Plenty to be decided as URC reaches final round

Barring a miracle for Benetton, the top eight teams in the BKT United Rugby Championship are locked in, but ahead of the final round of games this weekend, there's still plenty of jockeying for position to be done.

With five points separating the Italians from eighth-place Sharks, and the South Africans 83 points better off in the points differential, the only outcome that would see those sides swapping places would be if Benetton picked off a huge win away to the Stormers, while also needing Munster to do a job on the Sharks.

Either of those results could be possible on a given day, but it's fanciful to think we could see both.

Complicating matters inside the top eight this weekend is the race for Heineken Champions Cup rugby.

With none of the four Welsh sides able to break into the top half, but a Champions Cup spot reserved for the Welsh Shield winners, it means whoever finishes eighth in the table this season will be missing out on a spot in the Champions Cup, unless they go on and win the URC.

The presence of Benetton and Scarlets in the Challenge Cup semi-finals next week also makes things interesting. Should either of those two go on and win the second-tier European title, then they'd snatch a Champions Cup qualification spot.

As such, should Connacht or Munster finish seventh in the table, their supporters will be praying for Toulon or Glasgow to lift the Challenge Cup trophy in Dublin next month.

Leinster have no such worries though. With first place long secure, Leo Cullen's side have more of a focus on next week's Champions Cup semi-final against Toulouse than they will likely have on this weekend's game against the Bulls in Pretoria.

The final round of the URC regular season is more of a scouting mission for the