In South Africa, a thrilling derby between the Bulls and Stormers at Loftus led to a major change in the playing field as the countdown to the end of the United Rugby Championship season begins.
National situation
With only one local team in the top eight, the weekend underlined the healthy position South African rugby is in following the decision to move from Super Rugby to URC.
The 50,000-strong crowd who flocked to Loftus to watch a top-quality game despite the conditions witnessed the last few years of Super Rugby before the coronavirus intervention, as well as the Lions vs. Sharks match in Johannesburg. Even that seems unprecedented. Played in front of a better crowd than the venue has hosted recently.
Weekly URC Recap: Lions and Bulls Prevail
The Stormers have fallen from fifth to ninth place after the defeat in Pretoria and are now out of the Champions Cup qualification and URC play-off places, while the Bulls have taken five points against their arch-rivals and the failure of Glasgow Warriors I made a profit. He scored a try against Benetton and earned a bonus point, moving him into second place.
The Stormers don't need to feel too disappointed about falling to ninth place. They have just four points, one win behind fourth-placed Edinburgh (who are also their next opponents). The match will be played in Cape Town, where John Dobson's side have a formidable record, having lost to Munster (twice) and Lions since hosting their first match at URC in December 2021. Just.
As for the Lions, their bonus point win over the Sharks put them back in contention for a top-eight finish strong. The Johannesburg side sit 11th on 29 points, just one point behind the Stormers and three points behind eighth-placed Benetton, who have dropped six places in just two matches.
This shows how close it is, with the Lions just five places out of the top four, so if they finish the season on a good note, even a top four spot could be in their sights.
A top eight finish could mean a Gauteng derby in the quarter-final round, but high-flying Bulls coach Jake White is probably unwilling to accept that. But that's all in the future, and the log tables are so crowded that it's almost impossible to predict the outcome in early June, when the league phase of the season ends.
What we do know is that the Bulls have beaten a Stormers side who beat them in Pretoria on their last two visits and have rebuilt Loftus Versfeld into a fortress. White's side are four ahead of Leinster, who they play in the second leg of a two-match mini-tour later this month (their other opponents being the Dragons).
The Bulls will have a home game at Loftus after the tour, so there is a strong chance they will at least finish in the top two. The Stormers could be in the top four by Easter, with a home game against Edinburgh followed by a home game against Ulster, with both teams competing for a top-four spot.
