Every points counts in URC battle for home-ground advantage

Gerhard Steenekamp and Johan Grobbelaar of the Bulls combine to stop Manie Libbok of the Stormers during the United Rugby Championship game

FILE - Gerhard Steenekamp and Johan Grobbelaar of the Bulls combine to stop Manie Libbok of the Stormers during the United Rugby Championship game. Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix

Published Apr 21, 2022

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Durban — With three rounds of the United Rugby Championship to go, the tops teams have everything to play for after confirmation that the highest finishers will have a home-ground advantage in the play-offs, starting with the quarter-finals.

And the inaugural URC will conclude with a Grand Final which will take place at the home venue of the highest-ranked team, where the first-ever URC champions will be crowned.

This clarification from the URC organisers on Thursday will heighten the importance for teams in the playoffs hunt to pick up every available point over the remaining three rounds of fixtures.

Among those games are 12 clashes between North and South and 14 head-to-heads between teams currently in playoff contention.

Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship CEO, explained: “With some thrilling rugby ahead of us the time is right to confirm our plans for the first-ever United Rugby Championship Grand Final. For this campaign, it is important to understand how our teams and their fans are returning to normality after so long away from stadia and that our job is to deliver the best Grand Final we can in these circumstances.

“The reward of the highest-ranked team hosting the Grand Final adds even more to the competitive edge over the closing rounds of the league that will set us up for incredible play-offs which now showcases our best eight teams in a battle to reach the Grand Final.”

Of the South African teams in contention for a top-eight finish, the Bulls are currently eighth (43 points), the Sharks are sixth (46) and the Stormers are fifth (47).

Leinster are way out in front on 60 points from Ulster (50), Glasgow (50) and Munster (47), with the latter ahead of the Stormers on points difference).

The United Rugby Championship Play-Offs

– The Final Eight teams from the league table qualify for the quarter-final stage

– Teams are then ranked 1 to 8 with the top four teams earning home games for the Final Eight stage

– The two highest-ranked winners from the Final Eight (quarter-finals) will play their Final Four fixtures (semi-finals) at home

– The two winners from the Final Four will qualify for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship Final with the highest-ranked team hosting the game

@MikeGreenaway67

IOL Sport