With just one round of matches left to play in the BKT Unit4d Rugby Championship the ‘Race to the Eight’ is going down to the wire!
After the Stormers beat the Dragons at the weekend there are five play-off places sewn up ahead of this weekend’s final round of regular season matches. The four home teams for the quarter finals are also confirmed.
That has allowed the tournament organisers to schedule the dates, venues and kick-off times for the quarter finals. Leinster are guaranteed first place as they take a nine point lead into their home clash with reigning champions Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
The second placed Bulls host the Dragons on Saturday and will be hoping to take the point they need to keep Glasgow down in third. The Sharks, who host sixth placed Scarlets in Durban, can overtake Glasgow to clinch third place if they win and the champions lose in Dublin.
As the top four cannot be caught it means the quarter finals will be as follows:
Friday, 30 May – Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow (7.35pm kick-off)
Glasgow Warriors v TBCSaturday, 31 May – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria (12.30pm kick-off)
Bulls v TBCSaturday, 31 May – Aviva Stadium, Dublin (3.00pm kick-off)
Leinster v TBCSaturday, 31 May – King’s Park, Durban (5.30pm kick-off)
Sharks v TBCQF Line-Up: 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5
Scarlets are best placed to reach the play-offs. They are currently sitting in sixth on 48 points, with Cardiff Rugby down in eighth on 46.
By the time Dwayne Peel’s side run out to face the Sharks in Cape Town at 6.30pm on Saturday night they will know exactly what they need to do to when they kick-off at King’s Park. They could have dropped out of the top eight before kick off if either Munster or Benetton win their game and Cardiff and Edinburgh both win.
Just as the positions from 2-4 could change on the final weekend, so could 5-10. The final round fixtures are as follows (with current position and points in brackets:
Friday, 16 May
Stormers (5th – 50pts) v Cardiff Rugby (8th – 46pts) – 6.00pm
Edinburgh (10th – 44pts) v Ulster (12th – 38pts) – 7.35pm
Munster (8th – 46pts) v Benetton Rugby (7th – 46pts) – 8.00pmSaturday, 17 May
Bulls (2nd – 63pts) v Dragons (16th – 9pts) – 2.00pm
Lions (13th – 35pts) v Ospreys (11th – 38pts) – 4.15pm
Zebre (15th – 29pts) v Connacht (14th – 35pts) – 5.00pm
Sharks (4th – 58pts) v Scarlets (6th – 48pts) – 6.30pm
Leinster (1st – 72pts) v Glasgow Warriors (3rd – 59pts) – 7.35pm