South Africa: Champions Cup-Bound SA Sides Must Heed URC Lessons

29 May 2022
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
analysis By Jon Cardinelli

SA's away performances in the United Rugby Championship demand greater scrutiny ahead of the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers' debut in the European Champions Cup. The local teams' dominance at home - particularly against Welsh clubs - bodes well for the future.

There's good cause for South African rugby to celebrate as the inaugural United Rugby Championship (URC) tournament draws to a close.

Three local teams will advance to the URC playoffs. The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers have also qualified for the next instalment of Europe's elite club tournament, the Champions Cup. Few would have bet on such an outcome at the start of the competition last September.

The Stormers will host Edinburgh in Cape Town in the quarterfinals, while the Bulls will battle the Sharks in Pretoria. The URC league results tell a story about a tournament dominated by home teams - particularly in the cross-hemisphere clashes - and it's for this reason that the Stormers and Bulls will be favourites to progress to the semifinals.

The Stormers, who finished the league phase in second position and secured home advantage for a potential semifinal, are ideally placed to advance to the decider. But South Africa's top teams remain dark horses...

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