URC

The massive rivalry between the Stormers and Bulls is set to light up the United Rugby Championship fixtures this weekend.

This rivalry is back and we are really excited.” It is clear how important this game is for the Bulls in how they have rested their main team during the Champions Cup games, and it is also extremely important to us. “This fixture is brilliant for South African rugby, we all feel.

The return of Ruan Nortje is one of several changes to the Bulls team for their URC clash against the Stormers in Cape Town on Friday.

It was obviously tough to lose in the final but we have put the past behind us and have had an exciting week as we build up to the match because the north-versus-south derby is always massive, for all of us.” ALSO READ:

It is the maul that Bulls coach Jake White has also highlighted as one of the Stormers' chief weapons.

It is a big factor in the game, and the Bulls have a good maul. “There will be opportunities both ways at the breakdowns. Then they get the ball out of the back with their momentum,” Kitshoff said. We are up for the challenge, and looking forward to dishing it out as well.” It flies in the face of a perceived weak Bulls scrum, and it was no doubt strategic from Strauss as the Stormers are loaded with an all-Springbok front row of Steven Kitshoff, Joseph Dweba and Frans Malherbe for tonight’s clash at Cape Town Stadium (7.15pm kick-off). But it is the maul that Bulls coach Jake White has also highlighted as one of the Capetonians’ chief weapons.

The circumstances were unique as rugby rocked Cape Town just two days before Christmas, but the brutal battle between the Stormers and the Bulls on Friday ...

That optimism was effectively dashed when Libbok kicked a 40m penalty, taking it out to 37-20. It ended with the highly-rated Hartzenberg scoring, but this was a team try of the highest order. The fourth try was equally impressive. It was about to get worse for them, too. They responded perfectly, holding onto the ball for several phases of attack. Goosen knocked over a quality conversion as Damian Willemse was lost momentarily to a head knock, and in the 38th minute the Bulls were bashing away at the line again after a couple of Stormers penalties.

Andrew Porter will win his 100th cap for Leinster in their BKT United Rugby Championship interpro clash with Munster on St Stephen's Day.

Kilcoyne makes his first start since October and joins Niall Scannell and John Ryan in the front row with Jean Kleyn and Tadhg Beirne in the engine room. Listen to live commentary of Munster v Leinster (26 December, 7.35pm) and Connacht v Ulster (23 December, 7.35pm) on RTÉ Radio 1, or follow our live blogs on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Jack Crowley and Antoine Frisch continue their centre partnership with Conor Murray and Joey Carbery in the half-backs. Ross Byrne starts at fly-half, and is joined at scrum-half by Nick McCarthy, who makes his first start of the season. [that defeated Northampton ](https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2022/1218/1342572-coombes-on-the-double-as-munster-keep-northampton-out/)in the Champions Cup. Garry Ringrose captains the team once more, and is partnered in the centre by Jamie Osborne for the second time this season.

John McKee, Michael Milne, Vakh Abdaladze, Harry Byrne and Liam Turner all come into the match day 23 on the bench. The game will mark Andrew Porter's 100th ...

The game will mark Andrew Porter’s 100th appearance for Leinster and the side will again be led by the tireless (or overplayed?) Garry Ringrose. Such have been Munster’s need for wins since Ireland’s November series and the demands of this fixture that the vast bulk are playing their fifth game in a row. John McKee, Michael Milne, Vakh Abdaladze, Harry Byrne and Liam Turner all come into the match day 23 on the bench.

The Stormers ran in four tries to beat the Bulls' 37-27 victory in a replay of last season's URC final, while the Sharks defeated the Lions 37-10.

Cronje came off the bench to slot a long-range penalty with his first action in the match. His try was converted by Cronje in what would be the final change to the scoreboard. Lions full-back Andries Coetzee had a kick charged down by Chamberlain, and Janse van Rensburg was quickest to react as he collected the ball and offloaded to Grant Williams. A cut-out ball from Bosch to Rohan Janse van Rensburg saw the centre brush off the two Jaden Hendrikse took a drop goal attempt at the conversion, which he missed, as the Sharks opened up a 20-point lead. Bosch added the extras to give the home side a 7-0 lead after 10 minutes. Despite being down a man for half of the opening 40 minutes, the Bulls managed to go into the interval all square after Goosen slotted a penalty from right out in front. A successful penalty goal pushed the Cape side back into a 17-point lead and stalled any chance of a late comeback from the Bulls. The visitors did manage a consolation try as a brilliant penalty kick from Chris Smith gave them a lineout 5m from the tryline. Libbok tore through the Bulls’ defence for the third try before throwing a long pass out to Leolin Zas. For his actions, he was yellow-carded, and the hosts were awarded a penalty try. The Bulls’ discipline cost them in the match’s opening stages, with two soft penalties giving the hosts a 6-0 lead.

The 2022/23 United Rugby Championship season continues with Round 10's action and includes the highly anticipated derby between Munster and Leinster at ...

The teams: Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Griffin Colby (South Africa) Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa), Paul Mente (South Africa)

Munster make two changes from the win over Northampton while Leinster's Jordan Larmour makes his first start since October.

With [Laya Healthcare](https://www.layahealthcare.ie/), official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby. In the second row, Ryan Baird and Joe McCarthy start together for the first time. Porter wins his 100th cap in the front row, with Dan Sheehan returning at hooker and Cian Healy named at tighthead. Ross Byrne starts at out-half, with Nick McCarthy handed a first start of the season at scrum-half – there is no place in the squad for Ireland international half-backs Johnny Sexton and Jamison Gibson-Park. In the half-backs, Conor Murray and Joey Carbery start together for the second game running. Kilcoyne comes into the Munster frontrow to make his first start since October, where he is joined by hooker Niall Scannell and John Ryan, with Jean Kleyn and Tadhg Beirne named in the second row. Larmour joins fellow Ireland internationals Hugo Keenan and James Lowe in the back three. On the Munster bench, Kiran McDonald could win his URC debut, having featured in the win over South Africa A at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last month. Peter O’Mahony captains the side from the backrow, alongside Jack O’Donoghue and Gavin Coombes. Meanwhile Leinster will hand Jordan Larmour his first start since October in a game that will also see Andrew Porter win his 100th cap for the province. Daly comes into the Munster team at fullback, with Calvin Nash and Keith Earls continuing on the wings, while Jack Crowley and Antoine Frisch also continue their centre partnership. Fresh from their Champions Cup win in Northampton last Sunday, Munster boss Graham Rowntree has made two changes to his starting team as Shane Daly and Dave Kilcoyne come into the side, with Jeremy Loughman, Mike Haley and John Hodnett all missing out through injury.

A flurry of three successive tries saw the DHL Stormers floor the Vodacom Bulls to earn a bonus-point victory in the first north-south derby of the season ...

His score was immediately followed up by one of the tries of the season, when Libbok, Damian Willemse and Angelo Davids all combined to put Hartzenberg over. [December 23, 2022] Tries from hooker Joseph Dweba, centre Suleiman Hartzenberg and wing Leolin Zas steered the Stormers to a 37-27 victory against the Bulls in what was a rematch of the inaugural URC final.

With the match finely balanced early in the second half, the Stormers produced a thrilling passage of play by registering three touchdowns to take the game ...

[@Vodacom] [#URC] Conversions: Johan Goosen (2), Chris Smith (1). Penalties: Libbok (3). Conversions: Manie Libbok (3). [@THESTORMERS]get a bonus point victory against the [@Vodacom] [@BlueBullsRugby]in an epic encounter in Cape Town 🔥 [#STOvBUL] Jake White thinks so](/sport/rugby/urc/can-bulls-kurt-lee-arendse-canan-moodie-leave-stormers-defenders-in-their-wake-jake-white-thinks-so-62abdc45-0a9f-4cc0-917d-469e2fc38fff) [Jones won’t turn down a good offer but taking a breather for now](/sport/rugby/international/eddie-jones-wont-turn-down-a-good-offer-but-taking-a-breather-for-now-d1985fda-c002-4bad-964f-5e81879c1661) [It’s important to manage top players’ workloads, says Neil Powell after naming rotated team](/sport/rugby/urc/its-important-to-manage-top-players-workloads-says-neil-powell-after-naming-rotated-team-bc308db2-5776-42ff-a8fb-7d9092f1ec51) [Bulls have ‘moved on’ from URC final](/sport/rugby/urc/bulls-have-moved-on-from-urc-final-a928cdcd-5b25-4132-aab3-ed9a9220d7ca)

The Stormers hurdled the Bulls in to second place in the BKT United Rugby Championship with a 37-27 success in Cape Town.

[Leolin Zas](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/leolin-zas/) with a long pass. [Ben-Jason Dixon](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/ben-jason-dixon/), Libbok, [Damian Willemse](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/damian-willemse/) and [Angelo Davids](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/angelo-davids/) combined to send centre [Suleiman Hartzenberg](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/suleiman-hartzenberg/) racing over. [Nizaam Carr](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/nizaam-carr/) judged the bounce superbly to touch down. [Elrigh Louw](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/elrigh-louw/) collapsed a maul as the Stormers were awarded a penalty try. [Manie Libbok](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/manie-libbok/) penalties inside the opening 10 minutes. [Marco van Staden](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/marco-van-staden/) caught Dan du Plessis high and spent 10 minutes on the sidelines.

Bulls boss Jake White believes his team's “inexperience” was a big reason for their 37-27 defeat against the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship ...

“It was important, and for any team that plays away in these derby games, you want to get the win,” said White. “The Stormers are probably the most experienced coaching staff in the whole competition. “Western Province didn’t make the play-offs last year in the Currie Cup. I am the director of rugby. “It was one of those games. “That’s the only disappointing thing I can think of.

Springbok winger Makazole Mapimpi scored two tries as the Sharks feasted on the Lions in the United Rugby Championship on Friday.

“But we managed the game well in general and only conceded one try. “But it was another step in the right direction and we know where we can improve. But the home team then put their foot down in the final quarter and roared away to a five-try, bonus point victory.

Stormers overcame Bulls in Cape Town in a URC epic clash in front of 30 000 fans to make a statement & give their fans a Christmas gift.

So I am relieved and so proud of the boys in how they pitched up towards Christmas and put in such an amazing performance to get the win and bonus point,” said Kitshoff. So we just had to stick to the plan and I am just happy that the boys capitalised when the opportunities came.” But we knew with our conditioning and the way we wanted to play that the flood gates would open sooner than later. That’s the truth, but we put it right.” But those tries in the second half were sensational,” said Dobson. At halftime, we were disappointed.

Five takeaways from the South African derbies involving the Sharks, Lions, Stormers and Bulls in the United Rugby Championship on Friday.

The fact of the matter is that the Bulls are yet to beat John Dobson’s troops in the URC as they have lost all four of their games in this fixture since last season. The message was clear that he was targeting a win over the Stormers in Cape Town but things did not going according to plan and they eventually lost the clash against their arch rivals. The Stormers sealed their win early in the second half with three well-taken tries from Joseph Dweba, Suleiman Hartzenberg and Leolin Zas and Libbok was prominent in the build-up to the two latter tries. All those fixtures were played at their Ellis Park base in Johannesburg and they managed to score 30 points or more in all of the aforementioned encounters. Powell has done well since taking over the coaching reins as the team have won all four of their matches with him in charge – against the Ospreys, Harlequins, Bordeaux-Begles and the Lions. The latter two came on in the second half but, despite their introduction, the Sharks were dominating with several of their fringe players producing strong performances.

Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell says good squad management is going to be key for his side as they try to chase success in the United Rugby ...

“It’s very important for us to try to keep continuity in our team selection. “Whether you play in the Heineken Champions Cup or in the URC competition, we will always try to be successful.” “We had two good games in the EPCR competition [Champions Cup] and we would like to keep that momentum and flow.

The coastal franchise's came out on top in the South African derby matches in this weekend's URC check out the highlights here.

The half ended in dramatic fashion as Louw was tackled high as he tried to force his way over the try line, which saw Goosen slot a penalty goal to level the scores at 13 all. Siya Kolisi made his presence felt off the bench with a goose step and breakaway that almost resulted in a try as the Emirates Lions started to run out of steam. They set about correcting that with Bosch slotting a penalty goal at the start of the second half after his pack had steamrolled the visitors’ scrum. It encapsulated a scoreless second quarter in which the Cell C Sharks failed to take their opportunities. Penalty Goals: Goosen (2). The Cell C Sharks finally established the breathing room they’d fought for in the 57th minute. Conversions: Johan Goosen (2), Chris Smith. The Lions fed off one such mistake to open their account and defended manfully to weather a first half the hosts dominated. Conversions: Manie Libbok (3). For all the ball and territorial advantage (70%) the Cell C Sharks enjoyed, they would’ve been disappointed to only lead 12-7 at halftime. Mapimpi was in two minutes later, this time capitalising on a tackle bust and offload by Rohan Janse van Rensburg. Cell C Sharks 37 (12) – Tries: Makazole Mapimpi (2), Boeta Chamberlain, Grant Williams, Siya Kolisi.