Sharks’ Path To Hosting URC Final At Kings Park

The Hollywoodbets Sharks have a potential path to hosting the Vodacom United Rugby Championship final at Kings Park Stadium in the coming weeks, though it would require a specific set of results to go their way.

This scenario emerged after Jake White’s Vodacom Bulls and John Plumtree’s Sharks ensured that a South African team will compete in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship final for the fourth successive year.

The Sharks bravely overcame Munster in a place-kick shootout on Saturday at Kings Park Stadium, with substitute Bradley Davids emerging as the hero for the Durban-based side in their 6-4 victory.

In contrast to the Sharks, who endured over 100 minutes of play to secure their win, the Bulls delivered a composed performance under pressure in a competitive encounter against Edinburgh in Pretoria on Saturday, registering a 42-33 victory at Loftus Versfeld.

These results mean that the two top South African teams will face each other in the semi-final next weekend. The Bulls will host Plumtree’s side at Loftus Versfeld due to their higher finish in the league standings.

Although the Bulls, who lost last season’s final to Scottish side Glasgow Warriors, finished higher, a Sharks victory in Pretoria would see them reach the competition’s final for the first time.

However, for the Sharks to host the final in Durban, they would need the defending champions, Glasgow Warriors, to defeat the formidable Irish side Leinster, who finished atop the overall rankings, in the other semi-final. The Warriors finished below the Sharks in the overall standings.

Should this happen, South African sides would have hosted three of the four finals in this prestigious competition, with the Stormers having won it at DHL Stadium in 2022.

In their hard-fought victory over Munster, the Sharks failed to score any points in the first half, while the Irish side secured a try and conversion. Plumtree was asked about his half-time team talk that inspired their second-half resurgence.

“With 15 minutes to go before half time, we started getting the momentum we needed,” Plumtree explained. “We started looking like we were getting on top of them. All the leaders were pretty calm in the changing room, although we were a bit frustrated because we have been in that spot for the last four to five weeks now.”

He continued, “Things we needed to tidy up for us to get back in the game. The main thing was, when we got the momentum, we were dangerous; you could see that side was coming, and we were good. So, there are good learnings for us. The team has been criticized for the attack, but I think we were the best attacking team out there, although we didn’t take all our opportunities. So, that puts us in good stead ahead of next week.”

Pic courtesy of Steve Haag