Stormers lead battle for SA Shield

02/26/2024 07:27 AM

Despite trailing the Bulls on the overall Vodacom URC log, the DHL Stormers are leading the race for the South African Shield, ahead of the north-south derby.

As it stands, the Vodacom Bulls are the highest-ranked South African team in the URC, sitting in third place on the overall table, going into round 11 this weekend.

The Stormers are five points behind on the overall log, followed by the 11th-placed Lions and the Sharks, who are rooted to the bottom of the table.

However, due to a change in competition rules this season, the Stormers are currently top of the SA Shield, looking to defend their conference title for the second season in a row.

This is because of a change that sees only games between the South African teams count towards the Shield.

The Stormers have continued their unbeaten run against their South African rivals this season, which stretches back to December 2021. A season-opening bonus-point victory against the Lions at Ellis Park was followed by wins against the Bulls and Sharks in Cape Town in December. Most recently, the Stormers held on for a narrow win against the Sharks at Kings Park before a one-week break.

The Bulls, meanwhile, went back-to-back against the Lions, avoiding a nailbiting defeat at Loftus Versfeld and then stampeding for a bonus-poins win at Ellis Park. In the opening weekend of December, the Bulls thrashed the Sharks 44-10 in Pretoria.

Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix

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