How Glasgow Warriors will react to their shock exit of the Investec Champions Cup in a quarterfinal they were expected to win will be the big question that requires answering when the log leaders and 2024 champions arrive in South Africa this week.
The Scots had set themselves up to go far in the elite European competition with their impressive form in the pool phases, where they scored notable wins over two previous winners in the form of Toulouse and Saracens. That was good enough to see them go into the knock-outs as second seeds and with home ground advantage until the semifinal round should they get that far.
They were expected to get that far as their opponents in the quarterfinal at the Scotstoun Stadium, Toulon, had been decidedly fortunate to get home as winners over the DHL Stormers in the round of 16.
However Toulon fronted physically, were more direct and Glasgow played with the nerves you might expect from a team that is suddenly favourites in a competition where they are normally seen as underdogs. There might also have been the subconscious impact of the knowledge of what was required to compete across two competitions - to win the Champions Cup Glasgow would have been playing non-stop until the final in Bilbao in late May.
BREAK MAY HELP LOG LEADERS
Now they have a break in the week of the EPCR semifinals, the week after they play the Stormers in what should be a top of the log clash in Cape Town, and that could just help their URC challenge. But they start their South African sojourn by playing the Fidelity SureDrive Lions at Ellis Park at the weekend and their immediate task will be to quickly get over the disappointment and emotion of coming so near and yet so far in a competition they have never won before and therefore may have regarded as the big one and move on to focus on regaining the URC trophy they surrendered to Leinster last year.
The South African teams in contention for top four positions, meaning mainly the Stormers, who are second to Glasgow’s first currently, should not have been happy to see Glasgow get beaten, even though both the French team and the Vodacom Bulls in the round of 16 the week before did expose hitherto unseen vulnerabilities in the Glasgow makeup.
Their exit from the Champions Cup means their focus is no longer deflected and they can concentrate only on the URC. When they may be vulnerable is this week, as there was a lot of understandable emotion shown by them after the Toulon defeat, but not having to play Leinster in a Champions Cup semifinal the week after they play the Stormers might prompt them to be in more of an emptying the tank mood when they come to Cape Town for the 25 April game.
STORMERS MOURN DEATH OF POPULAR MANAGER
The Stormers are currently by far and away the top performing South African team in the URC, and are within touching distance of Glasgow, and will be hoping the Lions can help them make it all square by winning in Johannesburg this week. But the Stormers are facing a difficult week building up to their match against a competitive Connacht team given the devastatingly sad and unexpected death of their popular and long serving team manager, Chippie Solomons.
Solomons, who had been involved with the Stormers as manager for decades and not just years, passed away after suffering a heart attack in the early hours of Saturday morning and as one Stormers management member put it during the weekend, “nothing will be the same without him”.
Solomons’ death is certainly likely to add to the emotion of Saturday’s game, and it is a pity it is kicking off at the early hour of 13.45 - that’s never the optimum kick-off time anywhere in South Africa if you want to maximise bums on seats. The game against Glasgow will kick off at the same time seven days later.
TOUGH FINISHES HEAP PRESSURE ON HOME GAMES
The Stormers and Lions have pressure on them to win their two home games - Connacht travel to Johannesburg the week after the Stormers game - as they both face tough finishes to the competition. The Lions are away to Munster and Leinster in the last fortnight while the Stormers will be travelling to Ulster and Cardiff, both of whom still have top four pretensions.
The Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks meanwhile will resume their URC challenge away from home, with the Sharks needing five points from their visit to the Ospreys in order to maintain their challenge for a top eight finish that will mean play-off and Champions Cup qualification for next year.
The Bulls start their two match tour, which really started with their narrow round of 16 Champions Cup loss to Glasgow on the Easter weekend, by facing Dragons on Friday night. The Dragons are second last on the log but they have been competitive in many games this season and pushed the Stormers in Cape Town not long ago. They will also have been boosted by having advanced to the EPCR Challenge Cup semifinals by beating Zebre in their quarterfinal in Parma at the weekend.
ROUND 15 VODACOM UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
Edinburgh v Zebre (Edinburgh, Friday 20.45)
Dragons v Vodacom Bulls (Newport, Friday 20.45)
Ulster v Leinster (Belfast, Friday 20.45)
DHL Stormers v Connacht (Cape Town, Saturday 13.45)
Fidelity SureDrive Lions v Glasgow Warriors (Johannesburg, Saturday 16.00)
Scarlets v Cardiff Rugby (Llanelli, Saturday 18.30)
Benetton v Munster (Treviso, Saturday 20.45)
Ospreys v Hollywoodbets Sharks (Swansea, Saturday 20.45)