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The South African Hollywoodbets Sharks are in 4th place on the URC log and head to Kingspan Stadium on April 26th in Round 16 to take on an Ulster side who are ranked 10th. The Sharks are looking to win two on the road following last week’s narrow 18-17 win over Edinburgh, which saw the return of Eben Etzebeth for the first time since December in a Springbok-laden side.
The home side will be licking their wounds after their 17-41 loss at the hands of Leinster and are only three points off the 8th place Stormers in their search for a quarterfinal spot. Ulster Rugby’s three-game winning run in the BKT United Rugby Championship was ended with that defeat to Leinster last weekend.
The Sharks and Ulster's respective records over the past six games are similar when looking at the results, with the South Africans winning 4/6, which includes two on the road, while Ulster has won 3/6.
When they last played at home, Ulster beat fellow South African franchise the Stormers 38-34. In total, the Ulstermen have won all eleven home games they have played against South African opponents in the URC, which bodes well for them against a Sharks side which has under performed this season and been inconsistent considering the international firepower they have in their squad.
Furthermore, history is not on their side as the Sharks have lost on all eight previous visits they have made to Irish provinces in the URC, and the pressure is on Head Coach John Plumtree as they are out of European Cup contention, and fans have been frustrated with the hot and cold season so far. Before this two-match tour, Plumtree said, “We’ve had good preparation and we want to have a good tour, and try and set ourselves up for a home quarter and potentially a home semi if we win our next four games.”
The Sharks' sole silverware this season was claiming their first SA Shield in the URC.
Some of the players to watch for the Sharks are Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who has 7 tries this season (joint-second in the URC), but it was his Bok teammates wing Makazole Mapimpi and fullback Aphelele Fassi who were both on the score sheet last week, with Mapimpi becoming the franchise's all-time leading try scorer with his try. The class and threats in the midfield means the homeside will need to contain Springboks Lukhanyo Am and Andre Esterhuizen.
Ulster's Jacob Stockdale made the most meters for his side with 125m in the loss last weekend (the most in the URC last weekend, and 6th overall for the season) as well as the highest number of offloads and defenders beaten (second overall this season in the competition), and made overall the third most carries (18) in the competition against Leinster!
Shark’s Jordan Hendrikse occupies second spot on the tournament leading points scorers and comes into the match with a tally of 111, while Ulster’s Jack Murphy has been the URC’s best percentage kicker with 10/10; however, it is Nathan Doak who is the Irish side’s top point scorer with 53 points.
Ulster have managed to rack up more tries than the Sharks this campaign despite their lower position on the URC log heading into Round 16, with the side scoring 51 tries compared to the Sharks' 48. Despite that stat, the number of carries for each side suggests the Sharks are far more lethal with the ball in hand as they have carried far less throughout the campaign, with only 1655 carries (3rd least) and gaining 5656 metres vs Ulster’s 2070 carries (4th most) and gaining 5208 metres. Defensively, both sides are in the bottom five in the URC for tackles made.
| # | Team | PL | W | L | D | PD | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Leinster Rugby | 15 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 220 | 11 | 67 |
| 2 |  Glasgow Warriors | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 182 | 14 | 58 |
| 3 |  Vodacom Bulls | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 110 | 10 | 54 |
| 4 |  Hollywoodbets Sharks | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 49 |
| 5 |  Benetton Treviso | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | -51 | 7 | 41 |
| 6 |  Cardiff Rugby | 15 | 7 | 7 | 1 | -39 | 11 | 41 |
| 7 |  Munster Rugby | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | -7 | 12 | 40 |
| 8 |  DHL Stormers | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | -8 | 12 | 40 |
| 9 |  Scarlets | 15 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 28 | 8 | 38 |
| 10 |  Ulster Rugby | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | -41 | 9 | 37 |
| 11 |  Edinburgh Rugby | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 24 | 13 | 37 |
| 12 |  Connacht Rugby | 15 | 5 | 10 | 0 | -33 | 15 | 35 |
| 13 |  Ospreys | 15 | 6 | 8 | 1 | -30 | 7 | 33 |
| 14 |  Emirates Lions | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | -45 | 7 | 31 |
| 15 |  Zebre Rugby | 15 | 5 | 10 | 0 | -120 | 7 | 27 |
| 16 |  Dragons | 15 | 1 | 14 | 0 | -193 | 5 | 09 |
Last week, the Sharks should consider the victory as one that was fortuitous with a last-gasp try, although they stayed in the fight until the end to snatch victory from defeat - they were under par. Their discipline this season has also been poor as they have conceded the second most yellow cards thus far (15), which is three times as many as Ulster. Last week, both Sharks and Springboks Lukhanyo Am and Eben Etzebeth received yellow cards within a minute of one another.
The head-to-head record favours Ulster, but the two sides have met only three times, with Ulster having won twice, and the most recent fixture saw Ulster beat the Sharks 24-21 in their only previous visit to Belfast in May 2022. All three previous fixtures were decided by ten points or less, so it's likely to be another close encounter on Saturday.
Ulster have averaged 24 points per game this season, and the Sharks are only one better at 25 - but we see the Sharks pipping the Ulstermen by the slightest of margins and gaining their first win on Irish soil in the URC.
There are only three rounds of the regular URC season remaining, including this weekend’s round of fixtures.
