affair, as the Eimrates Lions will be desperate to bounce back from four successive defeats in the competition after a strong start in which they won four games in a row, while the Stormers will be determined to bounce back strongly from back-to-back defeats against Leinster and the Bulls – the latter a heart-breaking one-point defeat in Cape Town in their postponed round one fixture last week.

The last time the teams met, the Cape outfit registered a convincing 29-10 home victory against their Johannesburg counterparts – a result the Lions will want to avenge, while at the same time gain winning momentum at home with five home pool games remaining after this duel.

The hosts will have their work cut out, however, as the Stormers have not only won the last six encounters between the two sides, but they have also been more effective on attack and defence this season, having scored 59 more points in their 10 matches to eight by the hosts, while they have conceded 71 points fewer.

The battle between the Bulls and Sharks at Loftus Versfeld is also set to be absorbing given the high stakes for both teams in the match.

The Durbanites trail the men in blue by only six log points, meaning a victory would give them a handy boost to reduce the deficit between themselves and the top three teams on the table.

Spicing up the clash, the KwaZulu-Natalians – whose last URC victory in Pretoria was three years ago in 2022 – snatched a late 20-17 win in their last outing in December, which will lift their confidence going into the clash, while the Bulls will feel they have a score to settle, which sets the scene for a nail-biting encounter.

While the sides have been closely matched on attack in their nine matches to date with the Bulls holding a narrow five-point lead in terms of points scored, their defensive record looks vastly more impressive with 182 points conceded to 230 by the Sharks.

Match Information:

Lions v Stormers

Date: Saturday, 15 February

Venue: Airline Park, Johannesburg

SA Time: 14h30

Referee: Griffin Colby

Bulls v Sharks

Date: Saturday, 15 February

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

SA Time: 17h00

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen