Bulls-Leinster blockbuster clash confirmed for URC

The Bulls and Sharks will take on Irish powerhouses Leinster and Munster respectively in blockbuster United Rugby Championship announced on Friday.

The schedule for the inaugural season of the URC has been unveiled and, in addition to those two headline fixtures, the Stormers will open their campaign against Benetton, with the Lions taking on Zebre in the season opener.

The full URC media announcement can be found below:

After great anticipation the URC can reveal all 144 regular season match-ups as South Africa’s top clubs take to the field against the Celtic and Italian nations in a global first for rugby.

Building upon rivalry created during the British & Irish Lions Series, the Sharks, Stormers, Lions and Bulls now take the pitch in iconic locations against the best of Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales across 18 rounds of action.

With every game live on TV, this new era will kick-off to the widest possible audience in the league’s history with major free-to-air audiences opened up in Ireland (RTÉ and TG4), Italy (to be confirmed shortly), and the UK (BBCNI, BBCW and S4C) as part of the URC’s new line-up of broadcast partners. They will line up alongside our long-term pay TV partners in Premier Sports and Supersport in order to deliver unprecedented access for fans and major exposure for athletes and clubs.

The unique appeal of the URC will be on show in the Round 1 where defending title holders and eight-times champions, Leinster, will play host to the three-time Super Rugby champions Bulls.

Munster, another multiple-time champion will welcome the Sharks to Ireland while the Stormers face Rainbow Cup winners Benetton in Treviso and the Lions travel to Parma to take on Zebre.

Edinburgh will host Scarlets in their new stadium in the Scottish capital, the first Welsh derby of the season takes place between Dragons and Ospreys, Cardiff Rugby entertain Connacht while a battle of former champions will take place between Ulster and Glasgow Warriors.

Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship CEO, said: “We believe these fixtures will ensure that the URC could deliver on its promise of a new era for our league where the very best from South Africa go head-to-head with our Celtic and Italian teams.

“As we carefully manoeuvre out of the pandemic, the URC will take its place as one of the leading leagues in global rugby and this fixture list should ignite our competition and take it to the next level.

“This schedule is the most complex we have ever produced and the efforts of every one of our stakeholders to help us piece it together in the current climate have been monumental. We now have a format that will heighten competition, showcase our clubs, elevate our athletes and bring great excitement to fans and TV audiences right across our territories and beyond.”

To accommodate the very latest travel conditions across the URC’s competing territories the provisional fixtures had to be readjusted. The South African teams will now complete four-week tours of Europe to begin the season giving fans in Ireland, Italy, Wales and Scotland an early opportunity to see these new sides in person.

In the URC’s commitment to avoid clashing with international weekends, the original date of Round 6 has been moved to the final week in November which ensures every round of the tournament is played on a standalone weekend. Across the world, rugby fans will be able catch all the action on URC TV, the league’s own OTT player which will be launched in partnership with RTÉ very shortly.

Jeopardy and drama will be littered across the campaign with every team eligible to qualify for EPCR tournaments and the reduction in rounds from 21 to 18 means every match matters.

In the new format all 16 teams will be ranked across a single table which will reward the top eight teams with their places in an expanded Final Series that includes a full Quarter-final stage, followed by Semi-finals before the best two teams meet in the URC Grand Final in June.

Notes related to fixtures:

Kick-off times and TV selections have been made up to Round 10 and the details for the remaining rounds will be finalised in the near future.
The South African derbies scheduled for R5, R8 and R9 will take place on the weekends of February 5, February 12 and March 19 respectively
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and URC Grand Final will take place on consecutive weekends on June 4, June 11 and June 18.

ROUND 2
Friday, October 1 Connacht v Vodacom Bulls | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA | TG4, Super Sport, Premier Sports Scarlets v Emirates Lions | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA | BBC Wales, Super Sport, Premier Sports

ROUND 3
Friday, October 8 Ulster v Benetton | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA | BBC NI, Premier Sports, TG4 Ospreys v Cell C Sharks | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA | BBC Wales, Super Sport, Premier Sports

ROUND 4
Friday, October 15 Ulster v Lions | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA | BBC NI, Super Sport, Premier Sports, RTE Dragons v DHL Stormers | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA | BBC Wales, Super Sport, Premier Sports

ROUND 5
Friday, October 22 Scarlets v Benetton | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA | BBC Wales, Premier Sports

ROUND 6
Friday, November 26 Connacht v Ospreys | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA/ 21:35 SA | RTE, BBC Wales, Premier Sports

Sunday, November 28 Emirates Lions v Cardiff | 14:00 UK / 15:00 ITA / 16:00 SA | Super Sport, S4C, Premier Sports

ROUND 8
Friday, December 24 Zebre v Benetton | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA / 15:00 SA | Italian TV, Premier Sports

Munster v Leinster | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA | RTE, Premier Sports

Monday, December 27 Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh | 19:00 UK / 20:00 ITA / 21:00 SA | Premier Sports

ROUND 10
Friday, January 7 Leinster v Emirates Lions | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA / 21 :35 SA | TG4, Super Sport, Premier Sports

ROUND 11
Weekend of Jan 28/29/30 Connacht v Glasgow Warriors Ulster v Scarlets Cardiff v Leinster Dragons v Benetton Ospreys v Edinburgh Vodacom Bulls v Emirates Lions DHL Stormers v Cell C Sharks Zebre v Munster

R5 (SA Derbies)
Weekend of Feb 4/5/6 Emirates Lions v Cell C Sharks | TBC | Super Sport, Premier Sports DHL Stormers v Vodacom Bulls | TBC | Super Sport, Premier Sports

R8 (SA Derbies)
Weekend of Feb 11/12/13 Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks | TBC | Super Sport, Premier Sports DHL Stormers v Emirates Lions | TBC | Super Sport, Premier Sports

ROUND 12
Weekend of Feb 18/19/20 Leinster v Ospreys Munster v Edinburgh Cardiff v Zebre Dragons v Ulster Scarlets v Connacht Emirates Lions v DHL Stormers Cell C Sharks v Vodacom Bulls Glasgow Warriors v Benetton

ROUND 13
Weekend of Mar 4/5/6 Munster v Dragons Ulster v Cardiff Scarlets v Glasgow Warriors Ospreys v Zebre Vodacom Bulls v DHL Stormers Cell C Sharks v Emirates Lions Edinburgh v Connacht Benetton v Leinster

R9 (SA Derbies)
Weekend of March 18/19/20 Emirates Lions v Vodacom Bulls | TBC | Super Sport, Premier Sports Cell C Sharks v DHL Stormers | TBC | Super Sport, Premier Sports

ROUND 14
Weekend of March 25/26/27 Connacht v Leinster Munster v Benetton Cardiff v Glasgow Warriors Vodacom Bulls v Dragons Emirates Lions v Ospreys Cell C Sharks v Edinburgh DHL Stormers v Ulster Zebre v Scarlets

ROUND 15
Weekend of April 1/2/3 Leinster v Munster Scarlets v Cardiff Vodacom Bulls v Ulster Emirates Lions v Edinburgh Cell C Sharks v dragons DHL Stormers v Ospreys Glasgow Warriors v Zebre Benetton v Connacht

ROUND 16
Weekend of April 22/23/24 Ulster v Munster Cardiff v Ospreys Dragons v Scarlets Vodacom Bulls v Benetton Emirates Lions v Connacht Cell C Sharks v Leinster DHL Stormers v Glasgow Warriors Edinburgh v Zebre

ROUND 17
Weekend of April 29/30 and May 1 Munster v Cardiff Ospreys v Scarlets Vodacom Bulls v Glasgow Warriors Emirates Lions v Benetton Cell C Sharks v Connacht DHL Stormers v Leinster Edinburgh v Ulster Zebre v Dragons

ROUND 18
Weekend of May 20/21/22 Connacht v Zebre Leinster v Edinburgh Ulster v Cell C Sharks Dragons v Emirates Lions Scarlets v DHL Stormers Ospreys v Vodacom Bulls Glasgow Warriors v Munster Benetton v Cardiff

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Bulls-Leinster blockbuster clash confirmed for URC

Post by Craig Lewis

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