The Lions and Stormers are on course to join the Vodacom Bulls and Sharks in the URC playoffs as the competition pauses for a week.

All four South African teams were victorious in round 16. The Bulls and Sharks each completed an unbeaten two-match URC trip to Ireland and Scotland to cement their top-four spots. The Stormers made home comforts count in backing up last week’s win against visiting Connacht by beating Benetton at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, and the Lions delivered on their promise to fight back strongly after five successive defeats, hammering Connacht at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The 26-7 result keeps the Lions in the race to the final eight, although Ivan van Rooyen’s men trail eighth-placed Benetton by six points with two rounds to go.

The Stormers thrashed Benetton 56-5 in Cape Town before John Plumtree’s Sharks rallied from a 19-0 deficit to overhaul Ulster 22-19 in Belfast.

The Bulls were in action on Friday night and, despite being outscored three tries to two, secured a 26-19 victory against defending champions, Glasgow Warriors in Scotland.

These results leave the Bulls in third place on the log (58 points), followed by the Sharks in fourth (53 pts) and sixth-placed Stormers (45 pts). The Lions are in 13th position (35 pts).

Victory in Belfast sees the Sharks join the Bulls, Glasgow (59 points) and log-leaders Leinster (who lost only their second match of the campaign at Scarlets on Saturday) in the playoffs.

The Stormers and Lions are among 10 teams in with a chance of claiming one of the remaining four slots. Those sides, from fifth-placed Cardiff to Connacht in 14th, are separated by 11 points.

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The URC takes a break for the semi-finals of the Investec Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, with Leinster and Edinburgh representing the league in those EPCR competitions.

Then it’s back for round 17 on the weekend of May 9-11, and the action resumes with the Sharks against Ospreys at Kings Park.

The Durbanites won 25-10 the last time the teams met in KZN, but have lost twice to the Welsh outfit since 2021-22, including a 19-5 defeat in London last season.

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The Bulls will be confident against Cardiff at Loftus Versfeld, having beaten the Welshmen 45–9 in Pretoria in 2023, and edged them 18–12 at Arms Park last term.

The Stormers welcome Dragons to Cape Town Stadium for the first time, eager to build on previous wins over the visitors in Gqeberha and Newport after an early stumble in Wales three seasons ago.

And finally, the Lions host Scarlets at Ellis Park, chasing a third straight victory against the men from Llanelli.

Round 16 results:

Zebre 25-25 Edinburgh
Cardiff 26-21 Munster
Glasgow 19-26 Bulls
Lions 26-7 Connacht
Ospreys 57-24 Dragons
Stormers 56-5 Benetton
Scarlets 35-22 Leinster
Ulster 19-22 Sharks

Round 17 fixtures:

Friday, May 9

Sharks vs Ospreys (19:00)
Munster vs Ulster (20:35)

Saturday, May 10

Bulls vs Cardiff (16:00)
Benetton vs Glasgow (18:15)
Stormers vs Dragons (18:15)
Leinster vs Zebre (18:15)
Connacht vs Edinburgh (20:35)

Sunday, May 11

Lions vs Scarlets (15:00)

This article first appeared on SA Rugby magazine.

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