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URC semi-finals confirmed with South African side set for the final
By Josh Raisey
Four United Rugby Championship quarter-finals are complete, and it was four wins for the home sides, meaning the quartet that finished the regular season at the top of the ladder will battle it out in the semi-finals next weekend.
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League leaders Leinster will get proceedings underway on Saturday, June 7, when they host reigning champions Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium at 14:45 local time.
Leo Cullen and Jacques Nienaber’s side defeated eighth-place Scarlets 33-21 on Saturday in a performance that was not the province at their coruscant best at times, but they had enough firepower on their bench – boasting RG Snyman and Dan Sheehan – to get the job done.
They will host fourth-place Glasgow Warriors who saw off fifth-place Stormers 36-18 in impressive fashion at Scotstoun even with a handful of their Scotland internationals injured.
Leinster and Glasgow have already met in a play-off match at the Aviva Stadium this season, where Franco Smith’s side were unceremoniously spat out of the Investec Champions Cup at the quarter-final stage in a resounding 52-0 loss. The pair have met since, in the final round of the URC regular season, where Leinster triumphed again 13-5.
Second-place Bulls will host their South African rivals the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld in the second semi-final later on Saturday at 18:15 local time (17:15 BST).
After a nervy start at home, where Edinburgh raced to a 3-14 lead, Jake White’s side were able to pull away in the second-half of their quarter-final to seal a 42-33 win and book a semi-final at their veritable fortress Loftus.
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Their opponents were confirmed in the final match of the weekend in Durban as the third-place Sharks and sixth-place Munster went to a penalty shootout following a 24-24 draw. Eben Etzebeth’s side prevailed, securing an all-South African semi-final.
The second semi-final means a South African side is guaranteed to feature in the final again – for the fourth time in the first four seasons of the URC.
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