Official United Rugby Championship thread

[Tichtheid]

That's our season over.

I think we will be stronger next year, we've had a new coach and a new way of playing this year. The back row will welcome back Jamie Ritchie and Bill Mata, Goosen will strengthen the back three.

Kinghorn is still very much a full back playing ten, he will improve.

Shiel needs game time, the zip in his pass is so obviously better than Pyrgos'


Good luck Stormers, I really enjoy having the Saffer teams in the competition, it has added a lot

[OomStruisbaai]

Nice to see the Stormers players cheering the Embra players off the field. That's what make rugby a great game

[OomStruisbaai]

Ole Ole Ole Ole! Proooooooooooovince! Ma se poes! Aweh my broer! Dinner eaten, beers quaffed. On the way to the stadium now!

Let me know how cold it is

Its not cold its voooooooookken lekker! Crowd filling up nicely. Handing my phone over to one of the responsible ladies in the party. Cos I lose phones like nobody's business. I might not remember the game tomorrow. I have 3 plastic glasses of watery beer to see me through to kick off. Sards, toiliets are a lot bette r thean Newlands boet. No piss smell.

Ma se hare, nou is jy n Stormer!!!!

[Blake]

Happy with the win, but Stormers still not looking like a championship team by any stretch. So many points left on the field. At least 3 tries butchered.

Lineout still a mess and maul defense was terrible. And then there was the kicking. JFC!!! We look amazing wil the ball in hand, so we decide to fucking kick everything to the Edinburgh back 3 who were all amazing in the air? What the actual fuck!?

Anyhoo, I’ll take a knockout win over a knockout loss and just hope we get some of this shit sorted before next week.

[OomStruisbaai]

Agree Blake. Stormers backline attack and defense is top notch. We don't need to kick.

Our bench made a huge difference but we can't do the 6/2 split.

Credit to the Embras pack. Their lineout is very good.

Ulster the favorites next weekend.

[FalseBayFC]

Scrappy but awesome win! Lekker crowd at the stadium. Not quite finals vibe but very festive. Off to Camps Bay for sushi and further revelry.

[OomStruisbaai]

Semis
Leinster vs Bulls RDS Arena in Dublin on Friday, June 10 – with kick-off at 19.35 (20.35 SA time).

Stormers vs Ulster . Saturday , June 11, Kick-off is set for 15.00 (14.00 UK & Ireland time).

[Masterji]

How does Willemse look at 12?

[Cartman]

How does Willemse look at 12?

Both ways before he decides not to pass

[OomStruisbaai]

Chilli,s blou movie

[assfly]

Well done Bulls, the better team and even before the match I felt they had better odds of going further in the competition.

It's gutting to lose by an injury time drop kick, but overall I'm happy that in our first season of URC we were only 4 points away from a semi-final. We've done well considering we've played pretty average all season. We've got some great youngsters coming through, and with a new coach and new signings coming through, hopefully that's enough to see us go for some silverware.

There is also part of me that's pleased we don't have to travel to Dublin to get pumped by Leinster. So good luck Bulls!

[FalseBayFC]

What a great night out at the Cape Town stadium. Awesome to be part of a huge crowd for the first time in ages. The Stormers turned up and were maybe a bit anxious. The Edinburgh team were quality too. Big strong pack and great defence.

Roos is an absolute animal. After watching the two games this morning I remain convinced that Roos is a proper 8 and Elrigh a blindside flanker. Libbok, Zas, Dayamani, Xaba and Gelant contribute so much x-factor to the team. From the Bulls, the story of Canan Moodie continues to grow. The oke is still a teenager too! Phepsi played well but I still feel he's an openside and not a no.8. Curwin was OK but time for him to move on.

[lemonhead]

What a great night out at the Cape Town stadium. Awesome to be part of a huge crowd for the first time in ages. The Stormers turned up and were maybe a bit anxious. The Edinburgh team were quality too. Big strong pack and great defence.

Roos is an absolute animal. After watching the two games this morning I remain convinced that Roos is a proper 8 and Elrigh a blindside flanker. Libbok, Zas, Dayamani, Xaba and Gelant contribute so much x-factor to the team. From the Bulls, the story of Canan Moodie continues to grow. The oke is still a teenager too! Phepsi played well but I still feel he's an openside and not a no.8. Curwin was OK but time for him to move on.

How have attendances and match day experience compared to Soup?

Munster had a relative handful away to Kings a while back and most of the crowd knew or were relatives of CJ. Still looked like they'd a good night out.

[FalseBayFC]

What a great night out at the Cape Town stadium. Awesome to be part of a huge crowd for the first time in ages. The Stormers turned up and were maybe a bit anxious. The Edinburgh team were quality too. Big strong pack and great defence.

Roos is an absolute animal. After watching the two games this morning I remain convinced that Roos is a proper 8 and Elrigh a blindside flanker. Libbok, Zas, Dayamani, Xaba and Gelant contribute so much x-factor to the team. From the Bulls, the story of Canan Moodie continues to grow. The oke is still a teenager too! Phepsi played well but I still feel he's an openside and not a no.8. Curwin was OK but time for him to move on.

How have attendances and match day experience compared to Soup?

Munster had a relative handful away to Kings a while back and most of the crowd knew or were relatives of CJ. Still looked like they'd a good night out.

Cape Town stadium had 25-30k I reckon. The stadia nationwide still have a 50% capacity restriction due to Covid. Loftus had its max limit of 25k in the house yesterday. They restricted the crowd to lower tiers which made it look jam packed. CT stadium was free to sit anywhere so it gave the impression of a thinner crowd.

Cape Town stadium match day experience was every bit as exciting and atmosphere filled as any Super rugby match I've attended. We have a big Irish and UK diaspora here. Especially retirees with plenty of bucks. I heard many Scottish accents in the crowd and plenty of cheering in pockets when Edinburgh scored. The stadium beer garden and hospitality areas were pumping and it'll be a huge relief for all the stakeholders involved. Live sport is a significant provider of jobs to the casual and semi-skilled labour force. From security guards to students pulling pints its a real boon to the local economy.

[FalseBayFC]

Trips to URC games for those in the UK and Ireland are going to be expensive. Flights are around 800 quid return to JHB but a little more to Cape Town or Durban. But your accommodation and victuals are very affordable if you're earning pounds/euros.

An AirBnB in Pretoria like link below will cost 50 quid per night for two people. That's 3km from the stadium. 10 quid uber there and back max.

So maybe pricy for a weekend trip but for a 7-10 day matchday plus beach at Durban/Cape Town or short safari out of Pretoria its very reasonable.


https://www.airbnb.co.za/rooms/9124559? ... 2FQkkDj7nC

[lemonhead]

What a great night out at the Cape Town stadium. Awesome to be part of a huge crowd for the first time in ages. The Stormers turned up and were maybe a bit anxious. The Edinburgh team were quality too. Big strong pack and great defence.

Roos is an absolute animal. After watching the two games this morning I remain convinced that Roos is a proper 8 and Elrigh a blindside flanker. Libbok, Zas, Dayamani, Xaba and Gelant contribute so much x-factor to the team. From the Bulls, the story of Canan Moodie continues to grow. The oke is still a teenager too! Phepsi played well but I still feel he's an openside and not a no.8. Curwin was OK but time for him to move on.

How have attendances and match day experience compared to Soup?

Munster had a relative handful away to Kings a while back and most of the crowd knew or were relatives of CJ. Still looked like they'd a good night out.

Cape Town stadium had 25-30k I reckon. The stadia nationwide still have a 50% capacity restriction due to Covid. Loftus had its max limit of 25k in the house yesterday. They restricted the crowd to lower tiers which made it look jam packed. CT stadium was free to sit anywhere so it gave the impression of a thinner crowd.

Cape Town stadium match day experience was every bit as exciting and atmosphere filled as any Super rugby match I've attended. We have a big Irish and UK diaspora here. Especially retirees with plenty of bucks. I heard many Scottish accents in the crowd and plenty of cheering in pockets when Edinburgh scored. The stadium beer garden and hospitality areas were pumping and it'll be a huge relief for all the stakeholders involved. Live sport is a significant provider of jobs to the casual and semi-skilled labour force. From security guards to students pulling pints its a real boon to the local economy.

Hadn't even considered that, great to hear.

Hard to predict how quickly fans would get on board with no tradition, distances etc. But post Covid boom and with 3/4 expected to make regular knockouts it's probably better than anyone hoped.

[OomStruisbaai]

Coming here in December/January/February should be the best to make it worthwhile.

[weegie01]

We seriously considered going out for the Edinburgh league spell out there. Having lived in SA for 10 years makes it a bit more of a draw for me, but going out for two or three weeks with a couple of games in the middle is attractive.

It is fairly easy to map an itinerary where a week is spent in exploring one area, a week travelling between, and a week exploring another. And once there, things are relatively cheap.

A few Edinburgh fans did do something like this, and I have heard quite a few discuss it. I doubt there will ever be a big travelling support, but for the SA economy these kind of longer trips by relatively affluent supporters should be beneficial.

I have said this before, but I put my hand up that I thought bringing in the SA teams was daft. I was wrong.

[FalseBayFC]

We seriously considered going out for the Edinburgh league spell out there. Having lived in SA for 10 years makes it a bit more of a draw for me, but going out for two or three weeks with a couple of games in the middle is attractive.

It is fairly easy to map an itinerary where a week is spent in exploring one area, a week travelling between, and a week exploring another. And once there, things are relatively cheap.

A few Edinburgh fans did do something like this, and I have heard quite a few discuss it. I doubt there will ever be a big travelling support, but for the SA economy these kind of longer trips by relatively affluent supporters should be beneficial.

I have said this before, but I put my hand up that I thought bringing in the SA teams was daft. I was wrong.

Three years ago, Cape Town was absolutely rammed with foreign tourists all year long. Many young UK travellers end up here after overlanding through Africa. Once that's up and running to previous levels then I can see a lot interest from that crowd in a trip to the rugby or cricket. Cape Town stadium is in Greenpoint which is close to Seapoint, the city night clubs and Camps Bay and Atlantic Seaboard beaches.

[weegie01]

I digress, but this relates to the 'retirees' comment.

One of my cousins has just employed two people based in Cape Town. Almost all his staff work remotely in locations around the world. He is paying them less than than the UK and US based staff. On the other hand they think they have hit the jackpot getting circa 80% of a London salary (in sterling) out there.

When the financial crash happened, Mrs W and I were working insane hours and felt very guilty about our children. We looked at sending our children to boarding school to give them some stability and predictability in their lives. We quite seriously looked at Bishops in Cape Town as the boarding fees, flights and everything else were only about £1k more than the day fees we were spending in Scotland. In the end the boys stayed where they were as we decided it was too much disruption.

I have just checked, and the current Bishops boarding fees are the same as George Watson's day fees.

One of our sons just bought a flat in Edinburgh. Cape Town, same price.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... l=OVERSEAS

[FalseBayFC]

I digress, but this relates to the 'retirees' comment.

One of my cousins has just employed two people based in Cape Town. Almost all his staff work remotely in locations around the world. He is paying them less than than the UK and US based staff. On the other hand they think they have hit the jackpot getting circa 80% of a London salary (in sterling) out there.

When the financial crash happened, Mrs W and I were working insane hours and felt very guilty about our children. We looked at sending our children to boarding school to give them some stability and predictability in their lives. We quite seriously looked at Bishops in Cape Town as the boarding fees, flights and everything else were only about £1k more than the day fees we were spending in Scotland. In the end the boys stayed where they were as we decided it was too much disruption.

I have just checked, and the current Bishops boarding fees are the same as George Watson's day fees.

One of our sons just bought a flat in Edinburgh. Cape Town, same price.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... l=OVERSEAS

The good government boarding schools in Cape Town are about £5000 PA boarding included. SACS, Rondebosch and Wynberg are easily the equal of Bishops ito facilities, tradition and teaching quality. Pictures of SACS, Bishops and Wynberg below.

[FalseBayFC]

0KcycmYAjixNlvQ2RiCAYEJJTfeKsp7OOGasjKOIvp0.jpg (33.3 KiB) Viewed 978 times

[FalseBayFC]

Rondebosch boys.

rondebosch_boys_high.jpg (81.22 KiB) Viewed 976 times

[weegie01]

The good government boarding schools in Cape Town are about £5000 PA boarding included. SACS, Rondebosch and Wynberg are easily the equal of Bishops ito facilities, tradition and teaching quality. Pictures of SACS, Bishops and Wynberg below.

My son's school had an exchange scheme with Wynberg. My younger son applied but it went to his best chum instead. Relations were a wee bit strained for a while.

My son did go out to visit his pal as he also had three chums at SAS Rugby at Stellenbosch.

[SaintK]

Rondebosch boys.rondebosch_boys_high.jpg

Fabulous

[FalseBayFC]

The good government boarding schools in Cape Town are about £5000 PA boarding included. SACS, Rondebosch and Wynberg are easily the equal of Bishops ito facilities, tradition and teaching quality. Pictures of SACS, Bishops and Wynberg below.

My son's school had an exchange scheme with Wynberg. My younger son applied but it went to his best chum instead. Relations were a wee bit strained for a while.

My son did go out to visit his pal as he also had three chums at SAS Rugby at Stellenbosch.

I live next door Wynberg Boys. My daughters went to Wynberg Girls which adjoins the boys campus. They loved every day of it. The kids are awesome. Check out the Wynberg Boys supporting their rugby team below.

"In the beginning, there was war, we took our soldiers, through the war. When I say Wynberg, do you want more? When I say Wynberg, do you want more?" Its based on an old prison chant sung by coloured prisoners. Its now part of the school's warcry selection.

[OomStruisbaai]

I nearly had my son in Wynberg but because of the Afrikaans we decided on Paul Roos in Stellenbosch. Coming from Paarl Gim he was happy from day 1.

[assfly]

I think a rugby trip to SA for a first-timer would be a great experience. Durban, Johannesburg, even Pretoria and Bloem are beautiful cities in great provinces and attract many tourists each year.

[OomStruisbaai]

[Sards]

Well done Stormers and Bulls. Now one of you win this thing

[Uncle fester]

I think a rugby trip to SA for a first-timer would be a great experience. Durban, Johannesburg, even Pretoria and Bloem are beautiful cities in great provinces and attract many tourists each year.

Have an ambition to visit every away ground in the league, even Newport.

[FalseBayFC]

He learned a lot from his short stint at the Sharks!

[OomStruisbaai]

He learned a lot from his short stint at the Sharks!

Stormers made a great swop with him for Kolisi.

[Sards]

He learned a lot from his short stint at the Sharks!

Stormers made a great swop with him for Kolisi.

Mr Invisible.....

He really dissapears in CC and URC......

Never mind.

The Sharks are the peoples team...he is the ambassador

[Chilli]

Well done to both the Bulls and Stormers.
Hard luck $harks. If you had a decent 9 and10 you could have won it. I hope for your sake that you get both.

I fear for the Bulls in Leinster.

Stomps will win then have to travel to Leinster.

[_Os_]

Well done to both the Bulls and Stormers.
Hard luck $harks. If you had a decent 9 and10 you could have won it. I hope for your sake that you get both.

I fear for the Bulls in Leinster.

Stomps will win then have to travel to Leinster.

I agree on all that.

[assfly]

Even if he had sneaked a win against the Bulls, I don't think I'd be looking forward to playing Leinster.

I'm not even sure what the Bulls can do to try and stop them. They've got some great fetchers in their team which really screwed up quick ball for the $harks, but I don't think that'll be enough to stop the juggernaut.

[Blake]

Even if he had sneaked a win against the Bulls, I don't think I'd be looking forward to playing Leinster.

I'm not even sure what the Bulls can do to try and stop them. They've got some great fetchers in their team which really screwed up quick ball for the $harks, but I don't think that'll be enough to stop the juggernaut.

The only way to stop them is to do what La Rochelle did.

Slow down their quick ball at the ruck and pressure their backs to take away their space and time.
Easier said than done, but the Bulls have the cattle to do both and have done both in the past to many other teams.

I'd still make Leinster the favourites by some margin, but I wouldn't write off the Bulls' ability to make it messy.

[assfly]

The only way to stop them is to do what La Rochelle did.

Slow down their quick ball at the ruck and pressure their backs to take away their space and time.
Easier said than done, but the Bulls have the cattle to do both and have done both in the past to many other teams.

I'd still make Leinster the favourites by some margin, but I wouldn't write off the Bulls' ability to make it messy.

La Rochelle's ability to swing the ball wide and get both wings attacking on either side was incredible. Not sure if the Bulls have got the ability to do that.

But yes, make it messy and keep it tight, and hopefully they can get them nervous and making mistakes.

[bok_viking]

The only way to stop them is to do what La Rochelle did.

Slow down their quick ball at the ruck and pressure their backs to take away their space and time.
Easier said than done, but the Bulls have the cattle to do both and have done both in the past to many other teams.

I'd still make Leinster the favourites by some margin, but I wouldn't write off the Bulls' ability to make it messy.

La Rochelle's ability to swing the ball wide and get both wings attacking on either side was incredible. Not sure if the Bulls have got the ability to do that.

But yes, make it messy and keep it tight, and hopefully they can get them nervous and making mistakes.

I think the Bulls have been pretty good at getting their back 3 involved in attacks over the 2nd half of this season, so I do think we have the people to bring the attack to Leinster. Though I do think our 9-10 axis is a bit slow at times, the last few weeks the SH especially were caught sleeping on the ball a couple of times, twice leading to tries for the opposition, which is a bit of a worry. I think it will all depend how our forwards can match up to Leinster whether we will stand a chance. I think they would definitely put up a better fight than in the beginning of the season. Also the Bulls are normally not good travelers, even during the years they dominated Super Rugby, they still struggled with away games more than they should have. Leinster is definitely overwhelming favourites, but I do believe the Bulls have a game in them to beat Leinster, will be damn tough though. We definitely need a couple of key signings in the off season. Flyhalf being one of them. At the moment a big lack of quality exciting flyhalves in SA.