Bulls and Stormers keep home playoff hopes alive
The Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers kept alive their aspirations to host Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoffs in a largely rewarding weekend for the South African teams, with the only blemish being the Emirates Lions’ defeat against defending champions, Munster.

Bulls and Boland surge ahead in Women’s Premier Division
The Bulls Daisies and Sanlam Boland Dames kept their unbeaten records intact in the third round of the Women’s Premier Division with big victories over EP Queens and Golden Lions Women respectively on Saturday, while Border Ladies and DHL Western Province remained in the top four with wins over the Sharks and Free State Women.

SA Cup log leaders in unstoppable mood
There is no stopping the leaders on the SA Cup log, Suzuki Griquas and the Airlink Pumas, as they continued with their unbeaten run in the sixth round of the competition, while the NovaVit Griffons and Toyota Cheetahs recorded good victories to remain in touch with the frontrunners.

Junior Boks settling in at their Brisbane base
The Junior Springboks arrived at their tournament base in Queensland, Australia on Thursday evening and had their first recovery and training activities on Friday morning as they resumed preparations for the inaugural Under-20 Rugby Championship, which starts next week at the Sunshine Coast Stadium outside Brisbane.

Big stadium exposure for Women’s Premier Division
The third round of the Women’s Premier Division will expose six of the eight teams in the competition to big stadium atmosphere this weekend and add to the exposure of the game to a wider rugby audience.

Leinster could drop in Vodacom URC round of jeopardy
The log battle has fast become the overriding narrative of this edition of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, and it is rare indeed for Leinster’s top spot on the standings to be under threat this late in the season.

Tshiremba adds speed to Bok Women’s Sevens in Singapore
Speedster Maria Tshiremba will make a welcome return to the Springbok Women’s Sevens squad for next weekend’s HSBC SVNS tournament in Singapore, the seventh of eight in the 2024 season.

Pressure mounts on SA sides in Vodacom URC
The South African franchises will be under immense pressure to bounce back strongly from disappointing results in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship last week – apart from the Emirates Lions – as the competition reaches the fourth-last pool round and the scramble for quarter-final spots reaches boiling point.

Chasing pack looking to close gap on frontrunners
With just four rounds of league action remaining in the SA Cup – including this weekend’s sixth round – the two frontrunners, Suzuki Griquas and the Airlink Pumas, will no doubt target their next matches to put more distance between them and the chasing pack.

Tackle height changes having a positive impact
SA Rugby praised referees, coaches, and players in the FNB Varsity Cup for their positive approach to the new tackle height laws that were introduced to the community game in South Africa this year – and already appear to be making a difference.