URC, Round 18 - teams and predictions

FRIDAY PREVIEW: The defending champion Stormers will be in a ‘desperate’ frame of mind against Benetton in Stellenbosch on Friday, as they look to finish the regular season on a high – ahead of the United Rugby Championship play-offs.

They still have an outside chance of finishing second of the standings, with Ulster hosting Edinburgh in Belfast in the late game.

A bonus-point win for the Cape Town franchise, combined with an Edinburgh upset could see the Stormers overtake the Irish province.

However, the Stormers are without a in their last two URC matches – with a 24-26 loss to Munster in Cape Town last week and a 22-all draw with Leinster in Dublin in Round 16.

Throw in the humbling 17-42 loss to Exeter Chiefs in a European Cup quarterfinal sandwiched in between those and it is a three-match winless streak.

The Cape Town franchise has not been winless for three successive games since the start of the 2021/22 URC campaign.

“The important thing is to get back where we were,” coach John Dobson told @rugby365com, when asked about their approach to this game at the Danie Craven Stadium on Friday.

“We want to be ourselves,” he said, adding: “We want to reconnect as a team and get our confidence back.

With a break for the European Cup semifinals next week, the Stormers will use the ‘bye week’ to make up for all the lost training time due to the challenging travelling schedule and limited preparation time in the last month.

“Tomorrow is to get the team to feel good about themselves again and go into the play-offs with confidence again.”

Stormers have played two previous URC matches at Danie Craven Stadium, beating Zebre there 55-7 in March 2022 and Connacht 38-19 last September.

Benetton has won just one of their last five URC fixtures: a 21-20 win over the Ospreys in Round 15.

Benetton has lost the last six fixtures against South African opponents.

Stormers backline coach Dawie Snyman also spoke about the need to finish the regular season strong, ahead of the play-offs.

With Edinburgh playing Ulster at Ravenhill in Belfast in the late game on Friday, the Stormers can pile pressure on the Irish outfit by getting a full-house five points in Stellenbosch.

However, for the Stormers the most important job is to get the win and avoid dropping further down the rankings – with Glasgow, who hosts Connacht in the final match of the weekend, looming within striking distance.

“Our focus is on Friday, to ensure we get the points,” he told @rugby365com.

With former Stormer Dewaldt Duvenage captaining the Italian outfit, the visitors are going to be uncomfortable opposition.

“He [Duvenage] can play the game tactically really well,” Snyman added.

Dobson also touched on the danger posed by the former Stormers scrumhalf, Duvenage, by getting Benetton on the front foot with his box kicks.

“However, the real challenge for us is to be better at what we do,” the coach added.

(Continue below …)

* Ulster is in a strong position to secure second place in the standings, having won the last four URC matches.

The Ulstermen’s most recent reversal in the Championship at Ravenhill Stadium was by a solitary point to Munster on New Year’s Day.

Ulster has lost at home to a Scottish opponent just once since September 2013 at that was by a single point to Friday’s opponents Edinburgh in February 2018.

Edinburgh’s four-game losing run in URC ended with their 45-21 victory at home to Ospreys last weekend.

“Friday is going to be a big game against a good team,” Ulster forwards coach Roddy Grant said.

“The difference between coming second and third in the URC is significant.

“We will be looking to turn up in front of a home crowd.”

Edinburgh coach Mike Blair said they were “really pleased” with last weekend’s performance against Ospreys.

“Our physicality and decision-making was spot on from the first whistle,” Blair said.

“We’ll need that level of focus once again.

“Ulster is a team in form, who are particularly confident at home.

“It’s vital that we match their physicality while putting down a marker in terms of the way we want to play – with freedom, while making smart decisions around the way we both attack and defend.

“It will be a special occasion for the guys playing their last game for the club.

“With some of them pulling on the jersey for the last time, it adds an extra level of motivation for our squad to put in a performance that properly recognises what those guys have all achieved while at the franchise.”

All the FRIDAY, APRIL 21 teams and predictions follow below …

Stormers v Benetton
(Danie Craven Stadium, Cape Town – Kick-off: 18.30; 17.30 GMT; 18.30 Italy time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Stormers by 16 points

Teams

Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Jean-Jacques Kotze, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Ernst van Rhyn, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Ruhan Nel.

Benetton: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (captain), 8 Henry Time-Stowers, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Riccardo Favretto, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Filippo Alongi, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Nahuel Tetaz , 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Lorenzo Cannone, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Tommaso Menoncello.

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa) & Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Ulster v Edinburgh
(Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast – Kick-off: 19.35; 19.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Ulster by 12 points

Teams

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stewart Moore, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 David McCann, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andy Warwick.
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Sam Carter, 20 Harry Sheridan, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Luke Marshall, 23 Craig Gilroy.

Edinburgh: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Lang, 12 Cammy Hutchison, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Blair Kinghorn, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Glen Young, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Boan Venter, 18 WP Nel, 19 Pierce Phillips, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Nathan Sweeney.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland) & Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

@king365ed
@rugby365com

* Additional reporting by @URCOfficial