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Irish Examiner
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Munster to start 25/26 season with Welsh double
It's a Welsh double for Munster to begin next season's BKT United Rugby Championship campaign. A trip to Scarlets on Saturday, September 27 is followed by the province's first home game of the new season the weekend after, when they host Cardiff on October 4. Leinster, favourites to go all the way this season, will kick off the 2025/26 season with a double-header in South Africa. They first play Stormers in Cape Town in the opening game of the competition on Friday, September 26, before meeting the Bulls in Pretoria the following week. Leinster's first home game will also be against South Africa opposition, when the Sharks visit Dublin on October 11. Connacht kick off with Benetton at the Dexcom Stadium, while Ulster are also at home, with the Dragons coming to Belfast. Fans of Leinster and Munster will circle October 18 as the first interpro derby of the campaign. Leinster are hosts, with the venue to be confirmed. Leinster will visit Thomond Park for the return on Saturday, December 27. The format of the competition remains the same with the Grand Final scheduled for June 20, 2026. To add novelty to the competition for fans, the new campaign will have a series of themed rounds such Kids Round, Origin Round, and Unity Round Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship CEO, said: 'Advance planning is critical to the success of the United Rugby Championship and it is fantastic that we have continued to raise the bar in publishing our fixtures as early as possible. 'For clubs and fans, planning their weekends and knowing where their teams are playing so far ahead of time makes a big difference. The drama and excitement of the BKT URC is matched by the complexity of putting all of the pieces of the fixture list together but it is made much easier thanks to the support of our teams and broadcasters to assist us in this process. 'For the moment, we look forward to the Play-Offs that kick off next week after another regular season full of surprises. The Race to the Eight provided huge jeopardy and now we move into the ultimate win or go home stage of the competition which will lift the intensity up to another level.' INTERPROS Sat, Oct 18: Leinster v Munster (TBC), 5.15pm Sat, Oct 25: Munster v Connacht (Thomond Park), 7.45pm Fri, Dec 19: Leinster v Ulster (TBC), 7.45pm Sat Dec 27: Connacht v Ulster (Dexcom Stadium), 5.30pm; Munster v Leinster (Thomond Park), 7.45pm Sat Jan 3: Leinster v Connacht (TBC), 5.30pm Sat Jan 24: Connacht v Leinster (Dexcom Stadium), 5.30pm Fri, Mar 20: Ulster v Connacht (Kingspan Stadium), 7.45pm Fri, Apr 17: Ulster v Leinster (Kingspan Stadium), 7.45pm Sat, Apr 25: Munster v Ulster (Thomond Park), 5.30pm Sat, May 9: Connacht v Munster (Dexcom Stadium), 7.45pm
The Citizen
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
2025-26 URC to start with a bang
The Stormers host Leinster while the Sharks travel to Glasgow in a blockbuster opening weekend of the 2025-26 Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) season. In other round 1 matches involving SA teams, the Vodacom Bulls host Ospreys, with the Lions at Cardiff. With the campaign set to kick off on September 26, this is the earliest-ever publication of league fixtures in competition history. 'Advance planning is critical to the success of the URC, and it is fantastic that we have continued to raise the bar in publishing our fixtures as early as possible,' said URC CEO Martin Anayi. 'For clubs and fans, planning their weekends and knowing where their teams are playing so far ahead of time makes a big difference. The drama and excitement of the URC is matched by the complexity of putting all of the pieces of the fixture list together, but it is made much easier thanks to the support of our teams and broadcasters to assist us in this process. 'For the moment, we look forward to the playoffs that kick off next week after another regular season full of surprises. The Race to the Eight provided huge jeopardy and now we move into the ultimate win or go home stage of the competition which will lift the intensity up to another level.' URC QUARTER-FINALS: Stormers to tackle champs 2026-26 URC fixtures (SA times): Round 1 Friday, September 26 Stormers vs Leinster (19:00) Ulster vs Dragons (21:05) Glasgow vs Sharks (21:05) Saturday, September 27 Bulls vs Ospreys (14:00) Zebre vs Edinburgh (16:05) Scarlets vs Munster (18:30) Cardiff vs Lions (20:45) Connacht vs Benetton (20:45) Round 2 Friday, October 3 Stormers vs Ospreys (19:00) Connacht vs Scarlets (21:05) Edinburgh vs Ulster (21:05) Dragons vs Sharks (21:05) Saturday, October 4 Benetton vs Glasgow (18:30) Bulls vs Leinster (18:30) Munster vs Cardiff (20:45) Sunday, October 5 Zebre vs Lions (15:00) Round 3 Friday, October 10 Munster vs Edinburgh (20:45) Scarlets vs Stormers (20:45) Saturday, October 11 Benetton vs Lions (16:00) Ospreys vs Zebre Parma (16:00) Glasgow vs Dragons (18:30) Leinster vs Sharks (18:30) Ulster vs Bulls (20:45) Cardiff vs Connacht (20:45) The excitement is building! 2025/26 VURC fixtures are now confirmed! Never miss a match, sync the full fixture list here: #URC — The Sharks (@SharksRugby) May 21, 2025 Round 4 Friday, October 17 Edinburgh vs Benetton (20:45) Connacht vs Bulls (20:45) Dragons vs Cardiff (20:45) Saturday, October 18 Lions vs Scarlets (13:45) Sharks vs Ulster (16:00) Leinster vs Munster (18:15) Zebre vs Stormers (20:45) Ospreys vs Glasgow (20:45) Round 5 Friday, October 24 Glasgow vs Bulls (20:45) Saturday, October 25 Lions vs Ulster (13:45) Sharks vs Scarlets (16:00) Leinster vs Zebre (18:30) Benetton vs Stormers (18:30) Dragons vs Ospreys (18:30) Munster vs Connacht (20:45) Cardiff vs Edinburgh (20:45) Round 6 Friday, November 28 Ulster vs Benetton (21:45) Dragons vs Leinster (21:45) Saturday, November 29 Bulls vs Lions (14:00) Zebre vs Cardiff (15:00) Munster vs Stormers (19:30) Edinburgh vs Ospreys (19:30) Connacht vs Sharks (21:45) Scarlets vs Glasgow (21:45) Round 7 Friday, December 19 Cardiff vs Scarlets (21:45) Leinster vs Ulster (21:45) Saturday, 20 December Stormers vs Lions (15:30) Benetton vs Zebre Parma (16:00) Glasgow vs Edinburgh (17:00) Sharks vs Bulls (18:00) Ospreys vs Munster (19:30) Dragons vs Connacht (21:45) Round 8 Friday, December 26 Scarlets vs Ospreys (19:30) Cardiff vs Dragons (17:00) Saturday, December 27 Zebre vs Benetton (16:30) Edinburgh vs Glasgow (17:00) Connacht vs Ulster (19:30) Munster vs Leinster (21:45) TBC Bulls vs Stormers (TBC) Lions vs Sharks (TBC) Round 9 Thursday, January 1 Dragons vs Scarlets (17:00) Ospreys vs Cardiff (19:30) Friday, January 2 Ulster vs Munster (21:45) Saturday, January 3 Stormers vs Bulls (18:00) Benetton vs Edinburgh (19:30) Glasgow vs Zebre (21:45) Sharks vs Lions (15:30) Leinster vs Connacht (19:30) Round 10 Friday, January 23 Ospreys vs Emirates Lions (21:45) Edinburgh vs Bulls (21:45) Munster vs Dragons (21:45) Saturday, January 24 Scarlets vs Ulster (17:00) Connacht vs Leinster (19:30) Stormers vs Sharks (19:30) Zebre vs Glasgow (21:45) Cardiff vs Benetton (21:45) Round 11 Friday, January 30 Benetton vs Scarlets (21:45) Glasgow vs Munster (21:45) Saturday, January 31 Lions vs Bulls (14:30) Sharks vs Stormers (17:00) Zebre vs Connacht (17:00) Leinster vs Edinburgh (19:30) Ospreys vs Dragons (21:45) Ulster vs Cardiff (21:45) Round 12 Friday, February 27 Edinburgh v Scarlets (21:45) Cardiff vs Leinster (21:45) Saturday, February 28 Lions vs Stormers (14:30) Bulls vs Sharks (17:00) Connacht vs Glasgow (17:00) Munster vs Zebre (19:30) Dragons vs Benetton (19:30) Ospreys vs Ulster (21:45) Round 13 Friday, March 20 Bulls vs Cardiff (19:00) Scarlets vs Zebre (21:45) Ulster vs Connacht (21:45) Saturday, March 21 Lions vs Edinburgh (14:45) Sharks vs Munster (17:00) Benetton vs Ospreys (17:00) Glasgow vs Leinster (19:30) Stormers vs Dragons (19:30) Round 14 Friday, March 27 Sharks vs Cardiff (19:00) Glasgow vs Benetton (21:45) Saturday, March 28 Bulls vs Munster (14:00) Connacht vs Ospreys (16:15) Lions vs Dragons (16:30) Stormers vs Edinburgh (19:00) Leinster vs Scarlets (19:30) Zebre vs Ulster (21:45) Round 15 Friday, April 17 Edinburgh vs Zebre (20:45) Ulster vs Leinster (20:45) Dragons vs Bulls (20:45) Saturday, April 18 Lions vs Glasgow (15:45) Scarlets vs Cardiff (18:30) Benetton vs Munster (20:45) Ospreys vs Sharks (20:45) Round 16 Friday, April 24 Edinburgh vs Sharks (20:45) Zebre vs Dragons (20:45) Cardiff vs Ospreys (20:45) Saturday, April 25 Lions vs Connacht (16:00) Stormers vs Glasgow (18:30) Munster vs Ulster (18:30) Scarlets vs Bulls (20:45) Benetton vs Leinster (20:45) Round 17 Friday, May 8 Glasgow vs Cardiff (20:45) Ulster vs Stormers (20:45) Saturday, May 9 Bulls vs Zebre (13:45) Sharks vs Benetton (16:00) Ospreys vs Scarlets (18:30) Leinster vs Lions (18:30) Dragons vs Edinburgh (20:45) Connacht vs Munster (20:45) Round 18 Friday, May 15 Cardiff vs Stormers (20:45) Ulster vs Glasgow (20:45) Edinburgh vs Connacht (20:45) Saturday, May 16 Sharks vs Zebre (13:45) Bulls vs Benetton (16:00) Leinster vs Ospreys (18:15) Scarlets vs Dragons (18:15) Munster vs Lions (20:45) The post 2025-26 URC to start with a bang appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. 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