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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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The South African
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The South African
URC: Final round kick-off times for SA teams
All four SA teams have home games in the URC this weekend as the league stage comes to a close, with the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers all assured of playoff places, but still hoping to lock in the best possible finish. The Stormers are first in action on Friday when they host Cardiff (19:00 kick off time), and a favourable result here should see them finish the pool stages in a favourable fifth position. On Saturday, the Bulls host the Dragons (with kick off at 15:00), with Jake White's team already assured of a home quarter-final. Meanwhile, the Sharks will hope that Glasgow go down against Leinster and they win their match against the Scarlets (19:30 kick off on Saturday) to move up to third place. The Lions are out of the running for a playoff spot, but will hope to end the league phase on a high against the Ospreys on Saturday (17:15 kick off). Scarlets (48), Benetton (46), Munster (46), Cardiff (46), and Edinburgh (44) are still in the Race to the Eight, but Munster face Benetton in the final round, which may cost one of these two teams a spot in the quarter-finals. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
12-05-2025
- Sport
- The South African
Updated: URC standings with one round left
In the penultimate weekend of league action in the URC this past weekend, the Stormers booked their spot in the United Rugby Championship quarter-finals alongside the Bulls and Sharks. Unfortunately for the Lions, their hopes of sneaking into the top eight through the back door were dashed completely as they went down against the Scarlets in Johannesburg on Sunday, leaving them to play purely for pride in the final pool round next weekend. The three qualifying South African sides finished the round in the top eight, with the Bulls and Sharks now assured of home quarter-finals. HOW THE URC STANDINGS LOOK: The Sharks started off round 17 on a high note on Friday as they defeated the Ospreys 29-10 in Durban; and the Bulls and Stormers followed suit on Saturday as they beat Cardiff 45-21 in Pretoria and the Dragons 48-12 in Cape Town respectively. In stark contrast, the Lions saw their faint hopes of a quarter-final spot fall through their fingers as they succumbed to a disappointing 32-19 defeat against the Scarlets in Johannesburg. These results, combined with the Glasgow Warriors' surprising 33-7 defeat against to Benetton, saw the Bulls finish the round in second place (63 points) behind Leinster (72), the Sharks in fourth place (58 points) and the Stormers one place behind (50 points). The Lions are languishing in 13th position (35 points). All four teams have home games next weekend as the league stages come to a close, but the Sharks will hope that Glasgow go down against Leinster and they win their match against the Scarlets to move up to third place, while the Stormers will want to beat Cardiff to finish the pool stages in favourable fifth position. Scarlets (48), Benetton (46), Munster (46), Cardiff (46), and Edinburgh (44) are still in the Race to the Eight, but Munster face Benetton in the final round, which may cost one of these two teams a spot in the quarter-finals. DO YOU THINK ONE OF THE SA TEAMS COULD GO ON TO WIN THE COMPETITION? Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
