The Vodacom Bulls, DHL Stormers and Lions remain firmly in the quarter-finals race after valuable bonus-point wins in round 16 of the Vodacom URC.
The Stormers took the field first and delivered a strong second-half showing for a 44-21 victory against Dragons in Newport, and the Bulls followed this up with a 40-34 win against league leaders, the Glasgow Warriors in Pretoria, while the Lions came away with a 34-13 triumph against Cardiff at Ellis Park.
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There was disappointment for the Sharks as they received a late red card, which paved the way for Benetton to score the match-winning try on the stroke of full time in a 25-24 defeat.
The Bulls remain in fourth place and are on target for a home quarter-final and possibly a top-two finish – they trail Glasgow by four points with two league rounds remaining. The Stormers maintained fifth place with 50 log points.
The Lions also still harbour high hopes of a top-eight finish, as Ivan van Rooyen’s troops are currently in 10th position on 44 points – the same as ninth-placed Connacht – and both are four points behind eighth-placed Benetton.
The Sharks managed to move up one place to 12th courtesy of two points from their match against Benetton. The Durbanites will be playing purely for pride in their remaining URC matches, their focus now primarily on the showdown against Gloucester in a historic Challenge Cup final in a fortnight.
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Going into round 17 of the URC, the Bulls kick off the weekend on Saturday afternoon when Jake White’s charges tackle Benetton at Loftus.
The Lions then host Glasgow in Johannesburg, before the Stormers howl into Galway to battle Connacht, and the Sharks bring the curtain down on Cardiff at Kings Park.
Meanwhile, in the race to the SA Shield title, the Bulls lead the charge on 20 points from five derbies, closely followed by the Stormers with 17. The SA champions will be determined in the final round when both teams end the league phase of the 2023-24 season with an SA derby at the beginning of June.
Round 16 results:
Edinburgh 40-14 Zebre
Dragons 22-41 Stormers
Bulls 40-34 Glasgow
Sharks 24-25 Benetton
Scarlets 20-31 Ulster
Munster 47-12 Connacht
Lions 34-13 Cardiff
Leinster 61-14 Ospreys
Round 17 fixtures:
Friday, 17 May
Zebre vs Scarlets (8:35pm)
Edinburgh vs Munster (8:35pm)
Saturday, 18 May
Bulls vs Benetton (2pm)
Ospreys vs Dragons (4pm)
Lions vs Glasgow (4:05pm)
Connacht vs Stormers (6:05pm)
Sharks vs Cardiff (6:15pm)
Ulster vs Leinster (8:35pm)
Photo: @Springboks/Twitter