The 2025-26 URC schedule has been released and there’s one game you’ve drawn a thick red line around the date – which one is it?
Currie Cup provincial rivalries spiced up Super Rugby for 25 years and since 2022 those heated SA derbies have pushed attendance records in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
Lions and Sharks fans have travelled the N3 eight times in this derby. The Sharks opened with four wins but then endured three losses before subduing the Pride again in March for a 5-3 record against their Jozi rivals.
The Stormers surrendered a six-game streak to the Lions in a 30-23 reverse at Ellis Park in Feb to bring their URC record against the Pride to 6-2.
There have been nine showdowns between the Sharks and Bulls, including the 2021-22 quarter-final at Loftus. In a roller-coaster derby, the Sharks have won five and the Bulls four, with neither team winning more than two in succession.
The Bulls and Stormers have delivered 10 editions of the north-south derby, including a clash in the 2021-22 final and again in the 2022-23 quarters. The Stormers famously won seven in a row before the Bulls pushed back with a pair of victories. The Cape team made it eight wins from 10 when they beat the Herd 19-16 at Loftus in March. With seven matches decided by six or fewer points, the average score in this rivalry is 26-23 in the Stormers’ favour.
The Bulls have won seven of eight Jukskei derbies, unbeaten against the Lions in four matches at Ellis Park and 3-1 against their Jozi rivals at Loftus.
And the Stormers have won six of eight coastal derbies, winning five in a row after drawing the inaugural derby 22. Five matches have been settled by less than a converted try, with the Stormers winning by an average score of 25-19.
Photo: Wessel Oosthuizen/Gallo Images
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