Opinion: South African teams exploit conditions to gain foothold in United Rugby Championship

Recent matches in South Africa have highlighted the unique challenges of the United Rugby Championship and shown why the top South African teams will be a force at the back end of the tournament.

The Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers hosted European clubs in the URC for the first time over the weekend. It was an immensely successful round from a South African perspective, as the four local franchises won all of their fixtures and combined for 19 out of a possible 20 table points.

The Sharks scored four tries in their 37-20 win against Scarlets in Durban. In the big match of the weekend, the Bulls claimed a narrow yet important 29-24 victory against Munster in Pretoria.

The Lions were good enough to bank a 37-20 bonus-point win over Cardiff in Johannesburg, while the Stormers ran in nine tries in their 55-7 hammering of Zebre Parma in Stellenbosch.

None of those performances were particularly polished, and some of those South African teams have come in for criticism for poor game management and finishing in subsequent days.

Such criticism, of course, is a sure sign that the standards in South African rugby remain high. We should expect sharper showings from these teams when they host other European clubs over the next seven weeks.

The inaugural United Rugby Championship has presented a number of challenges to all teams based across the various countries. Apart from a series of Covid-19 setbacks, most sides have battled to adapt to foreign conditions – and in the case of South African teams, referee interpretations – when travelling to a different hemisphere.

This past weekend, we finally got to see clubs from Ireland, Wales and Italy in action down south. As expected, the searing summer heat took its toll on the visiting