The two semi-finals of the United Rugby Championship were played today and the two tickets for next week’s final were up for grabs in Pretoria and Cork. Two Irishmen, one Scottish and one South African, on the pitch, Leinster, Munster, Glasgow Warriors and Bulls to be precise. Here’s how it went.
We started from Pretoria, where the Bulls and Leinster took to the field. A match that promised excitement and balance right from the start and so it was. The first shock came in the 22nd minute, when the Bulls were left outnumbered due to Petersen’s yellow card. One minute and Leinster take advantage by marking through Lowe. However, the South African response was immediate in the 28th minute with Goosen, while at the end they overtook with Goosen’s foot. At the beginning of the second half the Bulls extended their lead with Petersen’s goal, but in the 50th minute they came back to the Dubliners with Doris’s goal. In the 58th minute the Irish equalized with Byrne’s foot, and between the 61st and 64th there was a back and forth from the pitch to maintain the balance. The balance was finally broken in the 66th minute, when Petersen scored the goal again to make it 25-20.
Great balance also in Cork, where Munster and Glasgow Warriors took to the field. Here it takes 11 minutes to break the deadlock and Crowley does it from the pitch, with Glasgow also inferior due to the yellow to Gray. Back in numerical parity, the Warriors strike in the 23rd minute with Steyn’s try to overtake. At the end of the second yellow card for the Scots, with Fagerson in the penalty box for 10 minutes. But numerical superiority is not enough for the Red Army to break the deadlock and, indeed, in the 50th minute Glasgow’s second try with Chancellor and the Scots running away. In the 55th minute, Munster narrows the gap with Frisch to make it 10-14, but in the 73rd minute, a bad foul by Nankivell, a red card and the Irish end up inferior. And from the pitch Horne scores the final 10-17.
It will therefore be the South African Bulls and the Scottish Warriors who will play for the 2024 United Rugby Championship title next Saturday. For the Bulls it is the second final reached in the three years in which they participate in the URC, after the defeat suffered against the Stormers two years ago. For the Glasgow Warriors, however, this is the fourth final won, with a score so far of one victory, in the 20214/15 season, and two defeats, the last of which came in the 2018/19 season.
