As a sold-out Loftus Versfeld prepares for another giant North-South Derby between the Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Saturday, it’s also taken Deon Fourie back to his high school rugby days and memories of watching this Derby from the stands.
The increasingly fluid nature of modern rugby as it moves from the Vodacom United Rugby Championship one weekend to the Guinness Six Nations the next and then back to the Investec Champions Cup thereafter is taking some getting used to for players, coaches and fans. But Springbok legend Jean de Villiers believes it does have its benefits.
The Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers made it two out of two against the Emirates Lions and Hollywoodbets Sharks respectively in entertaining Vodacom United Rugby Championship derbies in what marked their second outings against one another in as many rounds.
Saturday’s return leg Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash between the Hollywoodbets Sharks and DHL Stormers at Hollywoodbets Kings Park promises to bring fireworks for the fans.
When it comes to this weekend’s Gauteng Derby between the Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls, which also forms part of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship’s Origins Rounds, Sanele Nohamba recalls how playing in the dusty streets of the Eastern Cape gave him a rugby mindset that he still uses today.
Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams will be sporting their school or club colours in a unique start to the second half of the competition this weekend, in the first of two special Origin Rounds rounds where the players’ rugby roots will be remembered and celebrated.
The Vodacom Bulls head into this weekend’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixture against the Emirates Lions well aware that mistakes are costly at this point in the season, and that the local Derbies in particular can expose this even further.
Jean de Villiers says the Vodacom United Rugby Championship is doing an incredible job of preparing a new generation of young players for the demands of Test rugby, and that this past weekend’s Six Nations action was another prime example of this.
The Vodacom Bulls kicked a late penalty goal – while the Emirates Lions missed a penalty attempt in injury time – to snatch a 30-28 victory in a humdinger of a Vodacom United Rugby Championship match against their Gauteng neighbours at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria in a game in which the teams were only two points apart at different stages of the match.
It was a rewarding weekend for the South African teams as all five sides qualified for the Round of 16 in the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup, with the Vodacom Bulls, DHL Stormers and Hollywoodbets Sharks all earning the right to host their playoff matches thanks to crucial victories over the weekend. (more…)