Thor versus Phepsi adds spice to Ravenhill rumble

SPOTLIGHT: Duane Vermeulen's match-up with Phendulani Buthelezi is the spicy sideshow of a crucial United Rugby Championship encounter between Ulster and the Sharks at Ravenhill on Friday.

The two teams go head-to-head for the first time in this Round 18 URC rumble.

Both teams have qualified for the last eight play-offs, but whoever wins in Belfast will host a home quarterfinal and potentially a home semifinal.

The competition odds have never been higher and for Buthelezi - more affectionately known as Phepsi - the match doubles as a national trial to further convince the Springboks selectors and national coach Jacques Nienaber of his ability to play at international level.

Ulster's Vermeulen, or Thor to his legion of fans, inspired the Springboks to the 2019 World Cup Final win against England and is regarded as the senior statesman among the current Springboks loose forwards.

But in 2022, in the URC the next generation of South African loose-forwards have made a telling statement about the pending changing of the national guard.

Buthelezi has been at the forefront of these young bucks, but Vermeulen this season has shown an appetite that is equal to when he first played international rugby.

The tournament statistics tell a story of their own.

Buthelezi has made 105 carries, of which 45 were termed 'successful'. He beat 27 defenders, gained 491 metres and made eight offloads.

Vermeulen's true value to the Irish province has been on defence. He has a tackle success rate of 93 percent, while Buthelezi is just below 90 percent.

The Ulster veteran, Vermeulen, has won 11 turnovers, while the Sharks' loose forward won six turnovers.

Neither has been red-carded, yellow-carded or feature in the top 100 penalised players.

Ulster has won all five previous home games they have played against South African opposition.

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Ulster has never lost at home to South African opposition and the Sharks will have to make history to deny the hosts a sixth successive home win against teams from the Republic.

The Sharks have won their last two fixtures against Irish opposition, but lost on their only previous trip to Ireland – at Munster in September.

Only one league point separates the two teams.

What adds to the mystique of the occasion is that the two teams have never played each other, although Ulster is well known to South African supporters.

Several prominent South African players have a rich history at Ulster - with veteran scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar and current Bulls captain Marcel Coetzee as popular as any Ulster-born player during their respective stints at the Irish province.

Pienaar played 141 times for Ulster between 2010 and 2017 and Coetzee played 57 times between 2016 and 2021.

The late Pedrie Wannenburg also played for Ulster, as did the mighty prop Brendon Botha and his predecessor, Springboks hard man Robbie Kempson.

South African coach Alan Solomons is also synonymous with a lengthy spell at Ulster, in which they rarely failed to win at home.

South African born Rob Herring was schooled at SACS and has a strong following back in Cape Town, but it was the arrival of Vermeulen at Ulster this season that ensured South African eyes would firmly be on Ulster throughout the competition.

Both teams have form on their side, with Ulster winning four of their last five home URC matches and the Sharks winning eight of their last nine matches in the competition.

Source: @URCOfficial