URC Season 2024/2025 Official Thread

[_Os_]

he literally just kicked the ball

Thought out plan! Genius!

[OomStruisbaai]

Sharks: 15 Jordan Hendrikse, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka (captain), 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne’ Rahl, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Francois Venter.

Date: Saturday, October 12
Venue: Stadio Monigo, Treviso
Kick-off: 16.00 (16.00 SAST; 14.00 GMT)
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy), Alex Frasson (Italy)
TMO: Colin Brett (Scotland)

[Blake]

Number 2 is cool though.

Coolest part was Dwebe actually finding his jumper. Useless mong.

His lineout throws in the first 2 matches of this URC have been excellent.
I think he is 26 from 26 lineouts (best among the SA hookers in the URC) and with the bench hookers also coming to the party (9 from 9).
Our lineouts are 100% on our own throw with 2 steals.

Early days, but good signs.

[OomStruisbaai]

JD Schickerling make a huge difference in the lineouts. He'll struggle once Moerat return.

[Sandstorm]

Number 2 is cool though.

Coolest part was Dwebe actually finding his jumper. Useless mong.

His lineout throws in the first 2 matches of this URC have been excellent.
I think he is 26 from 26 lineouts (best among the SA hookers in the URC) and with the bench hookers also coming to the party (9 from 9).
Our lineouts are 100% on our own throw with 2 steals.

Early days, but good signs.

He looks smaller this season; likely took my advice and does less arm reps in the gym!

[Sandstorm]

Coolest part was Dwebe actually finding his jumper. Useless mong.

His lineout throws in the first 2 matches of this URC have been excellent.
I think he is 26 from 26 lineouts (best among the SA hookers in the URC) and with the bench hookers also coming to the party (9 from 9).
Our lineouts are 100% on our own throw with 2 steals.

Early days, but good signs.

He looks smaller this season; likely took my advice and does less arm reps in the gym!


Still....he dropped 3 passes in the first half too.

[Uncle fester]

Munster - Leinster in croke Park is a sellout. Not too shabby for a round 4 game.

[fishfoodie]

Munster - Leinster in croke Park is a sellout. Not too shabby for a round 4 game.

Nice payday for everyone

[OomStruisbaai]

Munster - Leinster in croke Park is a sellout. Not too shabby for a round 4 game.

Nice payday for everyone

URC is tops.

[OomStruisbaai]

Coolest part was Dwebe actually finding his jumper. Useless mong.

His lineout throws in the first 2 matches of this URC have been excellent.
I think he is 26 from 26 lineouts (best among the SA hookers in the URC) and with the bench hookers also coming to the party (9 from 9).
Our lineouts are 100% on our own throw with 2 steals.

Early days, but good signs.

He looks smaller this season; likely took my advice and does less arm reps in the gym!


Still....he dropped 3 passes in the first half too.

He won't feature against Embra, Venter starts, JJ on the bench. Also no Matthee.

[Sards]

Not sure of the category.
But for new youngsters making an impression in the URC

2 from the Sharks
Ethan Hooker
Jurenzo Julius

Those 2 lads are heading for a future in the green and gold

[bok_viking]

Munster - Leinster in croke Park is a sellout. Not too shabby for a round 4 game.

Nice payday for everyone

URC is tops.

It is great to get these big crowds at some of the games. Hope the game itself will live up to the occasion. I would have loved to go to that game. Went to a couple of games at Croker but was mostly to experience GAA.
Maybe the Bulls should host the Stormers at the FNB stadium and get in a 92k+ crowd. Loftus is a bit to small, they could have sold a lot more tickets last season if they had a bigger stadium.
Hopefully we will start to see big crowds at more key games over the coming seasons. The bulls crowds were a bit disappointing in the first 2 games though, the 1st game was understandable due to the bok game being on but the Ulster game was very disappointing. For all the hype around bok rugby in SA, there is very little marketing around the provincial teams to attract crowds to the stadiums away from their TV screens.
I am wondering if the lack of a break in the South African rugby season is leading to lower crowd attendances.

[LoveOfTheGame]

Nice payday for everyone

URC is tops.

It is great to get these big crowds at some of the games. Hope the game itself will live up to the occasion. I would have loved to go to that game. Went to a couple of games at Croker but was mostly to experience GAA.
Maybe the Bulls should host the Stormers at the FNB stadium and get in a 92k+ crowd. Loftus is a bit to small, they could have sold a lot more tickets last season if they had a bigger stadium.
Hopefully we will start to see big crowds at more key games over the coming seasons. The bulls crowds were a bit disappointing in the first 2 games though, the 1st game was understandable due to the bok game being on but the Ulster game was very disappointing. For all the hype around bok rugby in SA, there is very little marketing around the provincial teams to attract crowds to the stadiums away from their TV screens.
I am wondering if the lack of a break in the South African rugby season is leading to lower crowd attendances.

I think there is some rugby fatigue setting in. All the Saffa teams are on tour now, so a bit of break for the local fans.

[OomStruisbaai]

URC is tops.

It is great to get these big crowds at some of the games. Hope the game itself will live up to the occasion. I would have loved to go to that game. Went to a couple of games at Croker but was mostly to experience GAA.
Maybe the Bulls should host the Stormers at the FNB stadium and get in a 92k+ crowd. Loftus is a bit to small, they could have sold a lot more tickets last season if they had a bigger stadium.
Hopefully we will start to see big crowds at more key games over the coming seasons. The bulls crowds were a bit disappointing in the first 2 games though, the 1st game was understandable due to the bok game being on but the Ulster game was very disappointing. For all the hype around bok rugby in SA, there is very little marketing around the provincial teams to attract crowds to the stadiums away from their TV screens.
I am wondering if the lack of a break in the South African rugby season is leading to lower crowd attendances.

I think there is some rugby fatigue setting in. All the Saffa teams are on tour now, so a bit of break for the local fans.

Cape Town carry the SA flag for attendance. No games here thus far.

[OomStruisbaai]

Not sure of the category.
But for new youngsters making an impression in the URC

2 from the Sharks
Ethan Hooker
Jurenzo Julius

Those 2 lads are heading for a future in the green and gold

Agree, their versatility will make a feast for Rassie. He love this in players.

[Sards]

Not sure of the category.
But for new youngsters making an impression in the URC

2 from the Sharks
Ethan Hooker
Jurenzo Julius

Those 2 lads are heading for a future in the green and gold

Agree, their versatility will make a feast for Rassie. He love this in players.

Curious to know of future young prospects from the other unions

[OomStruisbaai]

Not sure of the category.
But for new youngsters making an impression in the URC

2 from the Sharks
Ethan Hooker
Jurenzo Julius

Those 2 lads are heading for a future in the green and gold

Agree, their versatility will make a feast for Rassie. He love this in players.

Curious to know of future young prospects from the other unions

pretty sure you know the Stormers youngsters well. Nico Steyn from the Lions is a future Bok. Play 10 this weekend.

[Sandstorm]

Hey Oom, you seen the Stormers Team announcement yet?

[bok_viking]

It is great to get these big crowds at some of the games. Hope the game itself will live up to the occasion. I would have loved to go to that game. Went to a couple of games at Croker but was mostly to experience GAA.
Maybe the Bulls should host the Stormers at the FNB stadium and get in a 92k+ crowd. Loftus is a bit to small, they could have sold a lot more tickets last season if they had a bigger stadium.
Hopefully we will start to see big crowds at more key games over the coming seasons. The bulls crowds were a bit disappointing in the first 2 games though, the 1st game was understandable due to the bok game being on but the Ulster game was very disappointing. For all the hype around bok rugby in SA, there is very little marketing around the provincial teams to attract crowds to the stadiums away from their TV screens.
I am wondering if the lack of a break in the South African rugby season is leading to lower crowd attendances.

I think there is some rugby fatigue setting in. All the Saffa teams are on tour now, so a bit of break for the local fans.

Cape Town carry the SA flag for attendance. No games here thus far.

It helps that the Cape Town stadium is bigger than most rugby stadiums in SA, so no chance of the other unions apart from the Lions can beat the Stormers when it comes to sellouts. They should utilize FNB stadium more for some games, specially bok games and big derby games, it is criminal that we have a 90K+ modern stadium that is barely utilized, even though it is primarily a football stadium they should use it more for big rugby games. Bafana Bafana and the local football teams do not come close to selling out that stadium.

[bok_viking]

URC is tops.

It is great to get these big crowds at some of the games. Hope the game itself will live up to the occasion. I would have loved to go to that game. Went to a couple of games at Croker but was mostly to experience GAA.
Maybe the Bulls should host the Stormers at the FNB stadium and get in a 92k+ crowd. Loftus is a bit to small, they could have sold a lot more tickets last season if they had a bigger stadium.
Hopefully we will start to see big crowds at more key games over the coming seasons. The bulls crowds were a bit disappointing in the first 2 games though, the 1st game was understandable due to the bok game being on but the Ulster game was very disappointing. For all the hype around bok rugby in SA, there is very little marketing around the provincial teams to attract crowds to the stadiums away from their TV screens.
I am wondering if the lack of a break in the South African rugby season is leading to lower crowd attendances.

I think there is some rugby fatigue setting in. All the Saffa teams are on tour now, so a bit of break for the local fans.

Agree with the rugby fatigue, I think you do need at least a 6-8 week break from a rugby season for players and fans to recharge, unless you are a season ticket holder and wants to get the most out of your ticket, you need a bit of a break I think. I am a season ticket holder myself, but went to 1 Currie Cup game, barely watched Currie Cup on TV this season as well, just could not be bothered by the time URC ended unfortunately. If you go to every game it can easily be close to 25+ games if the team make it to the finals as it stands right now.

[Sandstorm]

If you go to every game it can easily be close to 25+ games if the team make it to the finals as it stands right now.

Baiting WP fans is cruel.

[Sards]

Agree, their versatility will make a feast for Rassie. He love this in players.

Curious to know of future young prospects from the other unions

pretty sure you know the Stormers youngsters well. Nico Steyn from the Lions is a future Bok. Play 10 this weekend.

I like the look of Mathee. Definitely not a Misbok

[Sandstorm]

I like the look of Mathee. Definitely not a Misbok

Meh, he's a Morne. Can kick, but the backline is always sluggish.

[Sandstorm]

Some changes for Stormers vs Edinburgh tomorrow:


DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Wandisile Simelane.

[OomStruisbaai]

His lineout throws in the first 2 matches of this URC have been excellent.
I think he is 26 from 26 lineouts (best among the SA hookers in the URC) and with the bench hookers also coming to the party (9 from 9).
Our lineouts are 100% on our own throw with 2 steals.

Early days, but good signs.

He looks smaller this season; likely took my advice and does less arm reps in the gym!


Still....he dropped 3 passes in the first half too.

He won't feature against Embra, Venter starts, JJ on the bench. Also no Matthee.

As expected.

[Dogbert]

Some changes for Stormers vs Edinburgh tomorrow:


DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Wandisile Simelane.

How confident will the Stormers be to turn over the Edinburgh team at the Bookcase tomorrow

15. Wes Goosen (34)

14. Darcy Graham (67)
13. Mosese Tuipulotu (2)
12. Matt Scott (97)
11. Duhan van der Merwe (94)

10. Ross Thompson (3)
9. Ali Price (20)

1.Pierre Schoeman (118)
2. Patrick Harrison (16)
3. Paul Hill (3)
4. Jamie Hodgson (64)
5. Grant Gilchrist CAPTAIN (208)
6. Jamie Ritchie (117)
7. Ben Muncaster (32)
8. Magnus Bradbury (116)

Replacements

16. Harri Morris (1)
17. Boan Venter (69)
18. D’arcy Rae (8)
19. Marshall Sykes (65)
20. Luke Crosbie (100)
21. Ben Vellacott (64)
22. Cammy Scott (11)
23. Matt Currie (41)

[fishfoodie]

Benetton are really on song this season, & playing attractive Rugby too.

[Sandstorm]

Haha! Ox was waxing lyrical about SA Teams being so smart, taking quick lineout from a 50/22 and Benetton just did it it to the Sharks. Try time.

[Sandstorm]

Benetton 24-3 up at halftime.

[Chilli2]

$harks are pretty disappointing

[Slick]

It is great to get these big crowds at some of the games. Hope the game itself will live up to the occasion. I would have loved to go to that game. Went to a couple of games at Croker but was mostly to experience GAA.
Maybe the Bulls should host the Stormers at the FNB stadium and get in a 92k+ crowd. Loftus is a bit to small, they could have sold a lot more tickets last season if they had a bigger stadium.
Hopefully we will start to see big crowds at more key games over the coming seasons. The bulls crowds were a bit disappointing in the first 2 games though, the 1st game was understandable due to the bok game being on but the Ulster game was very disappointing. For all the hype around bok rugby in SA, there is very little marketing around the provincial teams to attract crowds to the stadiums away from their TV screens.
I am wondering if the lack of a break in the South African rugby season is leading to lower crowd attendances.

I think there is some rugby fatigue setting in. All the Saffa teams are on tour now, so a bit of break for the local fans.

Agree with the rugby fatigue, I think you do need at least a 6-8 week break from a rugby season for players and fans to recharge, unless you are a season ticket holder and wants to get the most out of your ticket, you need a bit of a break I think. I am a season ticket holder myself, but went to 1 Currie Cup game, barely watched Currie Cup on TV this season as well, just could not be bothered by the time URC ended unfortunately. If you go to every game it can easily be close to 25+ games if the team make it to the finals as it stands right now.

I think it’s everywhere really, I certainly have a bit of it at the moment and haven’t bothered getting my tickets for the Autumn Internationals. I’m more convinced than ever that rugby is run by people that are not steeped in rugby

[OomStruisbaai]

Sharks will pull this one through

[OomStruisbaai]

Not today. One foot on the plane.

[fishfoodie]

It looks like Benetton have 3-4 extra players when they attack, Sharks defensive structure is so narrow

[bok_viking]

Sharks really looking very average. It is a problem for them if they have to fully rely on the boks to pull things through, specially when the boks are gone for several games a season. It might be another season where they fight to get into the top 8 at this rate. Vastly underperforming considering the players they have available without the boks. The pack must be embarrassed being dominated by a Benetton pack that are missing 6 props.

[OomStruisbaai]

Stormers are also in for a tough one. Embra will be desperate.

[Chilli2]

Sharks really looking very average. It is a problem for them if they have to fully rely on the boks to pull things through, specially when the boks are gone for several games a season. It might be another season where they fight to get into the top 8 at this rate. Vastly underperforming considering the players they have available without the boks. The pack must be embarrassed being dominated by a Benetton pack that are missing 6 props.

They are an embarrassment

[Chilli2]

Stormers are also in for a tough one. Embra will be desperate.

Embra?

[LoveOfTheGame]

Sharks Currie Cup team is exactly that.

[OomStruisbaai]

Stormers are also in for a tough one. Embra will be desperate.

Embra?

Embra my bra.