The Lions were able to celebrate securing a first appearance in the United Rugby Championship (URC) playoffs over the weekend, after finishing in the top eight at the end of the pool phase along with the Stormers and Bulls.
Despite going down 24-17 to Munster in Limerick on Saturday, the Lions’ spot was already safe thanks to Glasgow Warriors’ win over Ulster on Friday night, and the losing bonus point picked up saw them finish seventh, which also made sure of their place in next season’s Champions Cup.
It is a huge achievement for the Johannesburg side after four seasons of disappointment, and they will face a massive challenge in their quarterfinal against defending champions Leinster in Dublin next weekend.
“Obviously, it has always been a goal from the beginning (to make the URC playoffs). I think we’ve gradually been getting better (every season),” said proud Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen.
“It has been such a long season with so many challenges and ups and downs. So to come at the end of the normal season and be in the top eight is obviously a proud moment for us. Hopefully, we can keep on building momentum and just keep on getting better.”
Stormers disappointed
For the Stormers, they will head back to South Africa disappointed after their two-game tour to end the competition’s pool phase after their draw against Ulster, and 22-16 loss against Cardiff in Wales on Friday night saw them slip from top of the log to third.
They will still host a quarterfinal against Cardiff in Cape Town, where they will hope to make things right, but if the top two sides, Glasgow Warriors and Leinster progress in the competition, they won’t have another home knockout even if they get past the Welsh side.
The Bulls continued their strong finish to the URC pool phase with a big 45-19 win over Benetton at Loftus on Saturday, which secured them a home playoff.
It is a great achievement for the Pretoria side, and backed up their 54-19 win over Zebre a week earlier, while it was also their fifth straight URC win, which lifted them from outside of the playoff places all the way up into the top four.
They will take on Munster in what should be a cracking quarterfinal match-up, and coach Johan Ackermann admitted that they still needed to improve ahead of the knockouts.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done. There were soft moments and small mistakes that compounded pressure on ourselves. Those are the things we have to fix,” said Ackermann about their performances against the two Italian teams.
The Sharks, despite a 54-19 win against Zebre in their final game, finished 10th on the log and out of the playoff places.
URC quarterfinals lineup
Friday 29th May
Glasgow Warriors v Connacht at the Scotstoun Stadium – Kick-off 8:45pm
Saturday 30th May
Bulls v Munster at Loftus Versfeld – Kick-off 1pm
Stormers v Cardiff at the Cape Town Stadium – Kick-off 3:30pm
Leinster v Lions at the Aviva Stadium – Kick-off 9pm
