GLASGOW WARRIORS SUFFERED a 44-21 defeat to the 14-man Lions at Ellis Park in a URC result with significant implications for all four Irish provinces.
Defeat for Glasgow, who led the URC table heading into this penultimate weekend, paves the way for a combination of Munster and Leinster to finish first and second in the table.
Current leaders Munster have already sealed a home quarter-final at least, and Leinster are guaranteed the same if they can pick up two match points from their remaining two fixtures away to Ulster this evening and home to Connacht in a fortnight’s time.
A top-two finish, however, would secure home advantage at the semi-final stage, while the highest league finisher of the two eventual finalists also hosts the competition’s showpiece.
Glasgow’s defeat in Johannesburg has seen them drop into third place behind Munster and the Bulls with only one regular-season game remaining.
Munster will now be guaranteed a top-two finish if they can defeat Ulster at Thomond Park in two weekends’ time.
Leinster, meanwhile, will go top tonight if they can beat the same opposition at Kingspan Stadium.
The Lions’ bonus-point victory this evening also has ramifications for Ulster: the South Africans are now locked on 49 league points with Richie Murphy’s side as well as Edinburgh and Benetton, who incidentally meet on the final weekend.
The Lions, however, currently sit ninth — one place outside the play-off berths — because they have won fewer games (9) than sixth-placed Edinburgh (11), seventh-placed Ulster (10) and eight-placed Benetton (10).
That tiebreaker could equally prove important if the Sharks win the Challenge Cup next weekend, in which case only the top seven teams in the URC table will qualify for next season’s Champions Cup.
In the URC, the first tiebreaker is matches won. The second is points difference, which is why 10-win Ulster currently sit above 10-win Benetton in the table. The third, if required, is tries scored throughout the league season.
Meanwhile, victory for Connacht over the Stormers this evening will see them move to within a point of that bottleneck in the quarter-final race.
On the final weekend, Benetton, currently eighth, host sixth-placed Edinburgh, while the ninth-placed Lions travel to Cape Town to face the Stormers who currently sit fifth.
Ulster and Connacht face tricky away ties in Limerick and Dublin respectively, while the Ospreys — still in with a shout — travel to Cardiff.
