The Vodacom URC franchises do a lot of quite justified whingeing about the way the Springboks get prioritised and in truth international windows are there for a reason and should be adhered to, but the people operating at that level could also do a lot more to sell the game themselves.
The DHL Stormers are markedly better than most when it comes to marketing their fixtures but does anyone know who they have in their squad that is currently on tour and will start with a crunch top of the table URC game against Munster on Saturday night before travelling to Bayonne for the start of the Investec Champions Cup next week?
Unless I have missed it there has been nothing in my inbox. And there’s nothing on their website.
The coaches will tell you it is because they want to keep opponents guessing but come on, selling the game is crucially important at this level of the professional sport in this country.
It needs to be sold as much as it can be, and if you profess to be the team representing Cape Town, surely it is only respectful to the people of Cape Town to let them know who is fronting for you when you go on tour.
At least with the Stormers there’s plenty of opportunity to find things out because, as mentioned, they are much better than most when it comes to putting up coaches and players for online interviews. So we know, for instance, that Jonathan Roche is fit again and ready to play.
And that Suleiman Hartzenberg is training again and will be back for the Champions Cup game in Gqeberha in a fortnight from now.
But this media person also hasn't received a Hollywoodbets Sharks squad for their game in Connacht on Saturday night. Again, it also isn’t on their website. The only interaction with the broader media so far in the buildup week was a few short voice notes from Vincent Tshituka, who we can assume will captain the team in Galway.
No chance to ask questions? Sorry, that’s just not good enough. At least if you care about getting mainstream publicity.
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— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) November 27, 2025
Jim and Robbie sit down with Francke Horne, Mack Rapali and Itumeleng Mogotsi from Mapanstula Rugby for chaos, rivalry and a proper SEND IT round 🔥
Full episode live on YouTube 📲#URC | #SENDIT pic.twitter.com/RN16vYUXo8
BULLS PACK LOOKS A BIT INEXPERIENCED
My colleague Brenden Nel tells me it has been a similar story with the upcountry teams this week. The only Bulls press conference was the team announcement on Thursday. The Lions are always woefully bad when it comes to marketing. But they are playing in a Jukskei derby - it should be punted as a big game, and yet there’s almost nothing!
But there is at least a Bulls team to hand for Saturday’s derby against the Lions because they announced their team earlier than everyone else. So we know that although he has been released from the Boks, Handre Pollard won’t be playing because he is apparently nursing an injury.
We also know that in the absence of their phalanx of missing Bok forwards, they will not have the experience of Marcel Coetzee in tow.
My money says that the young pack and absence of X-factor Boks could make the Loftus game, which has an early 2pm kick-off, which is a ridiculous time to be playing rugby at this time of the year, for both players and spectators, a tough one for the Boks. I have the Bulls scraping it, but it could go either way.
The big game of the weekend is the one in Munster, and because the Boks have announced their team for Cardiff, we do know of at least six Stormers players who won’t be wearing the franchise jersey at Thomond Park: Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Ben-Jason Dixon, Zachary Porthen and Mtuthuko Mchunu (Rassie said he’s with the squad as an extra player).
That means the Stormers have a mountain to climb, but as written earlier in the week, they did know they would be without the bulk of those players at the start of the international break.
So they will have prepared without them, and anyway Porthen isn’t a first choice player at the Stormers and Mchunu has yet to play for them.
YOUR team to face the Lions at Loftus on Saturday 🐂
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) November 27, 2025
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🐂 v 🦁| 🗓️29 Nov | 14:00 | Loftus Versfeld@Vodacom #URC | @URCOfficial_RSA #TheUnbreakableLine pic.twitter.com/Y0aTgAiO2Q
STORMERS SCRUMMING CULTURE COVERS ANY LOSSES
The Stormers have a scrumming culture that is almost the URC version of the Boks at international level, and you don’t need a Mchunu so desperately when you have Vernon Matongo and Ali Vermaak at loosehead, and what we did hear at the press conference early in the week was that Oli Kebble could be making his playing return to the Stormers on this tour too.
Kebble is these days apparently versed in packing down on either side of the scrum, so assuming that Neethling Fouche is fit again and ditto Sazi Sandi, the Stormers are well covered there too.
Andre-Hugo Venter and JJ Kotze are excellent hookers, and if Salmaan Moerat, JD Schickerling, Adre Smith and Ruben van Heerden are all in Limerick with the team, that is a heck of a lot of lock depth.
Dixon might be missed for what he brings physically on the side of the scrum but the Bok coach continually ignoring the claims of Evan Roos does help the Stormers for a game like this. He is an immense and hugely influential player.
Behind the scrum there’s Stefan Ungerer (and Imad Khan) to offset the absence of Cobus Reinach, assuming of course they are there, and Jurie Matthee might be the right flyhalf to have if the game, as predicted earlier in the week, is played in the wet.
So the Stormers do have the wherewithal to be competitive against a Munster team that has a quintet of Ireland internationals back but will be without Bok Jean Kleyn. It is just that had all the Boks been available they might have started as favourites, whereas now Munster have to be clear favourites.
Ready to rise to the challenge on the road in the @Vodacom #URC again this weekend. #inittogether pic.twitter.com/HN2gIPAXpI
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) November 26, 2025
CONNACHT MARGINAL FAVOURITES AGAINST SHARKS
Connacht will start as marginal favourites against the Sharks in Galway, a game that is huge for the Sharks if they want to get their campaign on track after a poor start. This is a start of a hellish period for the Sharks that includes an away Champions Cup game next week against Toulouse, a home game against Saracens just six days later followed by a home derby against the Bulls.
The big game not featuring a South African team this weekend is the one in Belfast featuring the fifth placed Ulster against Benetton, with both teams desperately needing to win albeit for different reasons.
Sixth round Vodacom URC Previews and Predictions
Ulster v Benetton (Belfast, Friday 9:45pm)
That Ulster are fifth heading into round 6 is an indication of their rejuvenation as a team after a few seasons of blip, for they have played one less game than the teams around them.
Indeed, they’d be sitting pretty in the top three were it not for them coming short in their last game before the break against the Lions, possibly a consequence of the effort put in to win two games in succession against SA teams, the Bulls at home in Belfast and the Sharks away in Durban.
Benetton were well beaten at home by the Stormers last time out and are seldom the same threat away from Treviso so Ulster start as strong favourites.
Prediction: Ulster to win by 8
Dragons v Leinster (Newport, Friday 9:45pm)
Leinster started disastrously, particularly by their standards, when they lost to the Stormers and the Bulls in South Africa, and were humbled at home by Munster in an Irish derby.
But they have managed to get themselves to seventh and with their international players heading back into the system and their attention no doubt being ratcheted up by the approaching kick-off to the Investec Champions Cup, which is the competition the URC champions are most vested in, they shouldn’t have much trouble dealing with the Dragons.
Prediction: Leinster to win by 20
Vodacom Bulls v Lions (Pretoria, Saturday 2pm)
The absence of key players to the Springbok game against Wales means that this game is less heavily loaded in favour of the Bulls as many are making out. Some bookies are giving the Lions a 14 point start, and that might be overdone, for if you look at the Bulls pack called up for this game it is young and inexperienced.
Apart from missing the likes of Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp, they are also without the experience of Marcel Coetzee for this game. The Lions are just missing two Boks and before last season, where they did go down comprehensively in both games, they tended to push the Bulls in trans-Jukskei derbies.
My money says it will be close and could go either way with home ground advantage just giving it to the Bulls.
Prediction: Bulls to win by less than 7
Zebre v Cardiff Rugby (Parma, Saturday 3pm)
Zebre have punched above their weight this season and are particularly difficult to beat at home. They are up against a Cardiff team in this game that has been denuded by Wales calls for the international against the Boks.
So it isn't just South African teams that suffer because of the game being played out of the international window, and that could hurt Cardiff as currently they are fourth and lost just once in five starts.
Prediction: Zebre to win by 12
Munster v DHL Stormers (Limerick, Saturday 7:30pm)
Captain Tadhg Beirne, Tom Ahern, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley and Tom Farrell are the quintet of Ireland internationals who have been recalled to the Munster team after ending their international duty against the Boks last week.
Considering the Stormers will be without six Boks who are on duty in Cardiff on Saturday, that does give Munster the edge and makes them clear favourites in this top of the table clash. That is arguably something that would not have been the case had Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach and Ben-Jason Dixon been playing for the visitors.
However, what the Stormers do appear to have these days is depth, and there is good cover in most positions where Boks are missing. Yet there has been little communication from the Stormers on who is on tour with them and who isn’t so we will have to wait for the team announcement later on Friday before we know just how the Stormers stack up for this game.
Prediction: Munster to win by 8
Edinburgh v Ospreys (Edinburgh, Saturday 19.30)
This is an important game for both home team Edinburgh and the visiting Ospreys as they are placed 11th and 14th respectively. Sean Everitt’s Edinburgh are arguably much better off as they have only played four games, with one being postponed due to Storm Amy, but obviously they can’t afford to lose at home so there’s big pressure.
Prediction: Edinburgh to win by 12
Connacht v Hollywoodbets Sharks (Galway, Saturday 21.45)
This is a huge game for the Sharks, one that they were already talking about before they played Scarlets at home in their last game before the international break. Since their 10 point bonus point win over the Scarlets at Hollywoodbets Kings Park changes have been made, with the announcement that this will be John Plumtree’s last season as head coach.
There was a promise made that he would move into another unspecified role from the start of next season, but the message is clear, although what really boggles the mind is that there have been no changes, at least not ones that have been published, to the group of assistants. Attack coach Dave Williams in particular should feel under pressure given the team’s clear lack of attacking shape.
Presumably they’ve used the break since the Scarlets game, meaning five weeks, wisely and have sorted that out. If so, they may stand a chance of beating a Connacht team that rightly start as slight favourites at the bookies.
Connacht are one point and one place, 12th against 13th, ahead of the Sharks, but they have a game in hand on the Durbanites. So even though it is an away game for them, the Sharks are under marginally more pressure, and if ever there was a time for them to produce a statement performance this is it.
They have Grant Williams and Edwill van der Merwe back from international duty and we assume Lukhanyo Am, Vincent Koch and co are with them, plus Jason Jenkins should be back from injury, so if they have prepared well they stand a good chance.
Prediction: Connacht to win by less than 7
Your Hollywoodbets Sharks Travel Squad heading to Galway, Ireland 😮💨🦈 pic.twitter.com/G6nptUmxTq
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) November 25, 2025
Scarlets v Glasgow Warriors (Llanelli, Saturday 21.45)
The 2024 champions were starting to run into ominous form before the break and with their international players presumably back and ready to get over the disappointment of their autumn campaign with Scotland, which featured games against the All Blacks and Argentina where they fell tantalisingly short, they should win comfortably. Particularly as the Scarlets will be missing Wales international players like Taine Plumtree.
Prediction: Glasgow to win by 20