The United Rugby Championships has revealed its regular season schedule, pitting top clubs from South Africa against the Celtic and Italian nations for the first time in league history. This marks the league’s first season since joining forces with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation as a strategic consulting partner earlier this year.
Building on a rivalry that arose from the British & Irish Lions Series, the Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls now take the pitch in iconic locations against the best of Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales across 18 rounds of action.
The 2021-2022 season will reach the widest global audience to-date, with all games to be aired on live television broadcast and major free-to-air audiences opened up in Ireland, Italy, and the UK as part of the URC’s new line-up of broadcast partners. Free-to-air and pay TV broadcast partners can be found below. With every game to be broadcast live on TV, viewers will experience unprecedented access to the athletes and clubs they love. Fans globally (except for South Africa and the United Kingdom) will also be able to stream competition through URC TV, the league’s own OTT player which will be launched in partnership with RTE. More information on the launch will be available here.
“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,” said Martin Anayi, CEO of United Rugby Championship. “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.”
The diversity and headline appeal of the URC will be on show in Round 1, where defending title holders and eight-times champions, Leinster, will play host to the three-time Super Rugby champions Vodacom Bulls. Munster, another multiple-time champion will welcome the Cell C Sharks to Ireland while the DHL Stormers face Rainbow Cup winners Benetton in Treviso and the Emirates 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 the Dragons and Ospreys, Cardiff Rugby entertain Connacht while a battle of former champions will take place between Ulster and Glasgow Warriors.
“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,” Anayi continued. “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.”
In compliance with evolving travel, health & safety conditions and protocols across the URC’s competing territories, the provisional fixtures have been adjusted; 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 enjoy competition in-person, varying by territory and in compliance with location mandates.
High-stakes drama is expected across the campaign, with every team eligible to qualify for EPCR tournaments and the reduction of rounds from 21 to 18.
In the new format, all 16 teams will be ranked across a single table. The top eight teams will earn a bid to an expanded Final Series which includes a full Quarter-final stage, followed by Semi-finals before the best two teams meet in the URC Grand Final in June.
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