The Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks kept the South African flag flying in a drama-filled knock-out round of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, with both teams winning their quarter-finals, which will see them face off against one another in an all-South African semi-final in Pretoria next Saturday.
The Vodacom Bulls will have their sights set squarely on booking their second Vodacom United Rugby Championship grand final spot in three seasons when they host Leinster in the first semi-final at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon, when they will fly the flag as the last remaining South African team in the cross-hemisphere showpiece.
The full Vodacom United Rugby Championship schedule for the 2024/25 campaign is now available thanks to the first-ever in-season launch of the following seasons’ fixtures.
Newly-crowned Super Rugby Pacific champions Canterbury Crusaders are set to play Munster and the Bristol Bears on a European tour next February.
Munster’ success against the odds in the United Rugby Championship at the weekend was hailed for its character and the resilience showed after weeks on the road.
Munster earned their first Vodacom United Rugby Championship title since 2011 in front of a record crowd of over 56 300 fans as they scored a late try to deny hosts, the DHL Stormers, their second successive title at home, thanks to a narrow 19-14 victory in an intense Grand Final in Cape Town on Saturday night.
The DHL Stormers will channel all their energy into Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship decider with the hope of winning back-to-back titles when they host Irish giants, Munster, in the Grand Final in Cape Town.
It’s bigger than a Springbok Test match. It’s easily the biggest in the history of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. In fact, only the mega pop band U2 has managed bigger. There’s no doubt that this weekend’s Grand Final between the DHL Stormers and Munster has shattered records on all fronts.
Irish club Munster arrived in South Africa on Tuesday with a familiar face whose return to rugby could be a boost for his country at the World Cup later in the year.
The DHL Stormers, Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Bulls will have everything to play for on Saturday in a tough round of Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarter-finals – their biggest challenge of the season so far.