URC goes ‘back to school’ with Origins Rounds
United Rugby Championship teams will be sporting their school or club colours in a unique start to the second half of the competition this weekend, in the first of two special Origin Rounds rounds where the players’ rugby roots will be remembered and celebrated.
Rounds 10 and 11 of the inter-hemisphere showpiece will be dedicated to unearthing, showcasing, and celebrating the diverse backgrounds and locations of the RC playing group, with the players set to wear their school or club socks, while fans attending the games are also encouraged to wear school or club jerseys or socks.
SA fans will be glued to their screens for two enthralling local derbies tomorrow between the Lions and Bulls in Johannesburg and the Sharks and Stormers in Durban.
This will mark the second successive time that the teams line up against one another — albeit at different venues — after also meeting in round nine.
The Lions will enter their Gauteng Derby against the Bulls at Emirates Airline Park determined to make up for their heartbreaking 30-28 defeat in their last encounter in Pretoria and to alleviate the pressure on themselves to hop into the top eight, especially since every match will count now for playoff places.
The Joburg-based team is now in 10th place on the log with 24 points, trailing the ninth-placed Connacht only by points difference.
The Johannesburgers will also want to take full advantage of their homeground advantage and return to the form that earned them three victories in a row before succumbing to their Gauteng rivals in their last outing.
Two of those three victories were at home — against Zebre Parma and the Dragons respectively — while the other win was away against the Sharks in Durban.
With four wins in nine matches, Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen and his charges will know they have work to do to catch up with the pacesetters, and they will remain well within range with a victory this weekend.
The Bulls, in turn, are only four points behind log leaders Leinster on the standings and will be aware that a victory would keep them in the upper echelons of the table and keep the pressure on the Stormers at the top of the SA Shield, which is where they want to be as the competition picks up pace.
With the Lions having come so close to a possible victory against the Bulls last month, and only trailing their counterparts by six log points — while they also boast an impressive eight bonus points in nine matches — they will be highly motivated to make amends for the Loftus Versfeld disappointment.
The Coastal Derby between the Sharks and Stormers in Durban also has all the ingredients for a mouth-watering clash after the Capetonians snuck through by a single point at home in their last match — this despite the KwaZulu-Natalians being at the foot of the log with nine points in as many matches.
The Sharks’ success in the Challenge Cup up to now, where they topped their pool to host Zebre Parma in their round of 16 match after three wins in four matches, will also boost their confidence.
They will be wary of the pressure on the Capetonians who are in seventh place on the URC standings — with their place in the top eight being by only two points, though they will take comfort that they are only eight points behind Leinster — meaning a victory could nudge them into a more comfortable position among the front-runners.
The Sharks, however, will have to deliver a similarly strong and determined performance to their last URC showing against their Cape counterparts to keep alive their hopes of gliding up the log.
SA fixtures:
Saturday: Lions v Bulls, 3pm; Sharks v Stormers, 5.05pm. SA Rugby — Communications