BREAKING: Sharks and Lions URC games suddenly postponed

According to a statement released on Friday, “due to gastroenteritis infections it is not possible for Ulster or Glasgow Warriors to field full playing squads”, leading to the first match postponements of this URC season.

“In order to ensure a duty of care towards the players involved and given the medical advice received from all key stakeholders, the United Rugby Championship has made the decision to postpone the fixtures,” a statement read. “The league will now move to examine potential dates to reschedule the games and will update in due course.”

The Lions were set to face Glasgow in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon, while the Sharks were then scheduled to face Ulster immediately afterwards. But these games have now been postponed.

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The Bulls and Stormers will now fly the SA flag in the URC

The Bulls will kick off the weekend’s URC action on Friday evening when they go up against Benetton in Treviso, while Cardiff and the Stormers will face off in Wales.

The Bulls will be desperate to bounce back from two away defeats as they enter their final tour game against the seventh-placed Benetton in Italy, but given the close margins between the teams in the competition so far it is expected to be a humdinger.

Both teams have won three of their five matches to date, with the sides currently tied on 14 log points, but the Pretoria side’s favourable points’ difference bolstered by a slightly better attack and defence nudged them one place higher on the standings.

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Jake White’s men were left disappointed in the last two weeks, going down against the Glasgow Warriors and Munster after surging to a strong start in the competition with three victories in a row in South Africa, and they will be determined to change their fortunes this week.

the Stormers will have clearly defined objectives going into their clash against Cardiff in Wales – one of which will be to remain one of only two teams in the competition yet to suffer defeat (the other is Leinster).

The Capetonians started the tournament with a bang winning their first three matches, but they were unable to make it four in a row as they were forced to settle for a 16-16 draw against Ospreys last week.

Cardiff, however, are also fresh off back-to-back victories, and they will want to take full advantage of playing at home, but they will have to tighten up their defence in particular to achieve this feat after conceding close to double the number of points to their Cape counterparts.

The Welsh side will also enter the clash well aware of the fact that a victory could see them leap a few spots up the log, which could set the scene for an epic encounter.

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