Decisive weekend as now everyone gets behind Lions and Sharks

After the edge of the times tempestuous derby weekend that has left the DHL Stormers sitting pretty on several fronts the rivalries will be put aside this week as the two Pretoria protagonists get squarely behind the Cell C Sharks and the Emirates Lions.

The Stormers were the big winners at the weekend as they effectively clinched the South African Shield title for a second successive year with their win at Loftus. They've pretty much wrapped up the race for second place too, but not quite, which is why they will join the Vodacom Bulls in becoming Sharks and Lions supporters.

This coming weekend’s action features just the two round six matches that were rescheduled from October because of the gastro problems suffered by Ulster and Glasgow Warriors while they were in Umhlanga Rocks preparing for games against the Sharks and the Lions respectively.

The Ulster game is of course an important one to the Sharks, as they look to consolidate the position in the top seven that they secured with their impressive second half surge in Johannesburg. It would have been more important to the Stormers than it is had they not won a pulsating derby in front of 41 000 people in Pretoria and Glasgow beaten Ulster on Friday night. But it is still significant: If the Sharks win, any Ulster pretensions to second place will have evaporated.

As it is they are tenuous, with the Stormers enjoying a 10 point advantage over the third placed team. But Ulster do have a game in hand, so a win in Durban, particularly if it is with a four try bonus point, will put them back into the race for the Stormers’ second spot.

BULLS WILL BE PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN DURBAN RESULT

The Bulls, who have an away game against Ulster in their imminent future, will be wanting the Sharks and Lions to win even more than the Stormers will. Where Ruan Nortje’s men find themselves after their loss to the Stormers underlines why their coach Jake White had stressed in the build-up how important it was. They have now dropped out of the top four, with Ulster, Glasgow and resurgent Munster now at positions three, four and five respectively.

The Bulls desperately need the Sharks and Lions to win so that they will be playing for a top four place when next they go into action with another Loftus derby, this time against the Lions, on 4 March.

Apart from hurting the Bulls, it could be argued that the Stormers win hurt the South African challenge, as suddenly the Stormers are alone in the top part of the log. At this point, there is no repeat of last year’s achievement of having two teams in the top four and thus two home quarterfinals.

SHARKS REGAINED CONFIDENCE

The Sharks’ confidence for the Ulster game, where they will have a significant ally in the form of the late summer humidity in an early afternoon kick-off, should have been boosted with the way they came good in the second half at Emirates Airlines Park. They started as if they had no confidence, which would be understandable after what the Stormers did to them in their previous match, but were fortunate that the Lions had even less.

The Lions dominated the first half in terms of possession and territory but could not make use of their opportunities and were held to 7-all at halftime. The Sharks were gradually gaining in confidence as the game wore on and the Lions continued to shoot themselves in the feet, and by the end were in control of the game. If they can take that momentum into Saturday’s crucial game at HollywoodBets Kings Park, they will have a chance against an Ulster team that will be missing all its Irish internationals.

LIONS FACE SOUL SEARCHING

The Lions by contrast have a lot of soul-searching to do. The defeat knocked them out of contention for a top eight place and for the rest of the season they will be playing with the knowledge that the prestige of Heineken Champions Cup qualification will be denied them again next season. It is hard sometimes to fathom the Lions’ approach as their apparent unwillingness to invest in the broad base of depth that you need to compete in both the URC and the European competitions is costing them.

It has been a long time since they beat a fellow South African team, the last time was the shock win over the Stormers in Cape Town in December 2021. And few would argue against the contention that the gap between the Lions and the other local teams suggested by that record is real. They have youngsters coming through but not enough depth to spread the load.

LOFTUS WIN PROVED SEVERAL POINTS

One franchise that does have depth now is the Stormers, who handsomely passed the test of growth that their coach John Dobson had spoken about on the eve of the game. Dobson had acknowledged his team went in as underdogs but said it would be a good test of both mental and personnel growth due to it not being the must-win it was for the hosts.

White might have irritated the Stormers a bit with his pre-match press conference, particularly the part where he denigrated the Stormers’ win at Loftus last year on the basis that those were still Covid days so there were only 2000 people in the venue. Well, there were 39 000 more than that on Saturday, and the Stormers still won, so the Cape team has undeniably proved a point. Five wins in succession is also difficult to argue with, and while it is true that, as White contended, the Stormers still had a lot of Boks and SA A representatives in Pretoria, that doesn’t mean they didn’t miss several key members of their side to Springbok resting protocols.

VINDICATION OF DOBSON’S FOCUS ON DEPTH

That the Stormers went to Pretoria and won against an almost full strength Bulls side without Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Marvin Orie, Damian Willemse and Evan Roos, plus others such as the injured Salmaan Moerat and Hacjivah Dayimani, is a huge testament to how much the Stormers have progressed since they broke their Loftus drought last January.

But the fact that they were able to go without those players is perhaps what the Lions are missing: Dobson has been very focused on using this season to build up his depth so the Stormers can compete consistently in all competitions, and he has succeeded.

The Stormers pack that played at Loftus included just one player in skipper Deon Fourie who had played in last year’s URC final against the Bulls. And by quick count, there were only three backline players at Loftus who played in last year’s final too. So four in all. Again, a testimony to what Dobson has done to ensure that fringe players become big players when called upon.

He could have some selection dilemmas, the type other coaches envy, going forward, particularly at loose-forward, where the form of Marcel Theunissen is going to make it hard to just return Dayimani to his No 8 jersey when he is fit, which should be for the next game against the Sharks at DHL Stadium the week after next.

Dayimani has an X-factor that can’t be ignored, so then where does Theunissen fit in? It is going to be an interesting selection, as it will be when Roos returns from his injury later on during the current campaign.

WEEKEND VODACOM UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:

Glasgow Warriors 17 Ulster 11

Munster 58 Ospreys 3

Emirates Lions 7 Cell C Sharks 29

Vodacom Bulls 19 DHL Stormers 23

Zebre 34 Connacht 57

Cardiff Rugby 30 Benetton 13

Scarlets 42 Edinburgh 14

Leinster 43 Dragons 14

NEXT VODACOM URC FIXTURES:

Cell C Sharks v Ulster (Durban, Saturday 14.00)

Emirates Lions v Glasgow Warriors (Johannesburg, Saturday 16.10)