On Friday evening, the Sharks and Lions teams will begin the fourth round of the United Rugby Championship tournament. The matches will take place in Edinburgh and Cardiff, respectively. Both matches are scheduled for 20:45 South African time.
After three rounds, all four teams have entered the top eight. The Edinburgh team, currently in first place, will host the Lions, who are in seventh place, at their Hive Stadium. The Sharks are in fifth place, and Cardiff is in sixth.
In Edinburgh, the Scottish team will observe the tragic death of Hayron Andrews by holding a minute's silence five minutes after the start of the game at Hive Stadium. In a gesture of sportsmanship, Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt and his staff visited the Lions after the captains' appearance at Hive Stadium on Thursday afternoon to offer their condolences.
Given the recent form of the teams, the Lions will face difficulties. Edinburgh won five of their last six URC matches, while the Lions have not won outside of South Africa since October 2024, when they defeated Zebre in Parma. The Lions' only victory in Scotland was achieved at Hive Stadium in October 2022.
Cardiff returns to its home ground, Arms Park, after a 29-5 defeat to Leinster. The Sharks aim to respond to their 39-22 loss in the coastal derby in Cape Town. Cardiff has not lost at Arms Park since the Scarlets beat them in the seventh round of last season.
Although the Sharks do not have the best away record, they have performed reasonably well in Wales. Their 21-17 loss to Ospreys at Brewery Field in the 15th round of last season interrupted a five-match unbeaten streak in Wales. The Sharks are also the most recent South African team to win at Arms Park, defeating Cardiff 42-22 in January 2025.
Sharks coach J.P. Petersen intends to improve his team's overall performance away from home. He stated: 'In terms of last season's results, we never truly played away, so that is what we want to improve.' He added: 'We need to be more consistent away and not just a team that performs due to the home advantage. That is what we are achieving in the matches against Cardiff and Munster.'