After a weekend of heartbreak for SA teams in European cup action, all four sides refocus in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship where the scramble for playoff places resumes this week.

The South African challenge in their inaugural season of playing in Europe’s premier club knockout competitions came to an end on Saturday when the DHL Stormers, Sharks and Lions all lost in the quarter-finals of their respective competitions.

The two coastal sides came up short in the Champions Cup, with Toulouse running away late 54-20 in their match against the Sharks in France, after which the Stormers were beaten by a clinical Exeter Chiefs 42-17 in England.

In the last match of the day, the Glasgow Warriors had to work hard for their Challenge Cup quarter-final victory (31-21) over the Lions in Scotland.

The action in the URC returns this weekend with all four SA teams at home – the Sharks take on Benetton at Kings Park (18:30) on Friday, before Saturday’s schedule which has the Bulls facing Zebre (13:00), and the Lions to play Leinster (16:00) at Ellis Park in the first of back-to-back double-headers on the Highveld, with the Stormers squaring up against Munster in a Cape Town blockbuster at 18:30.

Prior to a two-week hiatus in the competition, the Lions and Stormers pulled off admirable results in the URC, and although the Bulls and Sharks lost, all four teams are still in the race to earn spots in the knockout stages.

With two rounds to go, the Stormers are in second place on the overall log with 61 points, sandwiched between leaders Leinster on 74 and Ulster in third on 59.

Glasgow Warriors are in fourth on 54, Munster in fifth (48), the Connacht in sixth (44), the Bulls in seventh (43) and Sharks complete the top-eight on 41 points, with the Lions three points adrift in 11th spot on the log.