URC, Round Five - teams and predictions

FRIDAY PREVIEW: The Lions and Bulls will be hoping to conclude their European tour on a high in Round Five of the 2023/24 United Rugby Championship season.

The Bulls, who are at the top of the standings after four rounds wrap up their tour with a tough match against Edinburgh in the Scottish capital on Friday.

Honours are even between the two teams, with the Scottish side – who will be boosted by a great victory over Connacht last weekend – winning the first encounter by 17-10 in Scotland two years ago.

Interestingly, two players who scored the bulk of the home team’s points on that day – Jaco van der Walt with three penalty goals and Henry Immelman with a try – have since joined the Bulls in Pretoria.

Last season, the Bulls edged Edinburgh by 33-31 in Pretoria, despite the visitors having outscored their hosts by five tries to four.

“It’s going to be a tough game for us considering we are into our fourth week of the tour which is always tough because people start making plans about going back to South Africa,” Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White said.

“So there are a lot of things we are going to have to make sure we get right [on Friday].”

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White will also go up against his former colleague Sean Everitt.

Everitt joined White’s coaching team last season but left for the head coach gig at Edinburgh at the end of the season.

White said he is excited about the coaching contest, given their long history – which included having worked together at the Sharks.

“I worked with Sean at the Sharks and when he was with us, so I know him very well,” White said.

“He is a very good coach who has been around for a while. Good coaches are the ones who can adapt and I think it will be interesting and I look forward to it.”

White admitted the Bulls will brace themselves for a tough outing, especially with Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie returning for the showdown.

“The return of Ritchie will also be a massive boost for them who has been away after the World Cup,” White conceded.

“They are generally always there or thereabout in the top eight, they are not a team that surprises everybody by finishing in the top part of the draw.”

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Ahead of the fixture, Edinburgh head coach Everitt said: “We’re delighted to welcome Jamie [Ritchie] back to the team. He is a top player and Scotland captain for a reason. He brings further physicality, experience and leadership to the pack as we face a strong Bulls side.

“We were really happy with a lot of areas in last weekend’s Connacht victory. In particular, the resilience we displayed to claim back possession, retain the ball and set up a game-winning drop-goal was really pleasing. We’ll need to maintain those levels of focus against the Bulls if we are to come out on top after 80 minutes.”

He added: “The supporters will once again have a major role to play tomorrow [Friday] night. The atmosphere created at Edinburgh Stadium last weekend was nothing short of electric, the noise and chants boosted the team until the very last play – we hope they’ll be back for the first ‘Friday night lights’ match of the season.”

‘All in our hands’

Meanwhile, the Lions take on Ulster in Belfast, a venue where South African teams have yet to win, with the Irish province victorious in all five of their previous home encounters against sides from the Republic.

Despite the stats firmly stacked against them, the Lions will be hoping to draw some inspiration from their incredible win over Scarlets in Round Four.

The Gauteng side claimed their first win of the season courtesy of a Henco van Wyk last-gaps try.

The results, which come after three narrow defeats (33-35 v Stormers, 16-17 v Edinburgh, 10-15 v Benetton) also handed Scarlets their first home defeat for more than a year.

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Lions defence coach Barend du Plessis credited the team’s set-piece for the success but admitted the line-outs need to be worked on ahead of the Ulster clash.

“The last match there were one or two overthrows and you always going to play against quality sides, so I always tell the guys if you are 10 out 10 or 15 out of 15 that is a bonus,” Du Plessis said.

“We know where the mistakes were and that is all in our hands and that’s the best part of everything.

“We have been lucky at our set-piece because we get a good base from our scrums and just have to keep on working to make it better.”

The Lions will have to dig deep as they face Ulster, who hope to make it three home wins on the bounce in the URC, after a strong start to the season.

Last Friday’s 21-14 victory over Interpro rivals, Munster, put Dan McFarland’s men in touch with the top of the table, sitting behind Bulls, Leinster and Glasgow Warriors, with 14 points after four fixtures.

In Friday’s other fixture, Zebre will host Cardiff in Italy.

The Italians claimed a first win since April 2022 after a nail-biting victory over Sharks last weekend.

See below for Friday’s teams and predictions!

Friday, November 17:

Edinburgh v Bulls
(Edinburgh Rugby Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 19.35; 21.35 SAST; 19.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Bulls by three points.

Teams: 

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Wes Goosen, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Glen Young, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Tom Dodd, 21 Ali Price, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Chris Dean

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (Captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Simphiwe Matanzima, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 24 Cyle Brink

Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (Scotland), Michael Todd (Scotland)
TMO: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)

Ulster v Lions
(Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast – Kick-off: 19.35; 21.35 SAST; 19.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Ulster by seven points.

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Reuben Crothers, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Iain Henderson (Captain), 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 Lorcan McLoughlin, 21 John Cooney, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Mike Lowry

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Hanru Sirgel, 5 Willem Alberts, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Ruan Venter, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Rabz Maxwane

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Padraic Reidy (Ireland)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Ireland)

Zebre Parma v Cardiff
(Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma – Kick-off: 20.35; 19.35 UK & Ireland time; 19.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Cardiff by five points.

Teams: 

Zebre Parma: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Giovanni Licata (Captain), 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 David Sisi, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Scott Gregory, 23 Guido Volpi

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Harri Millard, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Rhys Litterick, 2 Liam Belcher (Captain), 1 Rhys Carré
Replacements: 16 Ethan Daniel, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Will Davies-King, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Willis Halaholo, 23 Jacob Beetham

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Clara Munarini (Italy), Alberto Favaro (Italy)
TMO: Colin Stanley (Ireland)