OPINION: Irish 'grand slam', the real contender and great pretenders

The Bulls should be lauded for a clean sweep of the Irish provinces, following the South African collective’ largely inconsistent run across all tournaments.

On the face of it, South Africa’s best teams are peaking at the right time.

The Sharks fired late to secure an 18-17 win in Edinburgh, while the Stormers held on for a much-needed bonus-point 34-29 victory over Connacht in Cape Town on Saturday.

Up in Limerick, the Bulls ground out a 16-13 win against Munster.

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All three remain on track for the United Rugby Championship play-offs, with the Bulls and Sharks well placed to host a quarterfinal.

And yet, only one of these teams is a genuine contender for the title.

It was interesting to hear John Plumtree’s comments after the Sharks’ insipid showing in Edinburgh, as well as John Dobson’s take on the Stormers’ erratic performance in Cape Town.

The Sharks have lacked intensity and focus in the big matches this season, and poor discipline so nearly cost them a valuable win in Edinburgh this past Friday.

The Stormers have been breathtakingly good at times – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s 24-point masterclass against Connacht was a highlight – and comically bad at others.

At the post-match press conference on Saturday, one reporter described what unfolded against Connacht as the best attacking performance of the season as well as the worst defensive display of the season.

Dobson replied with a humourless laugh, before going on to declare that the statement was 100 percent accurate.

Plumtree and Dobson will be thrilled to qualify for the play-offs from here – especially after the Sharks and Stormers’ horrific displays in the Champions Cup – but unless there is a dramatic transformation over the next four weeks, it seems likely that the Sharks and Stormers will do little but make up the numbers in the final eight.

Which brings us the Bulls, who have frustrated at times over the past few months, yet are best-placed to push the likes of Leinster and Glasgow Warriors for the URC title.

You have to give Jake White’s charges credit for completing the Irish ‘grand slam’, after beating Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster throughout the campaign.

While the Irish ‘grand slam’ is not an actual thing, every South African fan will recognise the significance of the achievement.

The Irish clubs have led the way in the first four seasons of URC, and the South African teams have struggled to pick up wins in the Emerald Isle during that period.

The Bulls have beaten Connacht and Munster in Ireland this season – and it’s this ‘Double’ that is perhaps more significant than the Irish ‘grand slam’.

Collectively, the other three South African franchises have lost five out of five matches in Ireland during this period.

The Bulls’ performance at Thomond Park this past Saturday, of course, was worthy of celebration.

John Plumtree joins our panel after tonight’s win for @SharksRugby against Edinburgh 🦈

“For us, it’s a bit of a wake up call. We know we need to be better than that.” 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/WQjqsQ19u7

— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) April 18, 2025

Indeed, the flow of the game in Limerick resembled a Test match, and contrasted the ‘you score, I score’ basketball that was showcased in the earlier fixture in Cape Town.

It was encouraging to see a South African team manning up on defence for a change, and maintaining their effort for 80 minutes.

Much was made about the incident that saw Munster reduced to 14 men for 14 minutes, but the ruling, around which there is no consensus, led to uncontested scrums and robbed the Bulls of their biggest weapon.

In a sense, it was encouraging to see how the Bulls coped with that challenge, and still went on to win the game.

It was one of the Bulls’ biggest wins in isolation, given their overall record on the road. It was a much-needed result in the context of the URC race – especially after the Sharks’ win in Edinburgh – and has consolidated the Bulls’ position in third place.

Not for the first time this season, all eyes are on White as he considers his selections for the next three matches.

The Bulls boss has picked his strongest available side for the first three games of this four-match tour – in Bayonne, Edinburgh and Limerick.

The Bulls have a five-point lead over the Sharks in the standings, and at some point, White may opt to rotate and give his first-choice players a break, safe in the knowledge that one loss won’t compromise the quest for third spot.

The next game against Glasgow Warriors has been dubbed as a replay of the 2024 URC final. In reality, a more meaningful replay is likely to unfold in the semi-finals, with the Warriors potentially hosting the Bulls at Scotstoun.

One could argue that psychological points may be up for grabs this coming Friday, but it will be a big ask for the Bulls’ first-string side to beat Glasgow just six days after a battle royale with Munster.

The Bulls will finish their league campaign against Cardiff and the Dragons, and going by the Welsh teams’ poor record on the highveld, White’s team should be targeting maximum points from the fixtures.

Meanwhile, in the wake of what each coach has described as a ‘wake-up call’, the Sharks, Stormers and even the Lions should be better when facing Ulster, Benetton and Connacht, respectively.

@rugby365com