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The Lions and Stormers are on course to join the Vodacom Bulls and Sharks in the URC playoffs as the competition pauses for a week after round 16.
All four South African teams were victorious, the Bulls and Sharks going unbeaten 2-2 on tour to cement their top-four spots, while the Stormers went back-to-back in as many weeks in the Republic.
The Lions delivered on their promise to fight back strongly after five successive defeats in the URC and EPCR Challenge Cup, outplaying Connacht 26-7 at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The result keeps the Pride in the race to the final eight, although Ivan van Rooyen’s men trail the eighth-placed Benetton by six points with two rounds left of the league stages.
Later, the Stormers thrashed Benetton 56-5 at Cape Town Stadium, before John Plumtree’s Sharks then made it four wins out of four as the Durbanites produced a second-half comeback to edge Ulster 22-19 in Belfast.
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The Bulls took the field first on Friday night, and despite being outscored three tries to two, secured a 26-19 victory against defending champions, Glasgow Warriors in Scotland.
These results saw the Bulls complete round 16 in third place on the log (58 points) – one behind Glasgow – followed by the Sharks in fourth (53 pts) and sixth-placed Stormers (45 pts). The Lions are in 13th position (35 pts).
Victory in Belfast sees the Sharks join the Bulls, Glasgow and log-leaders Leinster (who lost only their second match of the campaign at Scarlets on Saturday) in the playoffs.
The Stormers and Lions are among 10 teams in with a chance of claiming one of the remaining four slots. Those sides, from the fifth-placed Cardiff to Connacht in 14th, are separated by 11 points.
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The URC takes a break to make way for the semi-finals of the Investec Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, with Leinster and Edinburgh representing the league in those EPCR competitions.
Then it’s back for round 17 on the weekend of 9-11 May, and the action resumes with the Sharks against Ospreys at Kings Park.
The Durbanites won 25-10 the last time the teams met in KZN, but have lost twice to the Welsh outfit since 2021-22, including a 19-5 defeat in London last season.
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The Bulls will be confident against Cardiff at Loftus Versfeld, having beaten the Welshmen 45–9 in Pretoria in 2023, and edged them 18–12 at Arms Park last term.
The Stormers welcome Dragons to Cape Town Stadium for the first time, eager to build on wins over the visitors in Gqeberha and Newport after an early stumble in Wales three seasons ago.
And finally, the Lions host Scarlets at Ellis Park, chasing a third straight victory against the men from Llanelli.
Round 16 results:
Zebre 25-25 Edinburgh
Cardiff 26-21 Munster
Glasgow 19-26 Bulls
Lions 26-7 Connacht
Ospreys 57-24 Dragons
Stormers 56-5 Benetton
Scarlets 35-22 Leinster
Ulster 19-22 Sharks
Round 17 fixtures:
Friday, 9 May
Sharks vs Ospreys (7pm)
Munster vs Ulster (8:35pm)
Saturday, 10 May
Bulls vs Cardiff (4pm)
Benetton vs Glasgow (6:15pm)
Stormers vs Dragons (6:15pm)
Leinster vs Zebre (6:15pm)
Connacht vs Edinburgh (8:35pm)
Sunday, 11 May
Lions vs Scarlets (3pm)
Photo: @SharksRugby/Twitter
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