URC

Leinster Academy pair Brian Deeny and John McKee are set to make their debuts for the province in the Durban clash against Sharks tomorrow with Deeny named ...

“Key for us at this stage of the competition is to do well in our upcoming two games at home before we play Dragons away in our final fixture next month.” It's Byrne's first appearance since picking up an injury against Benetton in early March. “The big thing for us now is to bounce back and it all starts with Connacht on Saturday,” a determined Laubscher commented. Earlier this week, backline, attack and skills mentor, Ricardo Laubscher emphasized the need for his group of players to bounce back in what is his team’s penultimate home game in the competition. In the front row there are starts for props Denis Buckley and Jack Aungier alongside hooker Dave Heffernan, while there’s a new-look second row of Oisín Dowling and Niall Murray. The final change sees the return of Paul Boyle at number eight, while Jarrad Butler and Cian Prendergast are on the flanks. Leinster Academy pair Brian Deeny and John McKee are set to make their debuts for the province in the Durban clash against Sharks tomorrow with Deeny named at lock while McKee is selected on the bench.

The pressure will rise significantly for the four South African teams in the United Rugby Championship this weekend.

TV: SuperSport They have only lost once against a team from South Africa away from home since 2017, meaning it could be a tight tussle. Both teams harbour slim hopes of sneaking into the top eight on the table in the next few weeks, and with everything to gain, neither team is expected to give an inch.

High-profile Springboks feature as Sharks know win would enhance playoff prospects.

It’s a long list of requirements for a team that is short on experience and on the understanding that comes from playing together. Chris Cosgrave makes his first start for the province in his second cap at fullback while Jamie Osborne and Ciaran Frawley form a centre partnership. Wexford’s Brian Deeny, a former Ireland Under-20 international, will make his debut alongside Jack Dunne in the secondrow.

Leo Cullen's side will take on Cell C Sharks in Durban on Saturday [Kick-off, 5.15pm Irish time -- TG4, Premier Sports and URC TV], where Brian Deeny and John ...

Tommy O’Brien has been named to start on the right wing with Rory O’Loughlin on the left. Deeny, who has played for Wexford Wanderers and Clontarf, has also featured for the Irish U20 side and has been selected to start in the second row. Elsewhere, Chris Cosgrave has been selected at full-back, making his first start for the province. Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher and Thomas Clarkson make up the front row while Deeny is joined by Jack Dunne in the second row. Belfast native McKee, who has been named on the bench, captained Campbell College to an Ulster Schools Cup in 2018 before moving to UCD. He has also captained Ireland at underage level and currently plays with Old Belvedere. Leo Cullen’s side will take on Cell C Sharks in Durban on Saturday [Kick-off, 5.15pm Irish time -- TG4, Premier Sports and URC TV], where Brian Deeny and John McKee are set to make their debuts.

Perhaps the best way to sum up Leinster, who start their Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour of South Africa against the Cell C Sharks in Durban on ...

The Stormers produced a scintillating second half to completely dominate their URC match against Glasgow Warriors.

First from a poor clearance in the 53rd minute Gelant put Dayimani into a gap, with him offloading to scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies to score, followed by Gelant feeding Dayimani in the 22m and him finding left wing Leolin Zas to go over, which put them into a 25-7 lead. Glasgow were not interested in going for posts, choosing the line out a couple of times and after some good play on the Stormers line, eighthman Jack Dempsey forced his way over, with flyhalf Ross Thompson adding the extras. The Stormers put in a top performance to cruise to a 32-7 (halftime 13-7) bonus point win over the Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship match at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday night.

The Stormers outclassed the Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at the Cape Town Stadium.

They had another golden opportunity to score under the posts two minutes later after some fantastic team play and good running lines, but a knock-on denied them. The Stormers outclassed the Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at the Cape Town Stadium. Photo: SA Rugby website The Stormers outclassed the Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at the Cape Town Stadium. Photo: SA Rugby website

The Stormers have taken a significant step towards hosting a United Rugby Championship quarter-final, beating Glasgow Warriors at Cape Town Stadium.

There was almost another try, too, as the Stormers resorted to basketball passing, skips and audacious offloads on their way to the line. There was nothing pretty about it as the Warriors bashed away, and eventually it was No 8 Jack Demspey who crashed over from close range. It stayed that way for long enough for the match to be over as a contest long before the final whistle sounded, and by the end there was only one team playing rugby. Libbok dropped the ball when the try was potentially on, but the Stormers had the advantage and he knocked over the resulting penalty from point blank range to give his side a 13-7 lead going into the break. The match saw former Stormers prop Oli Kebble return to the Cape, and there was a roar from the home crowd when Steven Kitshoff, Scarra Ntubeni and Frans Malherbe combined to obliterate the highly-rated Glasgow front row to win the first penalty of the game on 5 minutes. It was far from polished for the Stormers - their lineouts did not function accurately and there were too many missed tackles - but this was another showing of this side's attacking arsenal and their ability to hurt sides from anywhere.

Glasgow fell behind the Stormers in the race for a home United Rugby Championship quarter-final as they suffered a 32-7 defeat in Cape Town.

Libbok made it 10-7 from the tee and added a penalty after a subsequent onslaught failed to deliver a second try. The visitors had lost winger Kyle Steyn to injury four minutes earlier and saw their lead reduced to four points when Libbok opened his account shortly after the half-hour, before an excellent try had the hosts in front. Glasgow fall behind Stormers in bid for home URC quarter-final following defeat

Rikus Pretorius, Herschel Jantjies, Leolin Zas and Evan Roos went over for the Stormers, while Manie Libbok kicked 12 points.

Glasgow lost Josh McKay to the sin bin 12 minutes from time to end any lingering hopes of a Warriors fightback, and Roos powered over for the bonus point in the final minute, with Libbok adding the conversion. Pretorius, who came off worse after making a crunching tackle in the first half, did not emerge for the second and Scarra Ntubeni followed him to the treatment room after pulling up with an apparent calf issue. Libbok made it 10-7 from the tee and added a penalty after a subsequent onslaught failed to deliver a second try.

Junior Pokomela of the Stormers tries to get away from Glasgow Warriors players during their United Rugby Championship match at Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town ...

When the ball emerged they did not seem to go anywhere before Willemse's flat run invited a teammate's fast and direct approach. For much of the first half the Stormers were devoid of continuity but to be fair both teams stunted the other's momentum. The Stormers weren't making much headway in the first half-hour.

Munster: Mike Haley; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Shane Daly; Joey Carbery, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron, Stephen Archer; ...

More significant was the belated introduction of Ian Madigan, with Lowry reverting to fullback, which sparked Ulster into life and gave their game width. Jaco Pweypur then wrongly adjudged flat pass by Earls to Farrell was forward, and followed that up with three penalties in a row as Ulster went to their maul again. Munster were knocking on the door of a third try soon after the resumption when Earls earned a penalty from Casey’s clever kick in behind and Ulster needed a pick-me-up. Stuart McCloskey provided it, picking off Carbery’s cross-kick inside the Munster half one-handed and grubbering in behind, Ulster then tapping a penalty into the corner and their maul rumbling for Rob Herring to score. Ulster’s only route to the try line was their maul. Suddenly, their season is alive with possibilities.

Oh dear. A third straight loss in the United Rugby Championship and, throwing in Europe, their fourth defeat in five games leaves Ulster looking badly ...

Cooney converted and Ulster trailed by eight. And things didn’t get much better after Stewart Moore was pinged for holding on after Casey’s grubber was nearly snaffled by Daly with the line open. UIster looked flat and disjointed, only playing in flashes which certainly added fuel to the well-thumbed theory that crashing out of Europe last weekend has left its mark. It looked another blow for the home side. This was the moment from which they had to deliver and duly did, the take by Carter the prelude to a driving maul from which Rob Herring did the needful. From the penalty, Munster went to the corner but thankfully for Ulster they made a mess of the throw though a knock-on by the home team resulted in a scrum.