The Vodacom United Rugby Championship returns this week with a sixth round packed with jeopardy and crunch games for South African teams, with the absence of Springboks who are involved in the out of international window game against Wales meaning the coastal teams will be particularly disadvantaged.
While the Vodacom Bulls and the Lions will be facing off against each other in the first local derby of the season at Loftus, the Hollywoodbets Sharks and the DHL Stormers go into tough overseas games that could have a big impact on their respective campaigns.
The Sharks, who now know they are in the last few months of John Plumtree’s reign as head coach, will be looking to rescue their disastrous start to the season in a tough outing against Connacht, who have shown improved form under the coaching of former England mentor Stuart Lancaster, in Galway in the last game of the round on Saturday night.
Before that the Stormers will be featuring in what, considering it is a top of the log clash between the top two teams, is unquestionably the big game of the weekend.
Why both the Sharks and Stormers will be at a disadvantage is because earlier in the evening the Boks will be playing Wales in Cardiff, meaning several players from both sides will be absent.
That won’t be the case for Munster, who should be able to select for example their club captain Tadhg Beirne, the Ireland alternative flyhalf Jack Crowley and possibly the likes of Bok lock Jean Kleyn, and Connacht, who will have of prop Finlay Bealham, centre Bundee Aki and fullback Mack Hansen back and available from international duty.
Unless Bok coach Rassie Erasmus springs a surprise and releases some of them from international duty, the Stormers won’t be able to draw on Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Ben-Jason Dixon, new recruit from Durban Ntuthuko Mchunu and the newly capped youngster Zac Porthen.
Erasmus did mention he was releasing Grant Williams to play for the Sharks but it is unlikely that Andre Esterhuizen, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Ethan Hooker and Bongi Mbonambi will be joining him by returning to franchise rugby.
Plus of course Ox Nche is injured and would be in Cardiff if he wasn’t, and while Edwill van der Merwe has returned home to be at the birth of his child, he is more likely to be playing at the Principality Stadium than being in Galway.
The Sharks have profited a bit though from Erasmus’s last Bok selection, even more so before Mbonambi was called up as cover later in the tour, and they have Vincent Koch and the two Hendrikse brothers, Jaden and Jordan, available to them.
Plus Jason Jenkins was expected to return from injury around about now, plus a clutch of other more experienced players.
Makazole Mapimpi has completed his suspension now and should be ready to play.
We’re back 😍
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) November 24, 2025
Next stop, Galway. pic.twitter.com/TpfWkynpLE
The Bulls will be without several players such as Handre Pollard, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse (who’d be with the Boks if he wasn’t anyway unavailable through concussion), Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Jan-Hendrik Wessels (suspended), Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw.
There has been good depth built up at the Bulls, a legacy of the good recruiting of their now departed director of rugby Jake White, and players like the experienced Willie le Roux, Jan Serfontein, Johan Goosen, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Cobus Wiese will fit in among a strong group of good URC level players that should be enough to give them a slight edge over a Lions team that will only be missing Morne van den Bergh to Bok duty
Moving ⚡️
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) November 20, 2025
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🐂 v 🦁| 🗓️29 Nov | 14:00 | Loftus Versfeld@Vodacom #URC | @URCOfficial_RSA #TheUnbreakableLine pic.twitter.com/0yrVdx2FNQ
However, while all that suggests there is a disadvantage for the teams missing their Boks, one factor that might negate that is the fact that the franchises knew when the tour squad was selected back in October who’d be available for them this week and who won’t be.
That means that the teams have been able to prepare for this round of games over the past five weeks without any distraction and without risking the possible break in cohesion that can come about when you reintroduce international players.
Munster and Connacht, should they elect to play their international players against the SA teams, will be running that risk.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Ulster v Benetton (Belfast, Friday 21.45)
Dragons v Leinster (Newport, Friday 21.45)
Vodacom Bulls v Emirates Lions (Pretoria, Saturday 14.00)
Zebre v Cardiff Rugby (Parma, Saturday 15.00)
Munster v DHL Stormers (Limerick, Saturday 19.30)
Edinburgh v Ospreys (Edinburgh, Saturday 19.30)
Connacht v Hollywoodbets Sharks (Galway, Saturday 21.45)
Scarlets v Glasgow Warriors (Llanelli, Saturday 21.45)