Seven things we learned from the first 7 rounds in the BKT URC

The United Rugby Championship has been keenly followed and contested post Rugby World Cup, and with seven rounds done, here’s a closer look at how the numbers have influenced what we’ve seen so far.

It’s wide open!

The hugely competitive nature of the BKT URC this season is illustrated by the fact there have been new league leaders after every round of matches, with five different sides occupying top spot.

Here’s how the merry-go-round has spun so far.

Round 1 – Vodacom Bulls

Round 2 – DHL Stormers

Round 3 – Connacht Rugby

Round 4 – Vodacom Bulls

Round 5 – Leinster Rugby

Round 6 – Glasgow Warriors

Round 7 – Leinster Rugby

It looked as though we were finally going to have the same table toppers for consecutive rounds a couple of weeks ago.

With just seconds to go in the final game in Round 7, Glasgow Warriors remained in pole position thanks to the losing bonus point they picked up against Munster in Cork. But then, in the last play out in Galway, full-back Ciaran Frawley crossed for Leinster to earn them a 24-22 win over Connacht which took them back to the top of the table.

The league’s competitiveness is also reflected by first and tenth being separated by just 11 points.

Then there’s the number of close contests we’ve had. In all, no fewer than 29 matches have seen margins of seven or less points between the sides, including two draws. That’s meant a host of losing bonus points which could prove invaluable in the final shake-up.

No team has been involved in more tight affairs than Cardiff Rugby with every one of their games going down to the wire. The points margins in their seven fixtures have been 1, 7, 6, 6, 0, 7, 6, including a draw away to Zebre Parma.

It was the same story in their most recent game, with just seven points between them and Bath in a ten-try Investec Champions Cup thriller at the Arms Park.

Crowds on the rise

What about attendances? Well, the figures show they are up on the corresponding period last season. There’s also been a steady rise as the campaign has progressed, with the last three rounds having produced the highest combined totals.

Last season, the 53 matches over the opening seven weeks drew a combined attendance of 409,941 at an average of 7,735. This year, all 56 scheduled games have been played and they have attracted 439,204 fans with an improved average of 7,843.

Round 6 was the high point, with a whopping 98,451 through the turnstiles, aided significantly by a season’s best 49,246 at the Aviva Stadium for the meeting of Leinster and Munster.

There were also impressive tallies in Round 5 (72,391) and Round 7 (74,828), amid a notable upward curve from the first four weeks. By comparison, the highest combined figure for a full round of eight matches in the opening seven weeks last season was 70,829.

Looking at individual fixtures so far this term, there have been 12 games that have drawn crowds in excess of 10,000.

Ten of those have come in Ireland and two in South Africa, with the second highest number – 24,515 – turning out at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld for last weekend’s showdown between the Vodacom Bulls and the Hollywoodbets Sharks.

So here then are the top ten attendances this season:

1. 49,246 (Leinster v Munster, Rd 6)

2. 24,515 (Vodacom Bulls v Hollywoodbets Sharks, Rd 7)

3. 15,664 (Leinster v Scarlets, Rd 5)

4. 15,045 (Munster v DHL Stormers, Rd 5)

5. 14,960 (Ulster v Munster, Rd 4)

6. 14,434 (Leinster v Edinburgh Rugby, Rd 3)

7. 12,659 (Hollywoodbets Sharks v Dragons RFC, Rd 6)

8. 12,403 (Ulster v Edinburgh Rugby, Rd 7)

9. 11,471 (Ulster v Emirates Lions, Rd 5)

10. 11,239 (Munster v Hollywoodbets Sharks, Rd 1)

South African travel trials

We’ve certainly learned that travelling to and from South Africa remains a major challenge. Between them, the four franchises from the Rainbow Nation have played 16 league games in the northern hemisphere this season and suffered 13 defeats.

The DHL Stormers – finalists for the past two years – lost all four of their matches on their European tour last month, as did the Hollywoodbets Sharks at the start of the campaign.

Vodacom Bulls have had the most joy, winning away against Cardiff Rugby and Zebre Parma, while the Emirates Lions claimed a late victory at the Scarlets, but they have both suffered losses too.

As for travelling to South Africa, well that’s proved even tougher.

Only Connacht have tasted victory out there, beating the Hollywoodbets Sharks 13-12 in Durban in Round 5. The other seven cross-hemisphere matches in SA have all produced home wins and by significant margins in a number of cases.

Six of the matches have seen the franchises rack up 50-plus points on home soil amid the following scorelines – 69-14, 63-21, 61-19, 54-5, 53-27, 52-7.

A couple of those bumper scores have been recorded by the Vodacom Bulls who are the country’s frontrunners, having won five of their seven matches to lie third in the table.

They have accumulated more points (272) and more tries (37) than any other side in the league, demonstrating their potent attacking threat.

The Hollywoodbets Sharks are the lowest placed South African side, down in 15th after just one win. However they do have two individuals leading the way, with full-back Aphelele Fassi having run for the most metres (538) and lock Emile van Heerden having won the most lineouts (37).

But, above all, there’s one clear lesson from the campaign so far. When it comes to hemisphere hopping, any away successes are at a real premium.

To further illustrate the point, no European team won in South Africa in the first two rounds of the Champions and Challenge Cup.

Super signings

One suspected Ben Healy was going to be a quality recruit for Edinburgh Rugby and so it’s proved. Having shared in Munster’s grand final triumph over the DHL Stormers at the end of last season, the international fly-half headed for the Scottish capital after the World Cup.

His impact has been significant. He’s brought tactical control and he’s also been prolific in front of goal, scoring more points (76) than anyone else in the BKT URC.

He has fitted in like a glove and played a major part in Edinburgh Rugby winning five of their first seven league matches, while he was at it again on the weekend, with four more successful shots at goal in the 34-21 victory over Castres in the EPCR Challenge Cup.

Next behind Healy in the points stakes, on 61, is another fly-half recruit in South African Tinus de Beer, who has joined Cardiff Rugby from the Pumas. With Jarrod Evans having moved to Harlequins and Rhys Priestland retired, there was a big hole to fill at No 10.

Summer signing De Beer has stepped up to the plate and is certainly earning his corn, having been on the pitch for all but 26 minutes of the league season so far, while he’s posted a further 14 points in Cardiff’s two Champions Cup ties.

Two more fly-half signings that have proved good bits of business are the Scarlets bringing the gifted Ioan Lloyd home from Bristol, while the much-travelled JJ Hanrahan has settled in well at Connacht.

Elsewhere, Munster look to have added real quality by snapping up Kiwi centre Alex Nankivell from the Chiefs of Waikato, while Malakai Fekitoa has gone well in the Benetton Rugby midfield since leaving Thomond Park.

Unsurprisingly, Willie Le Roux has looked absolute class for his new team, the Vodacom Bulls, while there has been much interest generated by the arrival of fellow Springbok World Cup winner Stephen Kitshoff in Ulster.

So lots of new faces and plenty of positive impact.

Italian improvement

Last season, Benetton Rugby finished down in eleventh, while Zebre Parma ended up rock bottom after losing all 18 matches.

It’s fair to say it’s been a very different story so far this term.

Benetton are one of only two teams – along with table-topping Leinster – to lose just one of their opening seven fixtures.

Along the way, they have recorded notable victories in Edinburgh and Cardiff, while beating the DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions and Ospreys in Treviso.

Key to their success has been their work at the breakdown, where they have won more turnovers (52) than any other team, while Federico Ruzza and Eli Snyman have been prodigious providers of lineout ball.

As for Zebre Parma, they too have been transformed.

They defeated the Hollywoodbets Sharks amid tears of joy in Parma to end a 22-match BKT URC losing run, while they have also drawn with Cardiff and picked up five losing bonus points, in no small part due to their tally of 22 tries – the seventh best in the league.

It all means they have already matched their points total – 11 – from last season and gone a long way to ditching their status as perennial whipping boys.

There was further success for the Azzurri sides in the Challenge Cup on the weekend, with Benetton beating Perpignan 29-7 and Zebre triumphing 21-14 out in Oyonnax.

Forza Italia!

Welsh young guns

Reductions in squad numbers at the Welsh regions have presented challenges but also opportunities for a posse of home-grown youngsters who have really grabbed their chance. Cardiff flanker Alex Mann, 21, is a perfect example.

Prior to this season, he hadn’t played a single minute of BKT URC rugby. But he has now started all but one of their league games this term and has made more tackles (103) than any other player in the competition.

Fellow back row Mackenzie Martin, 20, has also caught the eye at the Arms Park, with his imposing 6ft 5ins, 18st 6lbs frame having earned him the nickname ‘Big Mac’.

Cam Winnett, 20, has been both assured and enterprising at full-back, filling the vacancy created by Liam Williams’ departure for Japan so well that he is being tipped for a Wales Six Nations squad spot, while prop forward Rhys Litterick, a recruit from Harlequins, is a further new face who has made a positive impact.

Turning to the other regions, James Fender has huge shoes to fill at the Ospreys, stepping into the berth occupied for so long by the now-retired Alun Wyn Jones, but he looks a big prospect in every sense, at 6ft 7ins and 19st 1ins.

One row further back, Harri Deaves is making his presence felt at openside flanker, putting in a Round 7 best of 25 tackles against Benetton, while there is a lot of interest about when classy English-born full-back Max Nagy – who studied at Swansea University – will become eligible for Wales.

At the Scarlets, centre Eddie James, 20, is a forceful figure in midfield, while Carwyn Tuipulotu is yet another back row talent progressing nicely, as is the Dragons’ teenage flanker Ryan Woodman.

Veteran Cardiff captain Josh Turnbull, who has seen it all in Welsh rugby, sums it up well when reflecting on the fresh faces forcing their way forward.

“What you get with youngsters is they are fearless when they go on the pitch,” he said.

“They just want to play rugby and they’ll have a crack from anywhere.

“These young kids are the future and they keep you on your toes, making you work harder than ever. It’s good to be around them. They help keep me young!”

Maul matters

The driving lineout maul continues to be a major attacking weapon and so hard to stop.

Few teams employ it to better effect than Glasgow Warriors who have scored tries from that rolling set-piece in all but one of their BKT URC games this season.

In Round 7, against Munster, all five of their tries stemmed from that area as they picked up a losing bonus point.

It was a similar story versus the Ospreys a few weeks earlier, when their lineout drive was the key difference between the sides, bringing them all four touchdowns in their away win.

The man at the back of the van more often than not is hooker Johnny Matthews who is an expert practitioner in terms of marshalling the drive and when to break away for the line.

That’s helped him lead the way as the league’s top try scorer after the opening seven rounds with eight touchdowns.

Tellingly, there are two more hookers next in the list, with Akker van der Merwe of the Vodacom Bulls and Ulster’s Tom Stewart both on six.

Stewart, of course, set a new league record last season with 16 tries, a number of them stemming from lineout drives.

So there is clearly a pattern emerging here – mauls matter!

credit – URC

Dear Santa, please may we have fierce #BKTURC derbies… 🎅👀😍

We apologise if Santa and his Reindeer are late delivering presents due to these EPIC clashes 😋

Who will you be putting your game face for? 🏉#URC pic.twitter.com/qrFc1buiYH

— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) December 19, 2023