Lions and Sharks delivered the results that matter

OPINION: While another South African United Rugby Championship clean sweep would have been ideal, victories for at least the Lions and Sharks were important for the strength of the South African group.

All four franchises achieved success in the opening round, with the Stormers overcoming Connacht, the Lions edging Leinster, the Bulls demolishing Zebre, and the Sharks schooling the Ospreys.

In Round Two, the Bulls and the Stormers went down to Munster and Edinburgh, while the Lions and the Sharks built on their Round-One results with wins over the Ospreys and Leinster.

No defeat is ever welcomed, but the two local teams who needed to win the most did.

The Stormers have already made the biggest possible statement by winning the competition in the very first year, while the Bulls have played in all but one Final.

The Cape franchise hosted the first two finals and made the quarterfinals in the two following seasons, with Leinster knocking them out of the semis last season.

So, there is very little to prove in terms of competence between the two rivals (although there will always be questions about the Bulls’ final-hurdle hoodoo).

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The Lions, of course, won the South African Shield and reached the URC knockouts for the first time last season after finishing in seventh place on the standings.

They took a 10-59 drubbing against Leinster in the quarterfinal in Dublin, but few would have expected that match to be anything more than a learning curve for Ivan van Rooyen’s group.

Their fantastic performance against the All Blacks during the final mid-week game of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series certainly built excitement around their URC season, and they have definitely not disappointed in their first two URC matches.

Things will get tougher from here on, with a Jukskei derby against the Bulls at Loftus next up before they travel to Scotland to face Edinburgh. The Lions will be in action against 2023/24 champions Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium before the competition takes a break.

*Also read: Will Bulls follow Sharks’ Bok example?

The Sharks, meanwhile, have been on a nonstop redemption mission in the URC.

The men from Durban have made the URC playoffs on three occasions; they booked quarterfinal berths in the first two seasons and lost to the Bulls in the 2024/25 semifinal.

Last season, however, they missed out altogether and finished in 10th spot after a poor start to the competition.

While the Sharks famously won the EPCR Challenge Cup in the 2023/24 season by defeating Gloucester and becoming the first South African club to win a major European title, their performances since have led to nothing but frustration and questions of how a franchise with their roster just can’t seem to get it right.

While they were hapless against the All Blacks during the tour, we always knew not too much could be read into those results, but it would nonetheless have equipped JP Pietersen and his coaching staff with a good few work-ons.

The Sharks will travel to Cape Town to face the Stormers in Round Three, an opposition and ground they have always found tricky.

To date, they have beaten the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium just once in the URC – a 19-30 victory in January.

After that, the Challenge Cup awaits in France, with Lyon their first opposition on October 17.

A trip to Wales follows, where they will square off with Cardiff on October 23, before taking on Munster at Thomond Park the following week.

So, the Lions and the Sharks are the South African teams with a point to prove, and with those schedules, it’s a good thing they secured victories – and the Sharks a full house of points – in the first two rounds.

The Sharks currently top the log, while the Lions are in third spot. The Bulls (seventh) and the Stormers (eighth) complete the top eight.

By no means do the Stormers and the Bulls have more room for error, nor can they afford defeats due to their history – given the intensity and duration of the competition, no one can. But the Lions and the Sharks needed strong starts to make things easier for themselves going forward.

They are the two South African sides with the most to prove, albeit for different reasons, and that is why their early results were the ones that mattered most.