The Hollywoodbets Sharks visit Ulster in Belfast while the Bulls travel to Glasgow for a rematch of last year’s Grand Final in round 16 of the URC.
Friday 25 April
Cardiff | Draw | Munster
Sixth-placed Cardiff wrapped up the Welsh Shield last week thanks to their big 36-19 win at Ospreys. Despite experiencing their fair share of off-field financial issues of late, Matt Sherratt’s boys did marvellously well to put those behind them but, with a two-game trip to the Republic ending off their regular season, victory over Munster this Friday could make or break their playoff ambitions.
Munster will be kicking themselves at not having finished off the Bulls at Thomond Park in round 15, with the 2023 champs having dropped to seventh on the standings and there will be nothing easy about fronting up to this Cardiff outfit in the Welsh capital given what’s on the line for the hosts.
Verdict: Cardiff on the board
Cardiff to grind out the result at the Arms Park.
Glasgow Warriors | Draw | Bulls
The game of the weekend takes place at the Scotstoun on Friday, in a rematch of last year’s title decider. There’s been very little to separate Warriors and the Bulls this season, with the defending champions sitting second on 58-log points and the latter just one place and four-points worse off. Both sides have won 11 matches, though Glasgow have crucially managed to secure more bonus points over the course of the campaign.
The Bulls are riding high after downing Munster in Limerick last week and have earned a reputation for winning crucial overseas games. That said, Franco Smith’s men, despite not being in their best form, are able to win ugly when they need to and have the pack and rolling maul required to match the visitors at the contact point.
Verdict: Glasgow on the board
Warriors to edge it at home.
Saturday 26 April
Lions | Draw | Connacht
The Lions’ poor 31-42 home loss to Benetton a week ago has all but put paid to their quarterfinal hopes. That result, their fifth defeat in a row in all competitions, has left Cash van Rooyen’s men stranded in 14th, a massive nine-points off the top eight with just three round robin games to go. They will surely get back to winning ways on Saturday, but it seems as though it will be too little too late in the bigger scheme of things.
Connacht, who’ve endured their own rotten run of form, as well as key coaching changes, have accumulated four-points more than the Joburgers to occupy 12th. They too will be hard-pressed to appear in the last eight from here, though they were impressive in an eventual five-point defeat in Cape Town last week and will be quietly confident on the highveld.
Verdict: Lions on the board
The Lions to hold off the challenge of the Irish outfit.
Ospreys | Draw | Dragons
Ospreys’ big home defeat to Cardiff last week sees them enter round 16 placed 13th, with the playoffs now likely out of sight. They entertain bottom-placed Dragons in Swansea here, a side that showed some encouraging moments against Scarlets in round 15 before ultimately going down. Considering the Newport team’s sole win of the URC season came in the reverse fixture against Ospreys in round one, they may fancy their chances at doing the double over their western rivals on Saturday.
Verdict: Ospreys
Ospreys to rebound from their defeat last week and avenge their September loss to Dragons.
Stormers | Draw | Benetton
In spite of their eventual win over Connacht in the Cape, Stormers boss John Dobson lamented the way his side managed the game and would have demanded a massive improvement this week with the season at its business end. They’re sitting precariously
in eighth but considering the form of the likes of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, should strengthen their quarterfinal aspirations against Benetton.
The fifth-placed Treviso club were sublime in downing the Lions in Joburg last week and will feel as confident as ever ahead of their trip to the west coast. With heavyweight clashes against Glasgow (home) and Munster (away) rounding out their regular season, coming away with anything in the way of log points will be huge.
Verdict: Stormers on the minus
The hosts to click into gear and pick up five-log points from this one.
Scarlets | Draw | Leinster
With away matches against the Lions and Hollywoodbets Sharks still to come for Dwayne Peel’s Scarlets, this week’s clash with Leinster holds even more importance. The Llanelli side are ninth, just two-points off the top eight but unfortunately for them they could find themselves dropping down even further after the weekend.
Verdict: Leinster on the board
Leinster to pick up their 15th win of the URC season at the Parc y Scarlets.
Zebre | Draw | Edinburgh
Zebre performed admirably at home against Warriors last week before ultimately going down 6-14 in a tightly-fought affair. With 27-log points to their name, already 12 more than they achieved in the entirety of last season, they can feel mighty proud of what they’ve accomplished so far.
Edinburgh are 11th after their one-point defeat to the Sharks in the previous round but will bring all kinds of aggression and physicality to the Sergio Lanfranchi given what’s still at stake for them this season.
Verdict: Edinburgh on the board
The Scottish team to power to victory.
Ulster | Draw | Hollywoodbets Sharks
Sitting three-points off the top eight in 10th, Ulster are yet another club with a crucial run-in ahead of them. Beaten 17-41 at Leinster last week, they simply must regain some kind of momentum with just three games to play.
The Makazole Mapimpi late show was enough to edge the Sharks past Edinburgh last week, but John Plumtree will be hoping his team can show more cohesion over the course of the full 80 when they travel to the Kingspan. And, with the likes of the recently returned Eben Etzebeth and Aphelele Fassi only set to get better with more minutes under the belt, they should do just that.
Verdict: Sharks on the board
The Durbanites to bank another important away win.
