URC bosses unveil bumper schedule for 2022/2023 season
NEWS: The second United Rugby Championship season kicks off in 50 days’ time with the league ready to build upon an enormously successful first campaign that saw the Stormers claim the inaugural title.
All 18 rounds are confirmed with broadcast selections and kick-off times to be confirmed in early August.
This is the first step in the journey to crown the champions of 2022/23 and now fans can identify the weekends where their team will take on rivals new and old from north and south.
The URC will kick off on September 16 2022. And will see the regular season come to an end in Round April 18 on 23, 2023.
Each week, teams from five rugby powerhouse nations, cross the hemispheres to compete and fight for the right to be our champion. Every match features a clash of rugby styles, cultures, languages and identity. It’s the diversity of our competition that makes us different.
Looking ahead to the first seven rounds of the URC, before we head into the Autumn Nations Series, there is plenty to get excited about.
Round 1 will see the two Welsh teams that battled it out for the Welsh Shield last season, going to battle once again when Scarlets host Ospreys in Llanelli.
Inaugural URC Champions Stormers will make their first appearance since lifting the Trophy in Cape Town as they welcome Connacht in Round 2 where the smoke from the fireworks at the Grand Final has hardly settled.
Round 3 will see the top two Irish sides in Ulster and Leinster entertain the Irish fans, Ulster having won their last two games versus their provincial rivals, while SA Shield winners Stormers welcome Scottish X Italian Shield winners Edinburgh Rugby.
Edinburgh Rugby, Glasgow Warriors, Leinster and Zebre Parma will host all four teams from the South in Round 4, in what is sure to be a spectacular display of North v South rugby.
Round 5 will see the Bulls travelling to Thomond Park for the first time, to take on Munster, two iconic teams playing at an iconic stadium.
Bulls will be heading back to Treviso for the first time since they lost to Benetton in the Rainbow Cup Final, and a thrilling Irish Derby is expected when Leinster take on Munster in Round 6.
In Round 7, we bring you a clash of the Capitals as Cardiff Rugby take on Edinburgh Rugby, and an Irish derby not to be missed when Munster take on Ulster.
The URC format will see all 16 teams ranked across a single table which will reward the top eight teams with their places in the Final Eight (quarter-finals), followed by a Final Four (semi-finals) to set the stage for the Grand Final. Every game counts. Any team can win on any given weekend.
Martin Anayi, URC CEO, said: “The diversity of our league we so proudly celebrate, is also a reason for the immense complexity of putting together our Season 2 fixtures.
“This is a monumental task, and it takes many stakeholders many long hours dedicated to making this the best club rugby championship in the world.
” We have to consider a variety of factors across our 16 clubs and five territories, but we believe that our season schedule will give our fans the best rugby week in and week out. My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who has worked tirelessly to put together a blockbuster fixture list right from Round 1.”
“We have seen the success of our tournament format culminating in the grandest of Grand Finals last season and we look forward to going on this journey with our fans and with our stakeholders to another successful year of world-class rugby in action”.
The United Rugby Championship fixtures:
Round 1 – Friday, September 16 / Saturday, September 17 / Sunday, September 18
Edinburgh Rugby v Dragons RFC
Ulster v Connacht
Benetton v Glasgow Warriors
Zebre Parma v Leinster
Scarlets v Ospreys
Cardiff Rugby v Munster
Sharks v Stormers **Feb 3/4
Lions v Bulls **Feb 3/4
Round 2 – Friday, September 23 / Saturday, September 24 / Sunday, September 25
Zebre Parma v Sharks
Glasgow Warriors v Cardiff Rugby
Leinster v Benetton
Stormers v Connacht
Bulls v Edinburgh Rugby
Scarlets v Ulster
Ospreys v Lions
Dragons RFC v Munster
Round 3 – Friday, September 30 / Saturday, October 1 / Sunday, October 2
Cardiff Rugby v Lions
Ulster v Leinster
Benetton v Scarlets
Stormers v Edinburgh Rugby
Bulls v Connacht
Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors
Munster v Zebre Parma
Dragons RFC v Sharks
Round 4 – Friday, October 7 / Saturday, October 8 / Sunday, October 9
Edinburgh Rugby v Lions
Zebre Parma v Stormers
Glasgow Warriors v Bulls
Connacht v Munster
Benetton v Dragons RFC
Scarlets v Cardiff Rugby
Leinster v Sharks
Ulster v Ospreys
Round 5 – Friday, October 14 / Saturday, October 15 / Sunday, October 16
Edinburgh Rugby v Benetton
Ospreys v Stormers
Lions v Ulster
Sharks v Glasgow Warriors
Munster v Bulls
Scarlets v Zebre Parma
Cardiff Rugby v Dragons RFC
Connacht v Leinster
Round 6 – Friday, October 21 / Saturday, October 22 / Sunday, October 23
Connacht v Scarlets
Benetton v Bulls
Zebre Parma v Edinburgh Rugby
Lions v Glasgow Warriors
Sharks v Ulster
Dragons RFC v Ospreys
Cardiff Rugby v Stormers
Leinster v Munster
Round 7 – Friday, October 28 / Saturday, October 29 / Sunday, October 30
Scarlets v Leinster
Glasgow Warriors v Benetton
Cardiff Rugby v Edinburgh Rugby
Dragons RFC v Zebre Parma
Munster v Ulster
Ospreys v Connacht
Bulls v Sharks **Feb 10/11
Lions v Stormers **Feb 10/11
Round 8 – Friday, November 25 / Saturday, November 26 / Sunday, November 27
Benetton v Edinburgh Rugby
Lions v Dragons RFC
Bulls v Ospreys
Sharks v Cardiff Rugby
Munster v Connacht
Stormers v Scarlets
Leinster v Glasgow Warriors
Ulster v Zebre Parma
Round 9 – Friday, December 2 / Saturday, December 3 / Sunday, December 4
Edinburgh Rugby v Munster
Zebre Parma v Glasgow Warriors
Sharks v Ospreys
Stormers v Dragons RFC
Lions v Scarlets
Bulls v Cardiff Rugby
Connacht v Benetton
Leinster v Ulster
Round 10 – Friday, December 23 / Saturday, December 24 / Monday, December 26
Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh Rugby
Sharks v Lions
Stormers v Bulls
Benetton v Zebre Parma
Dragons RFC v Cardiff Rugby
Connacht v Ulster
Munster v Leinster
Ospreys v Scarlets
Round 11 – Friday, December 30 / Saturday, December 31 / Sunday, January 1
Edinburgh Rugby v Glasgow Warriors
Sharks v Bulls
Stormers v Lions
Zebre Parma v Benetton
Scarlets v Dragons RFC
Leinster v Connacht
Ulster v Munster
Cardiff Rugby v Ospreys
Round 12 – Friday, January 6 / Saturday, January 7 / Sunday, January 8
Dragons RFC v Bulls
Glasgow Warriors v Stormers
Benetton v Ulster
Connacht v Sharks
Cardiff Rugby v Scarlets
Munster v Lions
Ospreys v Leinster
Edinburgh Rugby v Zebre Parma
Round 13 – Friday, January 27 / Saturday, January 28 / Sunday, January 29
Ulster v Stormers
Zebre Parma v Ospreys
Benetton v Munster
Dragons RFC v Glasgow Warriors
Connacht v Lions
Scarlets v Bulls
Edinburgh Rugby v Sharks
Leinster v Cardiff Rugby
Round 14 – Friday, February 17 / Saturday, February 18 / Sunday, February 19
Glasgow Warriors v Ulster
Munster v Ospreys
Zebre Parma v Connacht
Scarlets v Edinburgh Rugby
Leinster v Dragons RFC
Cardiff Rugby v Benetton
Bulls v Stormers
Lions v Sharks
Round 15 – Friday, March 3 / Saturday, March 4 / Sunday, March 5
Munster v Scarlets
Glasgow Warriors v Zebre Parma
Cardiff Rugby v Ulster
Dragons RFC v Connacht
Edinburgh Rugby v Leinster
Ospreys v Benetton
Bulls v Lions
Stormers v Sharks
Round 16 – Friday, March 24 / Saturday, March 25 / Sunday, March 26
Benetton v Lions
Ulster v Bulls
Scarlets v Sharks
Zebre Parma v Cardiff Rugby
Leinster v Stormers
Ospreys v Dragons RFC
Connacht v Edinburgh Rugby
Munster v Glasgow Warriors
Round 17 – Friday, April 14 / Saturday, April 15 / Sunday, April 16
Sharks v Benetton
Connacht v Cardiff Rugby
Glasgow Warriors v Scarlets
Bulls v Zebre Parma
Lions v Leinster
Edinburgh Rugby v Ospreys
Stormers v Munster
Ulster v Dragons RFC
Round 18 – Friday, April 21 / Saturday, April 22 / Sunday, April 23
Stormers v Benetton
Glasgow Warriors v Connacht
Lions v Zebre Parma
Bulls v Leinster
Ospreys v Cardiff Rugby
Dragons RFC v Scarlets
Sharks v Munster
Ulster v Edinburgh Rugby
