‘A lot of positives … but we’ll be judged on next three games’ — Bulls’ White

The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers face tricky quarterfinal encounters after the United Rugby Championship (URC) pool phase came to an entertaining conclusion over the past weekend.

The Bulls finished second on the log after a thumping 55-15 win over Dragons and thus host Scottish side Edinburgh, while the Sharks ground out a 12-3 win over Scarlets to move up to third and will host Irish giants Munster in their quarterfinal.

The Stormers cruised to a 34-24 win over Cardiff which secured them fifth place, and lined them up with a repeat quarterfinal match-up with defending champions, Glasgow Warriors, in Scotland, while the other last eight tie sees favourites Leinster host Scarlets.

Fantastic pool campaign

For the Bulls they will be ecstatic after a fantastic pool campaign saw them finish comfortably second, six points ahead of the Sharks and eight points behind log leaders Leinster.

They come up against Edinburgh, who they beat 22-16 at Loftus in their first game of the season, in what should be an entertaining clash.

The Scottish side clawed their way into the playoffs with bonus point wins in their last two games, including a 47-17 win over Benetton this past weekend which lifted them from 10^th to seventh.

After the Dragons win Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White acknowledged their impressive season to date, but admitted that they will only be judged on their next three games.

“That’s the highest amount of points and most wins that we have had in a URC season. There are a lot of positives for us. Tries are up there, defensively we’re much better than we have been for the last four years. So job done,” said White.

“First thing I have always said is we need to get into the playoffs and we’ve done that. We’ve finished second which means we are in a very fortunate position (heading into the knockouts). But I’ve said it before, you get judged on the next three games.

“That’s when you want to be at your best. The last three games of every competition are the ones you want to win. Quarterfinal, semifinal and final. World Cups, Junior World Cups, URC, Super Rugby, that’s when you need to bring out your best.”

Sharks improvement

The Sharks will need to improve if they want to ensure a place in the semis, after they were pushed hard by Scarlets in a scrappy game of no tries, before they eked out a win, with a penalty after the hooter sealing the result.

Although they have managed to consistently win this season, with 13 out of 18 in the pool phase, many of them have been close and they face a tough opponent in Munster who have enjoyed good results in SA in the competition.

But one of the Sharks best results of the season was their 41-24 win over the Irish side in October last year, and they will hope for a similar performance against them in the knockouts.

The Stormers face the toughest challenge with a repeat of last year’s quarterfinal, where they were beaten 27-10 by the Scottish side, on their way to the title.

But where they could get a leg up is on current form, as they head into the playoffs with plenty of momentum thanks to four straight wins, while Glasgow will have to pick themselves up after suffering three straight defeats to end their pool phase.

URC quarterfinals

Friday May 30

Glasgow Warriors v Stormers at the Scotstoun Stadium – Kick-off 8:35pm

Saturday May 31

Bulls v Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld – Kick-off 1:30pm

Leinster v Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium – Kick-off 4pm

Sharks v Munster at Kings Park – Kick-off 6:30pm