Advertisement
Fourteen down, four to go. The United Rugby Championship is rounding onto the home straight and the consequences for losing are multiplying with every passing game. Here’s five things we learned from the URC round 14.
The boys in blue secured another bonus point win at home against the Scarlets on Friday night, but those in attendance agreed it was a scoreline that flattered the hosts. Leinster fell behind early in the game and were frustrated by a combination of tenacious Scarlets play effort and shocking discipline.
Within just 17 minutes of the match, they have conceded 7 penalties and already been show a yellow card – their 15th in the URC this season. Fortunately, the team they were facing had discipline trouble of their own, with the Scarlets being reduced to 13 men thanks to daft, cynical infringements. A quick flurry of tries after half time took the game away from the visitors, but Leo Cullen admitted afterwards he was unhappy with Leinster’s effort both on and off the ball.
They once again conceded three tries and were lucky not to concede a couple more. Meanwhile, their repeated attempts to launch attacks from their own half repeatedly fell apart, almost always due to skill errors on their own part rather than excellent Scarlets defence.
Cullen blamed lack of cohesion due to player resting for their struggles, but that excuse is a hard sell once you get to the end of March. The fact is, this team looks some way short of challenging for European silverwear this season.
An early kick-off? A free-flowing attack? A nervy finish? It must be the Bulls! The Pretorians welcomed back old adversaries Munster to Loftus on Saturday looking to continue their strong run of recent form. After an awful start to the season, Johan Akkerman’s men have now won six of their last seven matches and have scored at least 34 points in four of their last five.
Munster still managed to make them sweat, refusing to go away as the returning Craig Casey and Jack Crowley transformed them from the lacklustre outfit thrashed by the Sharks last week. However, the Bulls were able to rely on excellent goal kicking from star fly-half Handre Pollard to see them over the line.
Pollard has slowly been playing himself into form after a so-so 2025, and his two long range penalties in the second half were beautifully struck. If the Bulls want to continue their ascent up the table, Pollard’s improved form will play a key role.
Denying the Sharks a winning bonus point and getting a losing bonus point of their own can be considered job done for Cardiff. Many onlookers said they were unfortunate not to come away from Durban with more, but this phase of the season was always going to be about Cardiff picking up one or two points wherever they can.
Having looked like they might be home and dry in the play-offs, Cardiff now face a nervy run-in. Back-to-back derbies is the last thing they would have wanted, having traditionally struggled in those fixtures. A Challenge Cup run could prove an unnecessary distraction, with the Blue & Blacks squad depth set to be tested. The last game against the Stormers could end up being a must win.
The Lions have shot up the league to the heady heights of 5th, a surprisingly strong performance after 14 games. In recent weeks, they have played some of their best rugby – showcasing excellent ball handling and superb interplay as they streak up the field to score their trademark counterattacking tries. This weekend’s game against the Dragons was no different, with some wonderful skills on show,
However, round 14 could be the last time we see this version of the Lions this season. A run of four consecutive home games maybe have artificially boosted their form. They have two more home games coming up – one against league topping Glasgow and one against an in-form Connacht.
To finish the season, they have back-to-back games in Ireland against Leinster and Munster - a huge challenge for a team who have not won outside of South Africa at all in 2025/26. Based on the difficulty of their other fixtures, that Connacht game is now a must-win.
It was effectively knock-out rugby in Galway as Connacht host the Ospreys. Both teams have shown decent for of late but needed to keep the points coming to avoid falling adrift of the leading pack.
Connacht showed the more ambition ball-in-hand but spent too much of the first half playing in their own territory. Ospreys were able to pounce on Connacht errors to keep themselves in touch, despite seeing much less of the ball.
In the end, it was Ulster bound Matthew Devine who produce a moment of magic to carve open the stubborn Ospreys defence and create the game-winning try. Home fans were annoyed they kicked the ball out instead of chasing the bonus point, but the win was what mattered most. Ospreys are still mathematically in the hunt for top 8 but, realistically, a 10 point gap with four games to go will be a bridge too far.