SA teams gallop down home stretch

The final round of league matches awaits this weekend and the Vodacom Bulls, Sharks and Stormers are jockeying for playoff seeding.

The Stormers booked their spot in the quarter-finals alongside the Bulls and Sharks after an impressive penultimate weekend of league action for the three South African teams.

But the Lions’ hopes of sneaking into the top eight through the back door were dashed even before they lost 32-19 to Scarlets at Ellis Park on Sunday, leaving Ivan van Rooyen’s men to play purely for pride in round 18.

The Sharks kicked off round 17 on a high, beating Ospreys 29-10 victory at Kings Park on Friday night, before Jake White’s Bulls thumped Cardiff 45-21 in Pretoria, and the Stormers blew away Dragons 48-12 in Cape Town on Saturday.

All three teams finished the round in the top eight, with the Bulls and Sharks assured of home quarter-finals over the weekend of 30 and 31 May.

These results, combined with the Glasgow Warriors’ shock 33-7 defeat at Benetton, saw the Bulls finish the round in second place (63 points) behind Leinster (72), while the Sharks settled in fourth (58 pts) and the Stormers fifth (50 pts). The Lions are way back in 13th position on 35 points.

Scarlets (48), Benetton (46), Munster (46), Cardiff (46) and Edinburgh (44) are still in the race to the eight, but Munster face Benetton in the final round, which may cost one of these two teams a spot in the quarter-finals.

Round 18 is another all-Welsh tour of South Africa as the Stormers host Cardiff, the Bulls and Lions welcome Dragons and Ospreys to the Highveld, and the Sharks entertain Scarlets.

John Plumtree’s Sharks will hope that Glasgow go down against Leinster and they beat Scarlets to move up to third place, while the Stormers will want to beat Cardiff to finish the pool stages with the best possible seeding for the playoffs.

The Bulls maintain a flawless 3-0 record against Dragons, while the Sharks and Lions both lead Scarlets and Ospreys 2-1 overall since their first meetings in 2022.

John Dobson’s Stormers, though, have struggled recently against Cardiff, dropping both away encounters after their convincing 40-3 victory in Cape Town four years ago.

Round 17 results:
Sharks 29-10 Ospreys
Munster 38-20 Ulster
Bulls 45-21 Cardiff
Benetton 33-7 Glasgow
Stormers 48-12 Dragons
Leinster 76-5 Zebre
Connacht 21-31 Edinburgh
Lions 19-32 Scarlets

Round 18 fixtures:
Friday, 16 May
Stormers vs Cardiff (7pm)
Edinburgh vs Ulster (8.35pm)
Munster vs Benetton (9pm)
Saturday, 17 May
Bulls vs Dragons (3pm)
Lions vs Ospreys (5.15pm)
Zebre vs Connacht (6pm)
Sharks vs Scarlets (7pm)
Leinster vs Glasgow (8.35pm)

Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images