The regular season of the United Rugby Championship (URC) has officially drawn to a close, delivering a mixed bag of results for South Africa’s elite franchises. While the Stormers and Lions stumbled in the final round, the Bulls and Sharks finished on an absolute high.
Ultimately, the final standings mean the Bulls and Stormers have secured crucial home-ground advantage for the upcoming knockout stages.
The Big One: Bulls vs. Munster
After dismantling Benetton 45-19 in a bonus-point thriller at Loftus Versfeld, the Bulls locked in a fourth-place finish. Their reward? A massive, heavyweight quarter-final clash against Irish giants Munster in Pretoria.
“It’s always nice to play at home and hopefully we can use that to our advantage. Munster are a quality side with a lot of good internationals. We know we’ll have to lift our standards.” — Johan Ackermann, Bulls Coach
Note: Due to the EPCR finals taking place this weekend, fans will have to wait one more week for the URC playoff action to ignite. In the meantime, several key South African stars will head to the Springbok alignment camp.
URC Quarter-Finals Schedule
Mark your calendars! Here is how the playoff weekend shapes up (all times SA Time):
Friday, 29 May
- QF1: Glasgow Warriors vs. Connacht
- Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
- Kick-off: 20:45
Saturday, 30 May
- QF4: Bulls vs. Munster
- Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
- Kick-off: 13:00
- QF3: Stormers vs. Cardiff
- Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
- Kick-off: 15:30
- QF2: Leinster vs. Lions
- Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
- Kick-off: 21:00
Playoff History Lesson
While playing at home is a massive boost, history shows the URC playoffs love an underdog. Only once has the team finishing No. 1 in the regular season gone on to lift the trophy (Leinster last season). Prior to that, champions emerged from 4th (Glasgow, 2024), 5th (Munster, 2023), and 2nd (Stormers, 2022). Loftus is bound to be a fortress, but the Bulls will take nothing for granted!
