One Big Thing To Know About Every Round 4 Match In The URC
One Big Thing To Know About Every Round 4 Match In The URC
Munster Rugby travels to Leinster, but the other Irish Rugby matchup between Connacht and Ulster has its own compelling narrative.
Like your rugby union with a little bit of drama mixed in? Then Round 4 of the United Rugby Championship is for you.
Three high-octane derby fixtures — including maybe the biggest club rivalry in the world — are on the menu as the thick of the URC season kicks into high gear, with plenty of placement to play for so early in the season. Every match is imperative to United Rugby Championship.
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The URC slate isn’t slowing down for a few more weeks, as club rugby is in full force before the end-of-year international tests get underway, so enjoy it while it lasts, and get ready for another pulsating weekend of rugby across the URC.
Here’s a look at one big thing you need to know about every Round 4 match in the United Rugby Championship this weekend, streaming live in the United States, exclusively on FloRugby:
Zebre Parma At Glasgow Warriors
Warriors Attack In High Gear
After an underwhelming loss to Ulster in Round 1, the defending league champion Warriors have absolutely kicked their form up a notch over the past two weeks and firmly announced they don't plan to go away from the elite tier of URC teams anytime soon.
Fly-half Tom Jordan was the FloRugby Player of the Week after a brilliant individual display that featured two tries, two penalties and five conversions in Glasgow’s 52-36 demolition of Cardiff in the Welsh capital, with he and Kyle Rowe both scoring braces as part of an eight-try haul for the Warriors.
They’ll be heavily favored at home against Zebre, but the Italians have demanded respect from the league’s top teams — even after they were battered 36-5 by the Stormers in Round 3 — since they pulled off one of the biggest upsets in URC history in Round 2 by stunningly taking down Munster in Parma.
Still, lightning shouldn’t strike twice in Glasgow if all goes well for the champions this weekend.
Scarlets At Cardiff Rugby
An Early Derby Rematch
It’s a big derby weekend across the URC, but in the case of Scarlets-Cardiff, we’ve already gotten a look at how the two Welsh rivals go at each other.
Cardiff picked up a 25-14 win at the Parc y Scarlets in Round 2, picking up a bonus point after a four-try haul from four different scorers (Liam Belcher, Mason Grady, Harri Millard and Ben Thomas), and the club from the capital will be trying to make it 2 for 2 against their rivals in this weekend’s return fixture at the Cardiff Arms Park.
Recently crowned Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association Welsh Young Player of the Year Cameron Winnett will be aiming to be one of the main difference-makers for Cardiff, which hopes to keep the Scarlets winless, though they have drawn with Benetton and were just two points away from defeating Connacht last round, helped by a brace from longtime servant for club and country Gareth Davies.
Hollywoodbets Sharks At Benetton Rugby
What’s Wrong At Benetton?
Usually the better of the two Italian teams in the competition, that definitely has not been the case for Benetton through three rounds, as it is anchored to the bottom of the table on just two points and a league-worst minus-62 scoring differential.
Benetton was stomped 35-5 at home by Leinster in Round 3, giving up a penalty try and scoring only after it got a man advantage late in the second half. The Italians have gone from being playoff quarterfinalists a year ago to completely off the pace early on in the season.
The pursuit of a first win continues for coach Marco Bortolami’s side against the Sharks, who pulled off a dramatic last-minute victory against the Dragons at Rodney Parade last weekend when Fez Mbatha crossed over for a try in added time.
DHL Stormers At Edinburgh Rugby
What’s Wrong At Edinburgh?
It doesn’t matter if Edinburgh respectably fought back in the second half against the Lions in Round 3 at Ellis Park, allowing eight tries and an eye-popping 48 points in the first half is simply not good enough to win matches in the URC.
The only team in the competition without a win or draw through three rounds, Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt told the BBC that the defeat in South Africa was “embarrassing,” and he was right, especially considering that his side only missed out on the Champions Cup places last season by one point.
Things won’t get any easier this weekend, even at the Hive Stadium, as another South African side in the Stormers is up next on the docket, though Edinburgh might get a boost if Scotland's record try-scorer Duhan van der Merwe (who was a late injury scratch in Johannesburg) is back in the fold to beef up its attack.
Munster Rugby At Leinster Rugby
This Is A Blockbuster
Arguably the most high-profile, high-stakes derby match in the URC, the first Munster-Leinster clash of the year always is a highly anticipated fixture, and that won’t change this weekend at a raucous Croke Park, where upwards of 75,000 spectators are expected to watch one of the finest non-test rugby rivalries in the world.
Munster, which recovered from a shock defeat to Zebre Parma in Round 2 by shutting out the Ospreys this past weekend, will be short-handed for derby day, as captain Peter O’Mahony and prop Oli Jager — plus a host of other top contributors — already have been ruled out for the match, meaning its depth will be crucial if it wants to topple their table-topping rival.
And speaking of depth, Leinster unsurprisingly has a lot of it; having three bonus-point wins and being four points clear in first place in the table is pretty much as good as it gets. Plus, Springboks lock RG Snyman (who switched from Munster to Leinster in the offseason) likely will be the target of jeers from the traveling Munster supporters as he faces his former team for the first time.
Vodacom Bulls At Ospreys
Bulls’ Boks Going Abroad
It was up in the air whether or not the Bulls would get many (or any) of their many South Africa internationals for their upcoming European tour to play the Ospreys, Scarlets and Benetton, but coach Jake White got some good news this week.
It’s a busy couple of months to end the year for the Springboks as they’ll begin their end-of-year tour in the UK with tests against England, Scotland and Wales in November, so the fact that White got clearance from those in the Boks brass to bring along the Bulls’ numerous national team players — such as Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Ruan Nortje and many others — for URC play over the next few weeks is a big deal and immediately gives the Bulls a boost for their tour abroad ahead.
Arendse in particular will have a point to prove; he’s joining Japanese side Sagamihara Dynaboars after the Springboks’ tour on a sabbatical, meaning these upcoming appearances will be his last for the Bulls until May of next year.
Connacht Rugby At Ulster Rugby
Interpro’s Always Intriguing
Though the Munster-Leinster clash often grabs the headlines when it comes to Irish rugby derby matches, don’t sleep on how wild Connacht-Ulster can get, especially in regard to the way the Westerners are playing.
Galway-based Connacht got a narrow victory (24-23) on the road at the Scarlets last round, as 23-year-old scrum-half Ben Murphy (who left Leinster in the summer) has scored three tries in as many matches with his new club as one of the premier standouts of a side currently fourth in the standings.
His own father, Ulster coach Richie Murphy, will need to scheme against him and the rest of Connacht — which also includes Ireland national team stalwarts, such as Mack Hansen and Bundee Aki — at the Kingspan Stadium coming off of the back of two losses in South Africa to the Lions and the Bulls.
Emirates Lions At Dragons RFC
Can The Lions Play A Full 80?
Currently the top-ranked South African team in the URC table (sixthm despite only playing two matches), the Lions already have a plus-47 scoring differential and are one of only five teams in the competition with at least 90 points scored. They're also the only one of that bunch that hasn’t played three matches.
The catch so far for coach Ivan van Rooyen’s men is that they haven’t really played a dominant 80-minute match yet.
Case in point: against Edinburgh, the Lions’ 48-0 halftime advantage was the largest lead after 40 minutes in the history of the URC, but the South Africans only ended up winning 55-21.
While the Dragons have lost two straight going into Round 4, every opponent is tough in the URC, and the Lions must keep focused for an entire match if they want to keep their form consistent.
URC Standings Table After Round 3
Rank | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Pts Diff | Bonus | Points |
1 | Leinster Rugby | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 42 | 60 | 3 | 15 |
2 | Glasgow Warriors | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 113 | 66 | 47 | 3 | 11 |
3 | Munster Rugby | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 91 | 75 | 16 | 3 | 11 |
4 | Connacht Rugby | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 93 | 88 | 5 | 3 | 11 |
5 | Cardiff Rugby | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 82 | 84 | -2 | 3 | 11 |
6 | Emirates Lions | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 43 | 47 | 2 | 10 |
7 | Vodacom Bulls | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 37 | 32 | 1 | 9 |
8 | Hollywoodbets Sharks | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 63 | 66 | -3 | 2 | 6 |
9 | Ospreys | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 58 | 70 | -12 | 2 | 6 |
10 | Zebre Parma | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 64 | 91 | -27 | 2 | 6 |
11 | Dragons RFC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 59 | 88 | -29 | 2 | 6 |
12 | DHL Stormers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 42 | 18 | 1 | 5 |
13 | Ulster Rugby | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 63 | 101 | -38 | 1 | 5 |
14 | Scarlets | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 58 | 68 | -10 | 1 | 3 |
15 | Edinburgh Rugby | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 68 | 110 | -42 | 3 | 3 |
16 | Benetton Rugby | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 97 | -62 | 0 | 2 |
URC Rugby Schedule For Week 4 Fixtures
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URC Rugby Fixtures Friday, Oct. 11
URC Rugby Fixtures Saturday, Oct. 12
- Noon ET - Benetton vs Sharks
- Noon ET - Cardiff vs Scarlets
- 12:15 p.m. ET - Edinburgh vs DHL Stormers
- 2:45 p.m. ET - Leinster vs Munster
- 2:35 p.m. ET - Ospreys vs Vodacom Bulls
- 3 p.m. ET - Ulster vs Connacht
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