South Africa’s derbies are the most watched among South Africans in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. They are also the most important match-ups when it comes to Springbok selection.
South Africa’s four competing clubs play each other home and away in the league and on several occasions the South African team have met in the playoffs, with the DHL Stormers hosting the Vodacom Bulls in the inaugural URC season. The Stormers won that final 18-13, which set them on their way to a winning streak of seven against their northern rivals.
The Bulls, in the URC, pulled it back with a first victory at Loftus Versfeld last season and a 33-32 first-ever win at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town a few weeks ago. That victory could so easily have been a two-point defeat as the Stormers had the chance to win the match with a conversion with just seconds left on the clock. The kick was missed and the Bulls claimed a second win in the nine match-ups.
Jake White’s Bulls are the favourites to make it three in a row in Pretoria when the Stormers visit, which would also constitute a streak — but as the showdown in Cape Town emphasised, very little in terms of league position or form matters when two South African teams clash. The derby element is an occasion and this occasion also doubles as a Springbok selection trial every time.
The Bulls and Sharks are currently in the top four of the league and if one puts on a national pair of glasses, then the cheerleading will be for Bulls' and Sharks' wins to consolidate their top placement.
But from a club supporter and player perspective, the South African landscape in league placings is second to the clubs' aspirations when it comes to these local derbies. Often we have seen a South African team lower in the league knock over a high-riding SA team and scupper their playoff prospects.
The Lions and Stormers, despite sitting outside the top-eight playoff positions, remain confident of making the top eight. Their coaches and players have spoken publicly of their belief that they are good enough to win away from home in a playoff environment.
If the Bulls and Sharks are playing for a more comforting top-four position, the Lions and Stormers are quite the opposite. They are in the trenches and another defeat will make for a decidedly difficult last six league matches.
There is life in the campaigns of the Stormers and Lions, regardless of the result — but wins on Saturday would make that pulse decidedly healthier
The seemingly impossible is possible in this league. I use the Munster example in the second season of the URC. Munster finished with 55 league points, 24 behind table-topping Leinster. Munster then went on an away rampage, in terms of scalps, winning four league matches in succession, then winning in Glasgow in the quarterfinal and beating Leinster in Dublin by a last-minute drop goal in the semifinal before going to Cape Town and defying the odds in edging the Stormers 19-14 in front of 56,000 spectators.
There is life in the campaigns of the Stormers and Lions, regardless of the result — but wins on Saturday would make that pulse decidedly healthier. A win would also make statements of intent to the national coach Rassie Erasmus, in terms of character, fight, determination and the refusal to give up a chase. These are the qualities Erasmus seeks in his player identification. The challenge for those knocking on the door of Springbok selection is to produce the remarkable in the most challenging of circumstances.
Individually there is so much to gain for players in these derbies — but equally there is risk in getting knocked back in the national pecking order.
The core of the 2019 and 2023 World Cup-winning Springboks are still playing in South Africa and abroad — and playing particularly well. But there is a surge of young talent charging and it is the noise of those hoofs that is going to make for an even more thrilling weekend of local URC derbies.
Whatever the result, know that the two matches will deliver in quality and passion.
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