Bulls, Sharks, Stormers must win URC quarter-finals after Champions Cup no show

South African teams are under pressure to perform in the United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-finals this weekend after being conspicuously absent from the play-offs of the Challenge and Champion Cups.

The finals of those competitions were held over the weekend in Cardiff, with Bath and Bordeaux victorious. But the Bulls, Sharks, Lions and Stormers fell by the wayside some time as they piled their eggs into the URC basket.

South Africa’s lack of focus on the European Cup competitions that run concurrently with the URC has not gone unnoticed in European rugby circles. The Champions Cup is huge in Europe and some French critics have accused South Africa of disrespecting its history, and questioned whether South Africa should have a place at the table.

South African administrators have been embarrassed by the non-performance and this was summed up by a remark by SA Rugby CEO Ruan Oberholzer in Cardiff.

When asked about the launch of the World Club Cup, which will be held every four years for the teams that make the Champions Cup plus the top teams from Super Rugby and Japan, Oberholzer said: “Maybe now South African teams will take the Champions Cup seriously.”

This brings us to the matter at hand. Having ignored the Champions Cup, the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers can’t flop in the URC.

There is no reason to think this will happen. The Bulls finished second on the points table and host Edinburgh on Saturday at 1.30pm. The Sharks ended third and host Munster in Durban at 6.30pm, while the Stormers were fifth and travel to Glasgow. They kick-off proceedings on Friday night in Scotland at 8.30pm.

The Bulls, riding a six-match winning streak in the URC, have racked up a remarkable 70 tries while conceding 44. Across the entire 16-team tournament, only Glasgow and Leinster boast a better tries for and against ratio.

But they need to be careful about Edinburgh, Sean Everitt’s side. Not only did they beat the Bulls fairly recently in the Challenge Cup but they are building nicely since getting back several Scottish internationals.

In their last match, they smashed a handy Ulster team 47-17 to claim their place in the URC top eight. Edinburgh also welcome Duhan van der Merwe back from injury for their trip to Pretoria. The powerfully built wing is Scotland’s most prolific try scorer.

Of course, the Bulls will hope their formidable pack — which includes Duhan’s elder brother Akker — prevent Duhan from getting the ball.

The Stormers have also scored plenty of tries (66) in their 18 URC matches, but the important thing to consider is that most of those tries have come in the second half of the URC.

The Cape team had a poor start to the competition but in recent months opened the accelerator thanks to returning playmakers such as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse and Manie Libbok.

In their last four wins, the Stormers have scored 24 tries. Winning competitions is about timing your run correctly and John Dobson will be happy with where is team are on all levels.

Willemse is suspended for the trip to Glasgow but will be replaced by another fine player in Warrick Gelant. Don’t be surprised if the Stormers win away.

The Sharks complete the weekend in Durban on Saturday evening and their fans are worried. Their team finished third on the log despite conceding more tries (59) than they scored (55).

They have been tackling their way to wins but at some point this is not going to be enough. That point could be in the form of Munster, a team that are arguably the world’s best when it comes to winning knockout games.

If there was a good time for the Sharks’ attack to come alive, it is this quarterfinal.