United Rugby Championship quarter-final storylines: The weight of Munster’s crown, go time for the Bulls and Leinster’s knockout woes

Dylan Coetzee
Split with Willie le Roux (Bulls), Calvin Nash (Munster) and Leinster v Ulster.

Split with Willie le Roux (Bulls), Calvin Nash (Munster) and Leinster v Ulster.

Finally, the United Rugby Championship (URC) regular season has run its course with the eight remaining teams set to compete in this weekend’s quarter-finals.

There are some interesting match-ups to look forward to with only four teams able to advance to the semi-final stage.

Can Munster defend their crown from the top of the pile?

The holders find themselves in the play-offs for the eighth successive time and this campaign is far different to last season where they defied the odds, putting together an epic away play-off run into the title. This time around they are on top and get the chance to host all the knockouts they play.

‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown’ is so applicable in their context as this season they are expected to do well and how they deal with that expectation will define how deep they go into the play-offs in the defence of their title.

Munster have the easiest match-up of the lot but that does not make it a basic win as the Ospreys are a classy outfit. Still, the Irish province will have to keep their nerve and avoid a slip-up.

There is no questioning the quality in a squad that is well capable of going back-to-back in the URC but what will be on their minds for now is getting over the Ospreys hurdle. Any knockout rugby expert will tell you that the most important play-off is the one on the coming weekend.

It will be interesting to see how the squad handles the expectation.

This is the season the Bulls need to cash in

The Bulls have been there or thereabouts at the top of the URC since the inception of the tournament a couple of seasons ago, with a final in the first season and a quarter-final last time out. Their once-inexperienced squad has grown tremendously under Jake White’s tutelage and for much of the season looked like the team to beat.

In a league as tightly contested as the URC it is incredibly difficult to sustain such a high level of performance season on season. One gets the feeling that this campaign, which has the potential for them to host a final, is the one the Bulls need to capitalise on by banking some silverware before the evolution of another side inevitably takes their place in the ever-evolving hierarchy of the URC.

Quite simply the Bulls have the firepower to go all the way and now the experience to match. The Pretoria men need to stick to their guns and apply the learnings from the past. It all starts with Benetton who are a strong outfit and White charges cannot look past the Treviso stripes.

It is time for the Bulls to deliver.

Leinster knockout composure to be tested by resurgent Ulster

It is remarkable to think that the last trophy Leinster won was in 2021 considering how ridiculously powerful their squad is. That has been the consequence of fighting for the URC and Champions Cup deep into each season amongst a wobble or two in key knockout moments, as what happened against Toulouse a fortnight ago.

However, the Dublin-based side have to put all their knockout skeletons behind them and dial into a tricky clash against an Ulster team on the rise under Richie Murphy. The Belfast men have improved a lot defensively and tightened up their game, add in the pinpoint goal-kicking of John Cooney and they become a play-off beast.

Leinster, with respect to Ulster, have more than enough to prevail but they will have to show their big-game temperament having lost to their opponents recently.

A trophy is desperately required before their high-powered squad slips past their prime. It will be all systems go in a classic inter-pro play-off clash.

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Have the Stormers overcome their travel woes?

The quarter-final between fourth and fifth on the table is always a fascinating one as it is the most evenly matched. URC I champions the Stormers will have to play an away knockout for the first time since the competition’s inception which is less than ideal.

It is no secret the Cape men struggle away from home with five of their six losses in the regular season coming on their travels and four of those in the north. Their flamboyant, free-flowing style is not always suited to the adverse weather conditions of the United Kingdom, however, the weather up north is certainly better now than in November when they lost four from four on tour which could aid their cause.

They got two wins from their recent tour just a month ago indicating they have improved but will have to prove it against a very good Glasgow side on a 4G pitch which has troubled them in past.

Glasgow will be wise to all of this and will look to play their own high-tempo game which has torn sides apart at times this season. It is important to remember that the Scots were on track to finish at the summit of the table before a late wobble.

Franco Smith’s men have immense quality and they will be grateful to have a packed Scotstoun to bear down on the Stormers. It is delicately poised for a high-paced thriller.

Who is in position to host a semi-final?

In the URC the right to host a play-off is earned, that is why the top four is oh so crucial to get the home-ground advantage for the quarter-finals. The top two is even more attractive as that could guarantee a home semi-final and even possibly a home final should the side make it that far.

That places Munster and the Bulls in pole position to host a semi-final if they were to get there. There is always the chance Leinster and/or Glasgow could host a last-four game in the event the higher-seeded team does not make it through to that stage.

There technically is a chance for Stormers and Ulster to host a semi-final but that is extremely unlikely and would require all teams in the top four to lose their quarter-finals.

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Benetton Treviso