Kick off times for semi-finals

The Bulls and Sharks kept the South African flag flying in a drama-filled knockout round of the URC this past weekend, and they will now face off in an all-South African semi-final in Pretoria this Saturday.

To qualify for the final four, the the Bulls had to deliver under pressure in a competitive encounter against Edinburgh in Pretoria on Saturday to register a 42-33 victory.

Meanwhile, there was drama in Durban, where the Sharks and Munster drew 24-24 after 80 minutes, which forced the match into extra time, and then a penalty shootout, which the hosts won 6-4.

Log-leaders Leinster will face the Glasgow Warriors in the first semi-final, at 15:45 (SA time) at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin this Saturday after they defeated the Scarlets 33-21 in the other quarter-final.

The Bulls and Sharks will then clash from 18:15 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria for a place in the Grand Final.

Tough to pick a winner for URC semi-finals

Both home teams will be regarded as favourites going into the penultimate round of the competition, and both the Bulls and Sharks will certainly be determined to produce vastly improved performances.

“We didn’t play particularly well in the first 20-30 minutes of the game, but then we got on top,” Sharks coach John Plumtree commented after the quarter-final. “We had a couple of bad moments when they got to 21-10 and then we just clawed our way back in [to the game].

“And going down to the kickers like that, I was just so proud of them.”

Meanwhile, Bulls coach Jake White said that at least the team was consistently showing a fighting spirit.

“People think the team placed seventh must lose to the team that finishes second,” he said. “But look at Leinster – they lost to Scarlets and us during the league phase and only just got through their quarter-final.

“We were down but got a [winning] result. Whereas the last time we played them [Edinburgh], we didn’t.”

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