Bok-laden Bulls and injury-plagued Stormers face uphill URC semis challenges

The Bulls have named a Springbok-laden squad to face No 1 seeds Glasgow Warriors in the United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-finals at Murrayfield on Saturday, which included a 150th cap for hooker Johan Grobbelaar and 100th cap for captain Marcell Coetzee.

They are just part of the swathe of Boks that Bulls coach Johan Ackermann has at his disposal for what will be a tough battle against Franco Smith’s men.

There are 11 Boks in the Bulls starting XV and a further five on the bench. And it’s likely Ackermann will need all of them, playing at or near their best, to overcome the Warriors in Edinburgh.

Due to preparations for the Commonwealth Games, which are taking place in Glasgow from 23 July to 2 August, the Warriors’ Scotstoun Stadium was not available as it will be used in the quadrennial sporting jamboree.

So, it will be the unusual sight of a crowd with a healthy dose of Edinburghers supporting their great rivals Glasgow.

Rivalry?

The Bulls and Glasgow matchup is turning into a salivating modern-day rivalry, which was ignited when the Warriors beat the Bulls 21-16 at Loftus in the 2024 URC final.

The Scottish team had no right to win that day, considering they had to beat then-defending champions Munster in the quarterfinals before travelling to Pretoria.

It was Glasgow again who eliminated the Bulls from the Champions Cup last 16 in 2025, to add further fuel to the growing tension of the rivalry.

In all, the teams have played against each other seven times in the URC era, and Glasgow lead the head-to-head 4-3.

This is the Bulls’ fourth appearance in the semi-finals (2022, 2024, 2025, 2026) and they have won the previous three, which included statement wins over Leinster in 2022 and 2024.

The fact that the match is at Murrayfield will even out the away disadvantage ever so slightly. But not much.

Glasgow are a purring machine that has few, if any, weaknesses. But the Bulls can look around their own change-room and see quality everywhere.

Scrumhalf Embrose Papier has been in the form of his life and was duly named South African URC Player of the Year this week. Eleven tries in the tournament tells the story of his attacking prowess, but he also manages the game with a good tactical kicking game.

Outside him, flyhalf Handré Pollard has grown into the campaign and is now playing his best rugby of the year. Similarly, veteran fullback Willie le Roux continues to astound with his ability to unlock defences with intelligent manipulation of space and field position.

This is all built on a powerful pack that also includes excellent looseforwards Cameron Hanekom and Elrigh Louw, as well as the brilliant Ruan Nortjé at lock.

They secure set piece possession as well as breakdown dominance.

The Bulls even have the luxury of their own version of the Bomb Squad on the bench, led by the gigantic tighthead Wilco Louw. The bench also includes Springboks Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Cobus Wiese and Nizaam Carr.

“After a long season there are only four clubs left, and we are grateful to be one of those and to play the number one side,” Ackermann said. “It shows the quality of their players, and we have a lot of respect for what they’ve achieved. Added to that is the opportunity to play at an iconic venue like Murrayfield.

“It will be an amazing day. It’s a good challenge and one we look forward to, a game of small margins, I suspect.”

Stormers have nothing to lose

The Stormers are across the Irish Sea in Dublin to face Leinster, where they have been counting the cost of their 44-21 quarterfinal win over Cardiff in Cape Town last week.

Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is out, as is lock Ruben van Heerden and wing Seabelo Senatla, all crocked in that game. That’s already against a backdrop of injuries to players such as flank Deon Fourie, prop Frans Malherbe and lock JD Schickerling.

Jurie Matthee was brilliant at flyhalf when the Stormers beat Leinster 35-0 in Cape Town earlier in the year, but the Irish team were without many stalwarts that day.

The Stormers set piece, especially the scrum, has been excellent this season and they’ll need to edge that battle to have any chance.

“This will be a big challenge for everyone involved against a team with a great pedigree and formidable home record, but these are the occasions we live for, and I have no doubt that our team will put in a worthy performance,” said Director of Rugby, John Dobson.

“We lost a few players last week, but those coming in have all played important roles in this campaign. We have earned the chance to play for a place in the Grand Final, and it will come down to a big 80 minutes. This team will not leave anything out there.”

On paper, Leinster’s Irish and British & Irish Lions-heavy squad, playing at the Aviva Stadium, should have too much firepower for the injury-depleted Stormers. But Leinster have had a strange week of bust-ups between coaches and the media, all stemming from their Champions Cup final loss against Bordeaux two weeks ago.

Former Bok coach Jacques Nienaber, who is Leinster’s “senior coach”, was in a row with the Irish media on Monday, suggesting he wasn’t “valued”.

Head coach Leo Cullen came out in defence of Nienaber later in the week as the situation continued to escalate.

“We’re incredibly lucky to have him (Nienaber) here. He’s a genius in terms of what he does,” Cullen said. “In his own mind, I think he is fully committed to Leinster, so please don’t get confused by that. I would be of the same mind.

“The group loves working with him as well. I know they do. There’s a sense that people want to pick holes in us at the moment. I’m not sure why, but we’ve got ourselves to a final (Champions Cup), so we’re clearly doing well.

“We’re constantly trying to improve. Next week, win, lose or draw, we’ll have a proper deep dive into how we want to evolve our game.” DM

Fixtures

Glasgow vs Bulls in Edinburgh – 3.30pm SA time

Leinster vs Stormers in Dublin – 6.30pm SA time