URC, Round 13 - Friday's Teams and Predictions

PREVIEW: With only six rounds remaining until the play-offs, the Bulls are in a precarious position after their 19-32 defeat to the Stormers in Pretoria last weekend.

They will have their sights set on bouncing back when they line up against Cardiff at Loftus Versfeld on Friday, but they will be wary of the visitors, who have lost only four of their 12 matches to date, and who defeated Leinster in their last outing.

The Bulls are currently in eighth position, level on points (30) with Connacht in ninth, and they are only one-point ahead of 10th-placed Ospreys.

The men from Pretoria will draw inspiration from the fact that they have only suffered two defeats at their fortress this season, while Cardiff have only won two away from home.

The Bulls also boast a far superior attack, with 83 points more scored than their opponents. Cardiff’s defence, however, has been superior, which means the hosts will have to ensure that they convert their opportunities into points – an area which cost them dearly last weekend.

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List of players unavailable for selection for our match against Cardiff tomorrow night 🐂 @Vodacom #URC | @URCOfficial_RSA pic.twitter.com/1RpJ8ueYMT

— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) March 19, 2026

“We haven’t really worked out where we can finish,” said Bulls head coach Johan Ackermann.

“We just want to get into the play-offs.

“The fact that we lost to the Stormers, we haven’t got the luxury to think where we are going to finish. We must just make sure that we are in the top eight.

“I think it’s a given that we are going to play away [in the play-offs]. We’ve got six games left in the URC, and we must make it the best possible six games to give ourselves the chance.

“I told the players, we can’t control the future, we can’t change the past, but we can only control tomorrow and let’s make sure we arrive here ready to put in a good performance.

“If we get over that hurdle, we go forward from there.

“I don’t know where we are going to finish, but what I do believe is that it doesn’t matter where we finish – we can beat any side at our best, and that’s the chance we want to give ourselves.”

Cardiff head coach Corniel van Zyl is expecting the Bulls to come out firing after last week’s derby defeat.

“We are really looking forward to Friday and what will undoubtedly be a big challenge at Loftus.

“The Bulls are a quality team who are really physical and really dangerous, and they will be smarting following last week’s loss.

“So, we are expecting to see the very best of the Bulls on Friday, but we have prepared well.

“We will fight for each other and the jersey, trying to put as much of our game on the pitch as possible, and see where that takes us.

“The table looks good at the moment, but a lot can change in this competition. We are just focusing on one game at a time and taking what we can from each opportunity.”

*Friday’s other games will see Ulster at home against Connacht, while Scarlets will be up against Zebre in Wales.

A bonus-point win for Ulster will see them jump into first place in the standings ahead of Saturday’s fixtures.

See below for Friday’s teams and predictions!

Friday, March 20:

Bulls v Cardiff
(Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria – Kick-off: 19.00 SAST; 17.00 GMT)

Prediction

Rugby365: Bulls by nine points.

Teams:

Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Stedman Gans, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Khuta Mchunu, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Jeandre Rudolph, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Willie le Roux.

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Mason Grady, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Jacob Beetham, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Alun Lawrence, 5 George Nott, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher (captain), 1 Rhys Barratt.
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 James Botham, 21 Taulupe Faletau, 22 Ellis Bevan, 23 Ioan Lloyd.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa), Jonathan Lottering (South Africa)
TMO: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)

Scarlets v Zebre Parma
(Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli – Kick-off: 19.45 GMT; 20.45 CET)

Prediction

Rugby365: Scarlets by 12 points.

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Macs Page, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9 Archie Hughes, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Jarrod Taylor, 5 Max Douglas, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Henry Thomas, 18 Gabe Hawley, 19 Jac Price, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Ioan Jones.

Zebre Parma: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Albert Eisten Batista, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 8 Giacomo Ferrari, 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Bautista Stavile, 5 Alessandro Ortombina, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Giampietro Ribaldi, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio (captain).
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Juan Manuel Pitinari, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Davide Ruggeri, 20 Davide Odiase, 21 Thomas Dominguez, 22 Martin Roger Farias, 23 Giulio Bertaccini.

Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Max Clements (Wales)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

Ulster v Connacht
(Affidea Stadium, Belfast – Kick-off: 19.45; 19.45 GMT)

Prediction

Rugby365: Ulster by 20 points.

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Jacob Stockdale, 12 Ben Carson, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Marcus Rea, 6 David McCann, 5 Joe Hopes, 4 Iain Henderson (captain), 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Sam Crean, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jonny Scott, 23 Ethan McIlroy.

Connacht: 15 Seán Naughton, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Finn Treacy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Colm Reilly, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Cian Prendergast (captain), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Billy Bohan.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Victory, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 John Devine. `

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Max Weston (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: Finlay Brown (Scotland)