Keo & Zels: URC Playoff race heats up!

Photo: @SharksRugby/Twitter

Published on 27th March 2025 | Leave a response

The Bulls and Sharks may be in the top four, but after narrow escapes last weekend, there’s no cruising yet. The Stormers are stuck in the midfield pile-up and can’t afford to slip up. The Lions are hanging on by a thread — every point counts now. With five rounds left, the playoff race is officially on. Here’s your weekend preview:

United Rugby Championship

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Ulster vs Stormers (Friday, 9.35pm, Belfast)

ULSTER– 15. M Lowry, 14. R Baloucoune, 13. J Hume, 12. S McCloskey, 11. J Stockdale, 10. J Murphy, 9. J Cooney, 8. D McCann, 7. N Timoney, 6. Matty Rea, 5. K Treadwell, 4. A O’Connor (captain), 3. T O’Toole, 2. R Herring, 1. A Warwick.

Bench: 16. T Stewart, 17. C Reid, 18. S Wilson, 19. H Sheridan, 20. J McNabney, 21. N Doak, 22. B Carson, 23. Z Ward.

STORMERS – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Neethling Fouche (c), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Bench: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Jurie Matthee, 23 Wandisile Simelane.

Bulls vs Zebre (Saturday, 2.45pm, Pretoria)

Bulls – 15. Devon Williams, 14. Sergeal Petersen, 13. David Kriel, 12. Harold Vorster, 11. Stravino Jacobs, 10. Keagan Johannes, 9. Zak Burger, 8. Celimpilo Gumede, 7. Jannes Kirsten, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 5. JF van Heerden, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 3. Mornay Smith, 2. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1. Alulutho Tshakweni.
Bench: 16. Simphiwe Matanzima, 17. Akker van der Merwe, 18. Wilco Louw, 19. Ruan Nortje, 20. Marco van Staden, 21. Nizaam Carr, 22. Embrose Papier, 23. Boeta Chamberlain.

Zebre – 15. Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14. Jacopo Trulla, 13. Fetuli Paea, 12. Enrico Lucchin, 11. Alessandro Gesi, 10. Giovanni Montemauri, 9. Alessandro Fusco, 8. Davide Ruggeri, 7. Iacopo Bianchi, 6. Guido Volpi, 5. Leonard Krumov, 4. Matteo Canali, 3. Muhamed Hasa, 2. Luca Bigi (captain), 1. Luca Rizzoli.
Bench: 16. Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17. Paolo Buonfiglio, 18. Juan Pitinari, 19. Francesco Ruffolo, 20. Bautista Stavile, 21. Ratko Jelic, 22. Giacomo Da Re, 23. Filippo Drago.

Sharks vs Leinster (Saturday, 7.15pm, Durban)

SHARKS – 15 Yaw Penxe, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10, Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Bench: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Manu Tshituka, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Francois Venter.

Leinster – 15. Jimmy O’Brien, 14. Tommy O’Brien, 13. Liam Turner, 12. Charlie Tector, 11. Andrew Osborne, 10. Ciarán Frawley, 9. Fintan Gunne, 8. Max Deegan (captain), 7. Will Connors, 6. Alex Soroka, 5. Brian Deeny, 4. Diarmuid Mangan, 3. Thomas Clarkson, 2. John McKee, 1. Cian Healy.
Bench: 16. Lee Barron, 17. Michael Milne, 18. Rory McGuire, 19. Alan Spicer, 20. Scott Penny, 21. Oliver Coffey, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Henry McErlean.

Glasgow Warriors vs Lions (Saturday, 9.35pm, Glasgow)

Glasgow – 15. Kyle Rowe, 14. Jamie Dobie, 13. Stafford McDowall, 12. Tom Jordan, 11. Kyle Steyn (captain), 10. Adam Hastings, 9. George Horne, 8. Jack Mann, 7. Sione Vailanu, 6. Euan Ferrie, 5. JP du Preez, 4. Gregor Brown, 3. Sam Talakai, 2. Grant Stewart, 1. Nathan McBeth.
Bench: 16. Johnny Matthews, 17. Rory Sutherland, 18. Zander Fagerson, 19. Alex Samuel, 20. Henco Venter, 21. Rory Darge, 22. Ben Afshar, 23. Sebastian Cancelliere.

Lions – 15. Quan Horn, 14. Richard Kriel, 13. Manuel Rass, 12. Marius Louw, 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 10. Gianni Lombard, 9. Nico Steyn, 8. Francke Horn (c), 7. Ruan Venter, 6. JC Pretorius, 5. Darrien Landsberg, 4. Ruben Schoeman, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2. PJ Botha, 1. Juan Schoeman.
Bench: 16. Franco Marais, 17. SJ Kotze, 18. RF Schoeman, 19. Ruan Delport, 20. Siba Qoma, 21. Layton Horn, 22. Jarod Cairns, 23. Rynhardt Jonker.

Our Thursday show is all about the Investec Champions Cup!