We are now half way through the URC season; some fans are delighted, some are devastated, but most are just plain confused. Let’s try and make sense of at least some of it in this week’s 5 things…
Roos (38'), Mchunu (78')
Tries
Pollard (30')
Feinberg-Mngomezulu (33')
Penalties
Pollard (43')
We are now half way through the URC season; some fans are delighted, some are devastated, but most are just plain confused. Let’s try and make sense of at least some of it in this week’s 5 things…
The North/South derby between Stormers and Bulls is one of the biggest games of club rugby anywhere in the world. This year, a fair proportion of the 53,000 South Africans who piled into Cape Town stadium would have been expecting a one-sided blow-out; an assumption based on the hosts being unbeaten in all competitions this season whilst the visitors have dropped from title contenders to mid table and have just had a clear out of assistant coaches.
However, as the saying goes, form goes out of the window when it comes to derbies. A cagey and brutally physical game was just 8-8 going into the final five minutes as a litany of errors from both sides meant the contest was mostly limited to a pitched battle at set piece time, but few fireworks in open play. Eventually, the home side were able to unleash their maul – which is statistically the best in the world this season – to secure the winning score.
Despite the closeness of the scoreboard, the underlying numbers suggest the Stormers were worthy winners of this game. They won both the territorial and possession battles, made more 22 entries, beat more defenders and made more offloads. On another day, these stats should have yielded at lead 20 points and probably have would were it not for a horrendous pass late on blowing a 5 man overlap.
The most telling stats, however, are in the physicality stakes. The Stormers made just 72 tackles in this game, yet 12 were dominant hits (17%). They forced the Bulls to drop the ball with 5 of their tackles, and limited them to just 1.5 post contact metres per carry. By contrast, the Bulls made just 10% dominant hits and allowed the Stormers 2.3 post contact metres per carry. Once Wilco Louw came off and Ruan Nortje began to tire, Jeandre Rudolph alone was not enough to hold back the tide of blue and white hoops.
The Ospreys have bolstered their season considerably since we entered the winter months. Ahead of the November internationals, the Bridgend based team have just 1 win – an unconvincing 3 try victory over a heavily rotated Zebre. Since the start of December, however, they have won 4 of a possible 5 matches in all competitions and 3 of their next 4 games are at home.
A winter purple patch is something of a tradition for the Ospreys; in the last 5 seasons, they have just a URC 43% win rate overall but they have won 59% of all games played in December and January, and 15 of their last 20! Clearly, the cold weather and muddy pitches suits them… so much so we’ll their dubious claims of sell-outs for now!
Ulster have had a massive upturn in fortunes this season. Rewind 12 months, they were playing terribly and delivering some atrocious results. Now, with a bit of luck with injuries and a bolstered coaching ticket, they are 6 from 8 in the league and are the top ranked Irish provinces, having leapfrogged Munster thanks to a superb 2nd half display at a snowy, sold-out night in Belfast.
To the fore in this game was the excellent Werner Kok - who was greeted with muted expectations when he signed from the Sharks but is rapidly becoming a cult icon – and the superb Ward brothers who totally outplayed their opposition. Older brother Zac, in particular, had a stormer on the wing. Surely the in-form player (who is a physical behemoth) has forced his way into Andy Farrell’s plans?
It’s easy to forget that the Lions started this URC season dreadfully. They came into it following yet another gut-wrenching Currie Cup final defeat and lost all three of their northern tour games comfortably. Now though, since their return to South Africa, they are 3 form their last 4 – and that 1 loss was a single score defeat to runaway league leaders the Stormers.
Their victory away to the Sharks – a side full of their former players – was an entertaining affair with the victors showcasing their exhilarating offloading and counter attacking prowess. On paper, very few of the Lions player would get into that star-studded Sharks team, but even down to 14 men they showed tremendous heart to fight back with a late score from Springbok U20s sensation Haashim Pead.
Let’s say it together: the Dragons have won 3 of their last 4 games and picked up a losing bonus point in the other. They always said a win would open the floodgates – and they were right! By the end of their New Year’s Day fixture against the Scarlets, the confidence was dripping off them. The crowd and players were feeding off each other’s energy as the previous 12 months of pain were washed away.
For the visiting Scarlets the slump is now a crisis. The performance was abject from the men in red with the attack not only being toothless but incredibly dull to watch. As sson as the Dragons scored their 3rd try on 48 minutes, everyone know the game was gone. Head coach Dwayne Peel is now running out of patience with even the most good natured supporters…
