Official United Rugby Championship thread

[OomStruisbaai]

44-10 ft.

[OomStruisbaai]

Bulls have a very good team. Their forwards surprisingly dominate.

[OomStruisbaai]

Home alone here.

[bok_viking]

That was a nice day out at the stadium. Almost half full, about 24k-25k at the stadium. It was very hot though, 37 degrees with almost no breeze. The bulls are looking pretty good for the season, hope they can keep it up. I was surprised how well the pack did against the sharks pack in all facets. The Shark boks had a tough day out for the most part. Kriel and Gans are starting to look like a very handy centre pairing. The Bulls conditioning is pretty good, they did not lose as much energy in that heat during the 2nd half compared to the sharks.

I think it will be tough to full up the stadiums during the summer months, most people want to enjoy the good weather and do summer activities. If I had some tennis or other activities planned I would not be going to the stadium either. November - March is activity and holiday time for many people. I hope crowds will get bigger on average as the seasons go on, back to pre-2014 crowds

I hope there will be a decent crowd for the Saracens game next week. Looking forward to that one.

[bok_viking]

The Lions should consider playing in the UJ stadium. I think it is 8000-10000 seater. Also a better area for fans to go to.

[OomStruisbaai]

Agree. Wonder how many will pitch up at Stellenbosch

[bok_viking]

Agree. Wonder how many will pitch up at Stellenbosch

I can imagine it would be a decent crowd. The Bulls can theoretically use the Tuks stadium, it is not to far from Loftus, unfortunately the capacity of Tuks might just a bit to small. I think they are around the 13k mark. But could be a good for some games

[‘tsek]

We are red, we are white, against Welsh sides we are dynamite.

Lions are starting to show maturity, if this squad can stick together for another 2 years I will be very chuffed.

[bok_viking]

We are red, we are white, against Welsh sides we are dynamite.

Lions are starting to show maturity, if this squad can stick together for another 2 years I will be very chuffed.

They played well with 14 men. It looks like they are quite fit as well.

[OomStruisbaai]

Agree. Wonder how many will pitch up at Stellenbosch

I can imagine it would be a decent crowd. The Bulls can theoretically use the Tuks stadium, it is not to far from Loftus, unfortunately the capacity of Tuks might just a bit to small. I think they are around the 13k mark. But could be a good for some games

Good crowd in

[bok_viking]

Agree. Wonder how many will pitch up at Stellenbosch

I can imagine it would be a decent crowd. The Bulls can theoretically use the Tuks stadium, it is not to far from Loftus, unfortunately the capacity of Tuks might just a bit to small. I think they are around the 13k mark. But could be a good for some games

Good crowd in

Yeah nice crowd. Is that the Maties field? Looks a bit bigger than the Tuks one.

[Slick]

How many times are Ulster players going to be told they are offside and get back, before the are actually pinged for being offside. It’s obviously a tactic to slow the ball down and ref just lapping it up

[OomStruisbaai]

I can imagine it would be a decent crowd. The Bulls can theoretically use the Tuks stadium, it is not to far from Loftus, unfortunately the capacity of Tuks might just a bit to small. I think they are around the 13k mark. But could be a good for some games

Good crowd in

Yeah nice crowd. Is that the Maties field? Looks a bit bigger than the Tuks one.

Craven Stadium.

Zebre playing really well. Stormers will have to step up.

[bok_viking]

Good crowd in

Yeah nice crowd. Is that the Maties field? Looks a bit bigger than the Tuks one.

Craven Stadium.

Zebre playing really well. Stormers will have to step up.

Yeah Zebre looking decent so far. The Stormers forwards seems to lack a bit of grunt in the loose. Roos seem to be a shadow of 2 seasons ago. Both him and Louw at the Bulls had a pretty average season last year, Louw seemed to have worked hard in the off season and is back playing good rugby again this season from the flank, but Roos still look to have issues. Hope he sorts himself out from a Bok perspective.

[OomStruisbaai]

Need a recording of that Willemse step for Sards

[fishfoodie]

I think the roof just came off the Sportsground .... but there's still 10 min to play

[OomStruisbaai]

Connacht fight back nicely

[OomStruisbaai]

Will be difficult for Leinster to win from here

[OomStruisbaai]

Scrums is a mess

[Slick]

Just switched on for the last 2 mins!

[Slick]

Awwwwww Connaught you absolute knobs

[fishfoodie]

[OomStruisbaai]

Last week we felt the same.

[fishfoodie]

I'm still not sure if I should be relatively happy with our table position, or ticked off ?

Last year at this stage, I think we were in the bottom 4/5, but that was on the back end of a horrible initial set of fixtures. This year we're in opposite land in the fixtures, with a bunch of home games that we've mostly converted into points, but we're in 8th, & (spit), behind Ulster !!!!!

The URC is turning into a really competitive, & thus watchable league, because every game is up for grabs, & the playoff spots will probably be up for grabs until the last round.

[Camroc2]

After the first tranche of matches, normal service resumed. Leinster top the table.

[fishfoodie]

After the first tranche of matches, normal service resumed. Leinster top the table.

Normal service for Leinster doesn't involve a "1" in the loss column !

[OomStruisbaai]

If you want to measure the competitive of the URC. Take Zebre as an example. They were the laughing stock last year but this year they push the Stormers on Saturday and beat the Sharks.

Home wins is important this year.

[OomStruisbaai]

After a lot of moaning about the SA teams joining the URC , it changed. Now our top CC players outside the URC franchises start to play for non SA teams. Also understand SA chicken runners like Wiese, Nyakane, RG Snyman returning. We will only get the full financial benefit from 2025. Win win situation for the URC.

[assfly]

Well done Bulls. $harks were atrocious, but that shouldn't detract from just how good the Bulls are. They are starting to look like title contenders. The last couple of years are starting to pay off for White.

[_Os_]

Nah the Bulls ruined my weekend, so fuck them. They're really good, but I have decided to take that loss badly.

JJ van Rensburg had a total disaster of a match. I look forward to the return of Wright to steady the ship, at centre.

[OomStruisbaai]

You mean Rohan Jansen van Rensburg?

[_Os_]

You mean Rohan Jansen van Rensburg?

That's the one, I have fumbled his name like all the ball that went his way. He had a shocker.

Am was good though, put Moodie on the floor.

[assfly]

I look forward to the return of Wright to steady the ship, at centre.

rancid

But seriously we do have a major problem at 12. Venter and van Rensburg have not stepped up. They can't even seem to get the basics right, like passing and catching. I'd be happy to bring in some of our CC players like Marnus Potgieter or Murray Koster for a chance.

[OomStruisbaai]

I look forward to the return of Wright to steady the ship, at centre.

rancid

But seriously we do have a major problem at 12. Venter and van Rensburg have not stepped up. They can't even seem to get the basics right, like passing and catching. I'd be happy to bring in some of our CC players like Marnus Potgieter or Murray Koster for a chance.

I agree 100%. Venter & RJvR has been so disappointing. Both were pretty good when they left.

[bok_viking]

After a lot of moaning about the SA teams joining the URC , it changed. Now our top CC players outside the URC franchises start to play for non SA teams. Also understand SA chicken runners like Wiese, Nyakane, RG Snyman returning. We will only get the full financial benefit from 2025. Win win situation for the URC.

Rumors are that RG is not returning just yet and that he already has a deal ready to sign with Bath in England for next season.

[bok_viking]

Happy with how the Bulls are going so far this season, some close losses on tour that could easily have been wins and complete monsters at home. Gans and Kriel at centre seem to have come good, not the biggest centre pairing you will ever see, specially for a Bulls team, but both are playmaking players and seem to gel well together. Last season I was worried that Gans would be another 7's player that was never going to kick on in 15's but he looks to have turned a corner. Louw seems to be back to his best playing on the flank instead of no.8 and Goosen is back in form after having a decent amount of games injury free (touch wood)
I was hoping to see Moodie at 13 on the weekend but would be unfair to Gans at the moment so I guess it will be a few more games on the wing for him. Willie seemed to have slot in quite well, both playing and talking to the ref

[OomStruisbaai]

Happy with how the Bulls are going so far this season, some close losses on tour that could easily have been wins and complete monsters at home. Gans and Kriel at centre seem to have come good, not the biggest centre pairing you will ever see, specially for a Bulls team, but both are playmaking players and seem to gel well together. Last season I was worried that Gans would be another 7's player that was never going to kick on in 15's but he looks to have turned a corner. Louw seems to be back to his best playing on the flank instead of no.8 and Goosen is back in form after having a decent amount of games injury free (touch wood)
I was hoping to see Moodie at 13 on the weekend but would be unfair to Gans at the moment so I guess it will be a few more games on the wing for him. Willie seemed to have slot in quite well, both playing and talking to the ref

The ref is from Stellenbosch, so they will understand each other.

Bulls the inform SA team, no doubt, Lions not far behind.

[OomStruisbaai]

Need a recording of that Willemse step for Sards

https://x.com/THESTORMERS/status/173133 ... 79806?s=20

[Uncle fester]

After a lot of moaning about the SA teams joining the URC , it changed. Now our top CC players outside the URC franchises start to play for non SA teams. Also understand SA chicken runners like Wiese, Nyakane, RG Snyman returning. We will only get the full financial benefit from 2025. Win win situation for the URC.

Rumors are that RG is not returning just yet and that he already has a deal ready to sign with Bath in England for next season.

First part is right. Second part is that he's going to.................
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Leinster

[OomStruisbaai]

Thanks to NieNaber.