Round 17 was a special one in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
The Race to the Eight goes down to the wire
With just one round of matches left to play, it’s going right down to the wire in the Vodacom URC.
We now know five of the eight teams who will make up the Play-Offs – Leinster, Vodacom Bulls, Glasgow Warriors, Hollywoodbets Sharks and DHL Stormers – with the first four assured of home ties in the Quarter-Finals.
Five other teams remain in the hunt for the other three spots – Scarlets, Benetton, Munster, Cardiff, and Edinburgh.
It all means it’s going to be some climax to the regular season next weekend in Round 18.
As for the Round 17 action, leaders Leinster made sure of finishing top of the table as they bounced back from their shock Champions Cup semi-final defeat at home to Northampton by claiming a record 76-5 victory over Zebre Parma at the Aviva Stadium.
They ran in no fewer than 12 tries as they surpassed their previous best win in the league – a 70-6 triumph against the same opposition in 2017.
In doing so, they moved nine points clear at the top of the table with only one game remaining.
All Blacks centre Jordie Barrett was named Player of the Match as he helped himself to a brace of tries, with full-back Jamie Osbourne also crossing twice.
The Vodacom Bulls are now up to second as a result of beating Cardiff 42-15 at Loftus Versfeld and Glasgow suffering a 33-7 loss to Benetton in Treviso.
Having been second for much of the season, Glasgow are now facing a fight to hold on to third, with the fourth-placed Hollywoodbets Sharks having moved within a point of them through a 29-10 win over the Ospreys in Durban.
The DHL Stormers stay in fifth after securing a third successive bonus point victory on home soil by defeating Dragons RFC 48-12 in Cape Town.
It’s the Scarlets in sixth, with Dwayne Peel’s team rounding off the weekend with an historic 32-19 victory against the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg.
Then there are three teams level on 46 points, with Benetton seventh after their eye-catching win over champions Glasgow, Munster eighth following a 38-20 triumph over Ulster on an emotional night at Limerick’s Thomond Park and Cardiff slipping down to ninth.
Edinburgh Rugby are two points further back, but they are still firmly in the frame thanks to their 31-12 bonus point win against Connacht Rugby in Galway.
Peel’s pride at historic win
There was no disguising Dwayne Peel’s delight and pride as his Scarlets created history to keep their hopes of making the play-offs very much alive.
Peel’s men claimed a famous 32-19 bonus point victory over the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg to move up to sixth in the table.
It was their first win on South African soil in the Vodacom URC era, with Wales full-back Blair Murray crossing twice, while No 8 Taine Plumtree and centre Johnny Williams also touched down.
They now have their destiny in their own hands with a trip to Durban to take on the Sharks coming up next Saturday to round off the regular season.
Head coach Peel said: “We are delighted with the win. “We created a bit of history because we haven’t won out in South Africa since the Sharks, Lions, Bulls and Stormers have been in the competition.
“We needed to come here and get a victory to keep our hopes of qualifying alive. I’m proud to be a Scarlet tonight and proud to be part of this group.”
He continued: “We prepped well for this game.
“Obviously the players put a massive shift in, but the staff as well. They planned meticulously. I am really pleased.
“The big thing for us this season is we wanted to compete and we are doing it right up until the last game.
“It’s obviously not done yet. We move on to next week now. It will be a massive challenge again down in Durban, but we’ll make sure we are ready to go and see how many points we can get.”
Skipper Josh Macleod commented: “I asked the boys to leave everything out on the pitch and I think we did that and came out on the right side of the result. I am just very glad that we came here and did the job.”
The flanker added: “I just want to say thank you very much to the fans. We could hear them throughout the whole game and it goes a long way. It’s a hell of an effort for them to travel all this way.
“I am just really grateful that we could get the result for them, especially. It’s Sharks next week and hopefully we just keep building.”
The Player of the Match award went to two-try Murray who said: “That was awesome. We came here knowing we needed to win to make the play-offs and it was a great effort from all the boys.
“It wasn’t just the 23 that played, but everyone that travelled and all the boys back home as well.
“They helped prepare us for this part of the season. It involved everyone, fans as well. It was awesome to see them here.
“The win over Leinster in the last round was massive for us and we just wanted to keep building on that momentum. We knew it was going to be tough. I am still trying to catch my breath now! It was a hard game, but the boys were unreal.”
Wales’ other play-off hopefuls Cardiff slipped down from fifth to ninth in the table as they lost 45-21 to the Bulls in Pretoria, while results elsewhere went against them.
But, like the Scarlets, they will go into next Friday’s game against Stormers in Cape Town with their fate still in their hands.
A victory would guarantee them a top eight finish, while a bonus point or two in defeat could yet be enough to get the job done.
Head coach Matt Sherratt said: “If we go back to day one, in terms of this season being about growth, we’ve doubled the games we’ve won.
“If we had said to any of our supporters or anyone at the club that we’d be going into the last game of the season needing to pick up a win or a point or two to be in the play-offs, I think people would have snatched your hand off.
“We will now take our best game to Cape Town, attack the Stormers and try and get Cardiff into the play-offs for the first time, which would be important for the players and the club.”
The Welsh visitors trailed 31-0 to the high-flying Bulls at half-time, but tries from Alex Mann, Teddy Williams and Gabriel Hamer-Webb took them tantalisingly close to a bonus point only for them to run out of time.
“The first half was very disappointing and things could have got pretty messy,” said Sherratt.
“I said to the players at the break we needed to get two things out of the second half. We needed to earn a bit of respect back and we were obviously trying to get four tries.
“I think we did the first. The boys showed a lot of courage and we stuck at it, but we just fell short with the four tries and didn’t quite get a point.
“I am proud of how we came back, but it took us too long to get up to speed.”
Sherratt added: “We are disappointed, but we were up against a very good team.
“I genuinely believe it’s the hardest away fixture in the league. It’s the toughest place to come in the competition. I think they’ve won 23 of their 25 games here. There’s the altitude, heat, travel, it’s a tough ask.”
Giving the players’ perspective, second row Josh McNally said: “Our message before the game was we didn’t want to leave wondering what we could have done. I think in the last 20 minutes, you saw what we could have done.
“But we just didn’t fire any shots in the first half and you give a quality side like the Bulls too much possession and too much momentum, it’s going to be a very hard game to come back from.
“We will look at this performance because it wasn’t good enough. We’ve got a big game next weekend now.”
Fairtytale farewell for “legend” O’Mahony
Peter O’Mahony’s contribution to Munster has been hailed as “nothing short of incredible” in the wake of his fairytale farewell to Thomond Park.
With his final touch of the ball on his final appearance at the Limerick ground, the retiring flanker scored a spectacular try to help his beloved province secure a crucial 38-20 bonus point victory over Ulster.
Just before the hour mark, the 35-year-old leapt high in the air to take a Jack Crowley cross kick on the bounce before slamming the ball into the turf.
That sparked a jubilant celebration with O’Mahony hurling the ball skyward before being mobbed by his team-mates.
Then, a couple of minutes later, he received a standing ovation from the packed 17,684 crowd as he left the field for the final time. It was some moment.
Speaking about O’Mahony after the game, Munster skipper Tadgh Beirne said: “You can’t put into words how much of a legend Pete is to this club and you could see that from the emotion of the crowd when he scored that try, when he came off and every time he came on the screen.
“He was Munster captain for over ten years. What he’s given to this club is nothing short of incredible.
“So, for him to top his last game at Thomond Park with a try is a lovely touch for him. You could see the emotion from him after he scored it and I’m just delighted for him.”
There were also final Thomond Park appearances for scrum-half Conor Murray and prop Stephen Archer, with Murray leaving to pursue a playing opportunity abroad and Munster’s record cap holder Archer joining O’Mahony in hanging up his boots at the end of the season.
They signed off by sharing in a six-try triumph which has left the province eighth in the Vodacom URC table, putting them back on course for the play-offs with a huge game against seventh-placed Benetton to come in Cork next Friday.
Coach Ian Costello said: “That’s our best performance for a long time and you could see how much it meant to the lads.
“You’ve obviously got the play-offs, you have got Champions Cup, but it was probably even a bit deeper, to give the lads the send off they deserved and show them that respect.
“I think everything came out in that performance to honour the boys and make sure they had a really good send off. Huge credit to the lads for the way they went about it.
“We also have to acknowledge the crowd. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. When Peter scored his try and the singing when the lads were digging in, I thought the crowd really responded and that was pretty special.”
Looking ahead, he said: “Now we’ve got to back it up next weekend in front of a full house in Cork.
“This was one game, but we knew we needed to win two. We have half the job done, we are pleased with that, but we won’t rest.
“We have to finish the job in Cork next week so we are in the play-offs.”
Second row Beirne, who scored one of his team’s tries as he celebrated his Britsh & Irish Lions selection, added: “We want to be in Europe and we want to be knock-out rugby come the end of the season.
“We have another huge game next week back in Cork against Benetton.
“We need to win every game going forward now. We will use this as a stepping stone. Our performances are going to have to keep getting better and better if we want to go all the way.
“We have sent off the lads from Thomond Park and we will give them another send off from Cork next week.”
Ulster coach Richie Murphy said: “Full credit has to go to Munster, they put us under a lot of pressure and we didn’t look after the ball well enough.
“It’s massively disappointing for us. It means playing Challenge Cup next season, so that’s where we are at and we move on from there.”
MATCH OF THE WEEKEND
Connacht Rugby 21, Edinburgh Rugby 31
It was a weekend short on close contests, but this was a real titanic tussle in Galway.
The balance of power swung back and fore, with Edinburgh leading 14-0 at the break and Connacht fighting back to level it up at 21-21 going into the final ten minutes.
That was then the cue for the visitors’ replacement scrum-half Charlie Shiel to take centre stage.
First he pulled off a try-saving tackle on opposite number Caolin Blade and then produced one of the individual scores of the season with a scintillating run from well inside his own half.
The Player of the Match award went to Edinburgh No 10
Ross Thompson, who admitted: “There definitely was pressure on us.
“We knew if we didn’t get five points, that was probably our chances at the play-offs out of the window. It’s a tough place to come and win so we are really chuffed with the result.”
PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND
Jacob Umaga (Benetton Rugby)
Fly-half Umaga was the man pulling the strings as Benetton secured a notable 33-7 bonus point victory over champions Glasgow in Treviso to stay in the play-off mix.
The England international scored a try and landed four conversions, while he also dictated the play with his tactical kicking.
“You are always very happy as a 10 when you can make your kicks,” said the 26-year-old.
“The coaches put a lot of emphasis on the space in the backfield and it was my job to execute it and I did alright.”
Reflecting on the team performance, he said: “When it all comes together and we put into performance what we practice, we are a very good team.
“It showed out there that when we have got confidence, the boys can do anything.
“It was the last home game of the season and we are saying goodbye to some great players, so to put in a performance like that to keep our season alive, we are very happy.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND
Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi after playing for the Hollywoodbets Sharks against Ospreys captain Jac Morga, who has been selected for the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia:
“On behalf of the team, we want to say congratulations to Jac. He is a true warrior and he really deserves his spot.
“With the last couple of years Wales have been going through as a nation, he has always stood out, he has always fought. He is a hard player and it was hard to get him off the ball.”
What’s coming next?
It’s the final round of regular season matches next weekend and there’s so much on the line.
The game of the weekend is arguably Friday night’s meeting of Munster (8th) and Benetton (7th) in Cork as it’s a classic winner takes all, with a play-off spot up for grabs.
There’s a similar vibe to the Cape Town collision between Stormers (5th) and Cardiff (9th) with the visitors realistically having to win to force their way into the top eight.
You also have fourth against sixth in Durban as the Sharks entertain the Scarlets, while Edinburgh (10th) host Ulster needing a win to have a chance of extending their season.
Elsewhere, first hosts third as Leinster welcome Glasgow to Dublin, while it’s Bulls v Dragons, Lions v Ospreys and Zebre v Connacht.
>>>Story courtesy of https://www.unitedrugby.com/latest<<<
