URC, Round 17 - teams and predictions

FRIDAY PREVIEW: Welcome to the Shark Tank. Warning: There are some monstrous predators in there!

The Sharks, who are looking to seal a home quarterfinal in the United Rugby Championship, must win their Round 17 encounter with Ospreys to secure a top-four finish.

Log-leaders Leinster (67 points), the second-placed defending champions, the Glasgow Warriors (59), and the Bulls (58) are already guaranteed home quarterfinals.

The Bulls are chasing hard for a top-two finish.

Victory for the Sharks (in fourth place with 53 points) will see them cement an invaluable home quarterfinal as they lead fifth-placed Cardiff by seven log points.

The Sharks have lost just two of their last eight URC matches – against the Lions at Ellis Park in Round 12 and at home to Leinster in Round 14. That 7-10 reverse against Leinster was also their only home loss this season.

The Ospreys’ only victory in their last six visits to South Africa in the URC was 27-21 against Stormers in April 2024.

The two sides have met three times before, with the Sharks having the edge by two wins to one.

Sharks coach John Plumtree said that, despite his team’s elevated position on the standings, the team’s performance still leaves a lot to be desired.

“We are reasonably happy with where we are at,” he told @rugby365com, adding: “We are not happy with the way we are playing.

“There were moments, particularly against Ulster, where we were good on both sides of the ball [attack and defence].

“The first 20 or 30 minutes we were scratchy and poor, with lots of soft moments.”

The Sharks’ mentor said the challenge for the players was to ensure their mental preparation is better, especially with the play-offs looming.

He added that it is the skillset errors, while not under pressure, which are most frustrating.

“Those are the parts that are killing us,” he added.

Plumtree said, despite Osprey’s inconsistency at times, is a team to be taken seriously – having beaten title contenders like the Stormers, Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors and Benetton (the latter a 43-0 whitewash)

“They are floating around close to the top eight, with Welsh internationals and experience.

“These guys are a genuine threat and can beat anyone on their day.

“As we know, we can lose to anyone on our day.

“We have our challenges around our game to solve.”

Ospreys coach Mark Jones described the Sharks as a ‘high-quality’ outfit with a lot of household names.

“They also have great depth with their young talent coming through,” Jones said.

“We’ve prepared as well as we can for them, but we’ve put a lot of focus on ourselves for these last two games.

“The key for us to be the best version of ourselves on the night, when we’ve done that this year, we’ve been a tough side to play against.”

(John Plumtree previews the Shark Tank face-off …)

* The other Friday game is the last of the season’s all-Irish derbies – Munster versus Ulster at • Munster make five changes as Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett and Diarmuid Kilgallen all come into the starting XV
Ulster’s Ian Henderson, Rob Baloucoune and Michael Lowry return for interprovincial clash with Munster.

Munster made five changes to their matchday team as veterans Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett and Diarmuid Kilgallen all came into the starting XV.

Ulster’s Ian Henderson, Rob Baloucoune and Michael Lowry return for the interprovincial clash.

Munster’s only victory in the last five rounds of the URC was 30-24 against Connacht at Castlebar in Round 14.

They have lost their last two URC matches at home and have not lost three home matches in a row since the 2015/16 season.

Ulster have lost their last two matches and have not lost three in a row since April 2022.

The Ulstermen have won just twice on their travels in the URC this season, beating Connacht in Galway in Round Nine and the Dragons in Newport in Round 13.

Munster have won three of their last four URC matches against Ulster, whilst the Ulstermen’s last victory at Thomond Park was 19-17 in May 2014.

All Friday’s teams and predictions follow below …

Sharks v Ospreys
(Kings Park, Durban – Kick-off: 19.00; 18.00 UK & Ireland time; 17.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Sharks by 12 points

Teams

Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Eben Etzebeth (captain), 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Dian Bleuler.
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Emmanuel Tshituka, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Francois Venter, 23 .Yaw Penxe

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Morgan Morse, 7 Jac Morgan (captain), 6 James Ratti, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Spencer, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Steffan Thomas, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Will Griffiths, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Iestyn Hopkins.

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Morné Ferreira (South Africa), Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

Munster v Ulster
(Thomond Park, Limerick – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Munster by eight points

Teams

Munster: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Michael Milne.
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Tom Ahern, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Seán O’Brien, 23 Alex Kendellen.

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jack Stockdale, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 James McNabney, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 4 Iain Henderson (captain), 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 David McCann, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Werner Kok.

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Andrew Fogarty (Ireland)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)

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