Official United Rugby Championship thread

[OomStruisbaai]

Not easy to be a Sharks supporter

[Slick]

Not easy to be a Sharks supporter

Eben really is an incredible player though, seems to be at the heart of everything in defence and attack

[OomStruisbaai]

Not easy to be a Sharks supporter

Eben really is an incredible player though, seems to be at the heart of everything in defence and attack

He is awesome. Keeping the Sharks together.

[OomStruisbaai]

This is going to the wire.

[TheNatalShark]

Such a horse shit team, Plumtree absolutely stealing a wage

[OomStruisbaai]

That's the ball game. Great fight back from the Lions.

[Slick]

Not easy to be a Sharks supporter

Eben really is an incredible player though, seems to be at the heart of everything in defence and attack

He is awesome. Keeping the Sharks together.

And again

[OomStruisbaai]

That's the ball game. Great fight back from the Lions.

Not

[OomStruisbaai]

Boeta fucked it. Lions deserved it.

[Slick]

Boeta fucked it. Lions deserved it.

Sharks certainly look like a team very low on confidence. Were the better team for most of the match but went into themselves as soon as the pressure came on

[Chilli2]

9 Springboks vs 0 Springboks
For one.

Am I wrong or are you just being "funny"?

9 Springboks is pushing it. In our starting lineup for tomorrow, only 2 are first-choice starters (Ox and Eben).

You're also ignoring the log. The $harks are bottom of the log with 9 points, the Lions are 12th on 19 points.

The $harks have won 1 game from 8, yet every week we have to go through this "Bok laden $harks are favourites" schtick from all corners. It's just tiresome.

I apologize. You were correct.

[OomStruisbaai]

Boeta fucked it. Lions deserved it.

Sharks certainly look like a team very low on confidence. Were the better team for most of the match but went into themselves as soon as the pressure came on

They will be without their Boks in Feb and Mrch. Maybe a good thing.

Lions turned the corner.

[Chilli2]

The Sharks will eat the Lions for breakfast.

Oom, I am told that we are wrong about this.

The cash strapped $harks with only 6 RWC winning Springboks and 3 regular Springboks in their team stand no chance of beating the Lions who are filled with proper superstars.
Just look at the log. The high flying Lions are way above them on the log, having beaten so many more teams, while rhe $harks are cellar dwellers at the bottom of the log.
The $harks coaching staff are also inferior to Cash and Ricardo.
Home ground advantage also counts against the $harks.


Honestly I believe that the Lions will poes klap the $harks by 30 or 40 points.

Sorry Oom, I was wrong.

[OomStruisbaai]

Record 135,000 attendance for Round 8 in the URC.

[OomStruisbaai]

The Sharks will eat the Lions for breakfast.

Oom, I am told that we are wrong about this.

The cash strapped $harks with only 6 RWC winning Springboks and 3 regular Springboks in their team stand no chance of beating the Lions who are filled with proper superstars.
Just look at the log. The high flying Lions are way above them on the log, having beaten so many more teams, while rhe $harks are cellar dwellers at the bottom of the log.
The $harks coaching staff are also inferior to Cash and Ricardo.
Home ground advantage also counts against the $harks.


Honestly I believe that the Lions will poes klap the $harks by 30 or 40 points.

Sorry Oom, I was wrong.

you were right. The Americans must be happy investors. Rugby players prefer snoek before $

[TheNatalShark]

They will be without their Boks in Feb and Mrch. Maybe a good thing.

Sharks were losing perfectly fine before the Boks came back. Didn't look a coached team then, don't look a coached team now.

I don't believe the decision to kick deep at the end restart was a player decision.

[_Os_]

Like last week, the good guys would've won with Wright. Need more players with some heart and fight like him. Looking forward to the return of Wright at 9, and the guys who went to the world cup as 9s then played on the wing against Romania all disappearing into a Bok camp or something.

[Sandstorm]

Like last week, the good guys would've won with Wright. Need more players with some heart and fight like him. Looking forward to the return of Wright at 9, and the guys who went to the world cup as 9s then played on the wing against Romania all disappearing into a Bok camp or something.

Wright can’t pass for shit. No chance Sharks would have scored 18 points with him there.

[OomStruisbaai]

The only rugby this weekend is the Jukskei derby between the Bulls and Lions.

[Chilli2]

Bulls: 15 Willi Le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Voster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mpilo Gumede, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Deon Slabbert, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Devon Williams, 23 Marcell Coetzee.

[Chilli2]

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Hanru Sirgel, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Morgan Naudé, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Erich Cronje.

[OomStruisbaai]

27,000 yesterday at Loftus. The Lions turned the corner. Nearly beat the Bulls thanks to Jordan Hendricks.

[Chilli2]

27,000 yesterday at Loftus. The Lions turned the corner. Nearly beat the Bulls thanks to Jordan Hendricks.

Didn't see the game.
Did the $harks player play well?

[OomStruisbaai]

27,000 yesterday at Loftus. The Lions turned the corner. Nearly beat the Bulls thanks to Jordan Hendricks.

Didn't see the game.
Did the $harks player play well?

He fucked it up.

[OomStruisbaai]

The Sharks and Bulls fighting for players. Boet, Trevor, Jan Serfontein and Ackerman.

Can't they develop players?

[OomStruisbaai]

Attendance record broken again
R365

Over 146,000 fans have helped the United Rugby Championship to break its all-time single-round attendance record for the second time in three weeks.

The crowd of 26,632 at Loftus Versfeld in South Africa helped push the total attendance for Round Nine to 146,046 setting a new record for a single-round attendance in the league.

Earlier this month a figure of 135,747 was reached for the Round Eight fixtures in the URC which saw bumper crowds and sold-out venues across Christmas and early New Year. Now, just a number of weeks later the final game of Round Nine between the Bulls and the Lions has helped to shatter the previous record by at least 10,000.

This comes off the back of a record 1.6million total attendance for the 2022/23 URC season which also saw the highest-ever crowd for the league’s Grand Final (56,334) while an all-time high of 37.4million watched across the campaign.

Seven of the Round Nine games took place across the New Year period with Edinburgh breaking a record of their own as a total of 37,904. At the same time, the Stormers continued their trend of attracting big numbers for their home derbies as 37,246 packed into their Cape Town home to see them take on the Sharks.

Elsewhere in Round Nine, Connacht, Ospreys and Benetton all put up the sold-out signs while Dragons had a season-high crowd against Scarlets in what ultimately proved to be the highest attended single round in the league’s history.

Commenting on yet another attendance milestone, Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship CEO, said: “To be acknowledging another attendance record so soon after setting the previous achievement is hard to believe. Once again, we take our hats off to our clubs who are taking great strides in promoting their games and providing fans with match-day experiences that keep drawing them back.

“Alongside the strong attendances, we know the broadcast audiences were also in high numbers and it’s clear that the URC is going from strength to strength thanks to the support of everyone involved and the ever-increasing competitive nature of the league.”

Round Nine – Attendance by fixture

Benetton v Zebre Parma: 5,000
Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors: 37,904
Stormers v Sharks: 37,246
Ospreys v Cardiff: 8,159
Connacht v Munster: 7,240
Dragons RFC v Scarlets: 7,617
Bulls v Lions: 26,632

Total attendance: 146,046

Previous best single round attendances:

135,747 – Round Eight of the 2023/24 season
123,307 – Round 11 of the 2022/23 season
121,117 – Round 21 of the 2017/18 season
117,448 – Round 10 of the 2022/23 season

[LoveOfTheGame]

URC! URC! URC!

[PornDog]

Attendance record broken again
R365

Over 146,000 fans have helped the United Rugby Championship to break its all-time single-round attendance record for the second time in three weeks.

The crowd of 26,632 at Loftus Versfeld in South Africa helped push the total attendance for Round Nine to 146,046 setting a new record for a single-round attendance in the league.

Earlier this month a figure of 135,747 was reached for the Round Eight fixtures in the URC which saw bumper crowds and sold-out venues across Christmas and early New Year. Now, just a number of weeks later the final game of Round Nine between the Bulls and the Lions has helped to shatter the previous record by at least 10,000.

This comes off the back of a record 1.6million total attendance for the 2022/23 URC season which also saw the highest-ever crowd for the league’s Grand Final (56,334) while an all-time high of 37.4million watched across the campaign.

Seven of the Round Nine games took place across the New Year period with Edinburgh breaking a record of their own as a total of 37,904. At the same time, the Stormers continued their trend of attracting big numbers for their home derbies as 37,246 packed into their Cape Town home to see them take on the Sharks.

Elsewhere in Round Nine, Connacht, Ospreys and Benetton all put up the sold-out signs while Dragons had a season-high crowd against Scarlets in what ultimately proved to be the highest attended single round in the league’s history.

Commenting on yet another attendance milestone, Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship CEO, said: “To be acknowledging another attendance record so soon after setting the previous achievement is hard to believe. Once again, we take our hats off to our clubs who are taking great strides in promoting their games and providing fans with match-day experiences that keep drawing them back.

“Alongside the strong attendances, we know the broadcast audiences were also in high numbers and it’s clear that the URC is going from strength to strength thanks to the support of everyone involved and the ever-increasing competitive nature of the league.”

Round Nine – Attendance by fixture

Benetton v Zebre Parma: 5,000
Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors: 37,904
Stormers v Sharks: 37,246
Ospreys v Cardiff: 8,159
Connacht v Munster: 7,240
Dragons RFC v Scarlets: 7,617
Bulls v Lions: 26,632

Total attendance: 146,046

Previous best single round attendances:

135,747 – Round Eight of the 2023/24 season
123,307 – Round 11 of the 2022/23 season
121,117 – Round 21 of the 2017/18 season
117,448 – Round 10 of the 2022/23 season

As much as I might want to deny it happened, Ulster did also play Leinster in Dublin, which seems to be missing from your list of games there (but not the total round attendance)

[OomStruisbaai]

Round 10 fixtures:

Friday, 16 February
Zebre v Edinburgh (9:35pm)
Scarlets v Munster (9:35pm)

Saturday, 17 February
Lions v Bulls (3pm)
Leinster v Benetton (5pm)
Sharks v Stormers (5pm)
Cardiff v Connacht (7:15pm)
Glasgow v Dragons (9:35pm)

Sunday, 18 February
Ospreys v Ulster (5pm)

[OomStruisbaai]

Embra and Munster in action tonight. Scarlets didn't waisted much time playing their young WP flanker Jarryd Taylor

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tomi Lewis, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Eddie James, 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Archie Hughes, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Jarrod Taylor, 5 Sam Lousi (captain), 4 Alex Craig, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Jac Price, 20 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 21 Efan Jones, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Steff Evans.

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Seán O’Brien, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen (captain), 6 Ruadhán Quinn, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Eoghan Clarke, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Jack O’Sullivan, 21 Ethan Coughlan, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Shay McCarthy.

Teams:

Zebre Parma: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Luca Morisi (captain), 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giovanni Montemauri, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Davide Ruggeri, 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Bautista Stavile, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Muhamed Hasa.
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Riccardo Genovese, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Taina Fox-Matamua, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Scott Gregory, 23 Giovanni Licata.

Edinburgh: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Harry Paterson, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Chris Dean, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 WP Nel, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 Luan de Bruin, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Tom Dodd, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Nathan Sweeney.

[OomStruisbaai]

Good crowd at Ellispark, the rugby not so good. Moodie scored a nice try 5-3 to the Bulls at HT.

[OomStruisbaai]

Ambrose Papier gooi Arikaans.

[fishfoodie]

Lee-lo is an idiot..

In like an exocet at a player standing still, & a deserved red card

[OomStruisbaai]

Tinus de Beer doing well

[OomStruisbaai]

Weather is pretty shite Cardiff doing well with 13bmen.

[fishfoodie]

Made heavy weather of that, but a win is a win is a win !

[PCPhil]

Anyone listening to Grasgow v Drayons match on S4C. What the fucking hell is the background crowd noise they have Been transmitting?

[Sandstorm]

Anyone listening to Grasgow v Drayons match on S4C. What the fucking hell is the background crowd noise they have Been transmitting?

That’s Welsh commentary.

[fishfoodie]

Anyone listening to Grasgow v Drayons match on S4C. What the fucking hell is the background crowd noise they have Been transmitting?

That’s Welsh commentary.

Or possibly Clingon; I struggle to tell the difference

[fishfoodie]

Oh mother of dog

Forgetting to tap the ball on your first decent sniff of a score.