Derby Drama Peaks In Final Round Of 2024 United Rugby Championship
Derby Drama Peaks In Final Round Of 2024 United Rugby Championship
The final URC round of 2024 is packed with derby clashes, rivalry drama and playoff stakes. Catch live matches, including Leinster vs. Munster.
Written by Briar Napier - @BriarNapier on X
The final United Rugby Championship round of the 2024 calendar year is sure to bring the drama.
And, if you didn’t get your fill of derby tension last weekend, you’re in luck, as a second slate of rivalries is on deck.
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Every fixture on the calendar has derby bragging rights on the line. Everyone suiting up to play this weekend will be aiming to start off 2025 with some added momentum as the grinds of both domestic and European competitions really begin to take hold.
Some of the most exciting rivalries in all of world rugby will be played this weekend, and if you’re looking for a way to end 2024 on a high note, look no further.
Here’s a look at each matchup for Round 9 of the URC season, with all matches being streamed live, and exclusively, on FloRugby in the United States:
NOTE: The Lions at Bulls match for Round 9 is scheduled for Feb. 22.
Leinster At Munster
Cracks In The Armor?
With a heavy likelihood to roll over Connacht at Aviva Stadium last round as the dominant table-toppers, title favorite Leinster instead got a major scare against the Westerners, who roared back from a 14-point halftime deficit and had a man advantage in the second half,
However, Connacht was just short of handing Leinster its first defeat of the year in a 20-12 loss.
Don’t make any mistake: Leinster still is by some margin the deepest side in the URC — especially with All Black Jordie Barrett now in the fold on a short-term deal — and can absolutely fly by other squads, but anything can happen in Leinster-Munster, one of the biggest games in rugby.
Munster lost its first fixture to Leinster back in Round 4 in front of over 80,000 spectators at Croke Park, but a bonus-point inter-pro win over Ulster last weekend (which also featured a Tom Farrell hat trick) may have just been the momentum boost Munster needed to get over the line in its upcoming return meeting with its hated adversary at Thomond Park.
Sharks At Stormers
Siya’s Situation
Both the Sharks and Stormers are coming into their showdown at the Cape Town Stadium with derby wins from this past round in tow, beating the Bulls and Lions, respectively, but that’s not the main story right now involving two giants of South African club rugby.
Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks legend Siya Kolisi initially was named to the Sharks’ squad against the Bulls, but he was forced to pull out due to a calf injury, though it certainly wasn’t the best timing, as reports are beginning to swirl that Kolisi could be bound for a move back to the Stormers soon.
The loose forward played for the Stormers from 2012-2020 and was a captain there before becoming the first Black captain of the Springboks, leading his country to back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles.
It remains to be seen if one of the most iconic players of his generation gets back to play this weekend against his former club, but no matter what, the rumors swirling around Kolisi are adding an interesting wrinkle to an otherwise already electric derby.
Glasgow Warriors At Edinburgh
Warriors’ Murrayfield Moment?
In a highly anticipated clash at Hampden Park that marked the first time the biggest fixture in Scottish club rugby had ever been played at Scotland’s national football stadium, the Warriors marked the historic occasion in front of over 27,000 fans by barnstorming to a 33-0 lead, with only a late Boan Venter brace for naught making it a (slightly) less dominant 33-14 victory for the reigning URC champions.
With the return fixture ahead at Murrayfield this weekend, Glasgow is heavily favored to take the 1872 Cup for the third straight year and for the third time in four years in the series’ current two-match format, especially considering that Edinburgh looked completely out of its depth against its biggest rival in Round 8.
Benetton At Zebre Parma
Insanity In Italy
Benetton-Zebre isn’t usually the URC derby that garners a ton of headlines, but maybe it should after how their first skirmish at the Stadio Monigo ended.
Low-scoring, but full of late drama, Zebre nearly took the win with under 10 minutes left, as Andrea Zambonin scored a try to give it its first lead of the match, but late mistakes from one of the table’s bottom-feeders — most crucially a penalty conceded deep inside its own half to give Benetton’s Rhyno Smith an easy go-ahead spot kick to win it — did Zebre in as Benetton won 11-10.
It has been a rough few weeks for Zebre, which was put up for sale by the Italian Rugby Federation earlier this month, but bursts of good play against Benetton last weekend proved that what could be an emotional win in Parma this weekend against their rivals is very much possible.
Ulster At Connacht
Family Matters
Having already coached against one of his sons this season, Ulster coach Richie Murphy may now get the opportunity to see two of his children face off against one another — coaching one, while scheming against another — in a senior club rugby match for the first time.
Connacht scrum-half Ben Murphy, who joined from Leinster in the summer, faced off against his father when Ulster defeated Connacht in their first meeting in October, but now Ulster fly-half and brother Jack Murphy (who made his senior debut last week against Munster), has found his way into the Ulster side, creating a potential brother vs. brother showdown with dad on Jack’s side - if both suit up in Galway this weekend.
Though it could make for a feel-good moment for Richie, he’s still in dire need of a win all the same; Ulster is winless in five matches across all competitions, including losing this past round in Belfast to Munster in a different derby tussle.
Ospreys At Cardiff
The Mark Jones Effect
A longtime Wales international who had competed for the Scarlets for much of his career, Mark Jones — suddenly was put in charge of the Ospreys after the defense coach was promoted to interim boss following the sacking of Toby Booth earlier this month — made sure his first impression in Swansea was a good one in coaching against the only professional club for which he ever played.
Down 19-8 at the half this past weekend, the Ospreys (who haven’t lost to the Scarlets in Swansea for seven years) got late heroics and a go-ahead try in the dying embers of the match from replacement fullback Iestyn Hopkins to pick up a much-needed victory.
Can Jones make it two derby wins in a row this weekend, however?
We’ll see what Cardiff brings to the table after its Boxing Day derby clash with the Dragons (which has not been played at the time of this writing), but perhaps the winds of change will be a long-term benefit for the Ospreys.
Dragons At Scarlets
Fine Margins
The Scarlets’ loss to the Ospreys didn’t knock them out of the all-important eighth place (the last spot for knockout-round qualification) in the URC table, but considering that only four points separate seventh place and 14th place in the standings, there is not much room for error for coach Dwayne Peel’s side if it wants to stay in the top half and avoid being surpassed by any new-year surges from clubs below them.
What hasn’t helped Scarlet's case in losing three out of four matches in all competitions, however, is that all three of those defeats have come by two points or fewer, including another one in URC play (in Round 7 last month) against the defending URC champion Glasgow Warriors.
A few chances converted here and a few letdowns avoided there, and we could’ve been talking about a Scarlets team in a much different light right now, but alas, a bounce-back victory against the last-place Dragons will be something that the Scarlets need that much more.
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