Wikipedia

Draft:2024–25 United Rugby Championship

2024–25 United Rugby Championship
Countries Ireland
 Italy
 Scotland
 South Africa
 Wales
Date20 September 2024 – 14 June 2025
Official website
unitedrugby.com
← 2022–23
2025–26 →

The 2024–25 United Rugby Championship will be the 24rd season of the professional rugby union competition known as the United Rugby Championship, and the fourth season under that name. It will begin on 20 September 2024 and will end on 14 June 2025.[1]

Format

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The season consists of 21 rounds: 18 rounds of regular season play, followed by three rounds of play-offs.

There are four regional pools: The Irish Shield pool (featuring the four Irish teams), the Welsh Shield pool (featuring the four Welsh teams), the South African Shield pool (featuring the four South African teams) and the Scottish/Italian 'Azzurri/Blue' Shield pool (featuring the two Italian and two Scottish sides). The pools serve two functions; they guarantee a full slate of derby matches for each team, and they award a minor Regional Shield trophy to the top team in each pool, which thereby functions as a national championship in three of the four pools, and a cross-border regional championship in the Scottish–Italian pool. The winner of each Shield will be determined solely from the games played amongst the teams within their regional pool, mirroring the format of the old Interprovincial Championship in Ireland.[2]

Teams play six matches against their regional pool rivals home and away. The remaining twelve matches are made up by a single round robin, consisting of an even number of six home and six away matches against all the sides from the other pools.[3]

For the Championship itself, there is one main league table. The top eight sides in the table will qualify for the quarter-finals, followed by semi-finals and a grand final, with teams seeded 1 to 4 with home advantage for the lowest seeded side. The Regional Shield pools have no direct link to the play-offs and by extension the Championship itself, and it is technically possible to win a Regional Shield but not contest the play-offs, as the Welsh sides showed in 2022 and 2023.[3]

Teams

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United Rugby Championship

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Team Country Coach /
Director of Rugby 		Captain Stadium Capacity
Benetton   Italy   Marco Bortolami  Eli Snyman
  Michele Lamaro 		Stadio Comunale di Monigo 5,000
Bulls   South Africa   Jake White   Marcell Coetzee
  Ruan Nortjé 		Loftus Versfeld Stadium 51,762
Cardiff   Wales   Matt Sherratt   Josh Turnbull Cardiff Arms Park 12,125
Connacht   Ireland   Peter Wilkins   Jack Carty The Sportsground 8,129
Dragons   Wales   Dai Flanagan   Steffan Hughes Rodney Parade 8,700
Edinburgh   Scotland   Sean Everitt   Grant Gilchrist
  Jamie Ritchie 		Edinburgh Rugby Stadium
Murrayfield Stadium 		7,800
67,144
Glasgow Warriors   Scotland   Franco Smith   Kyle Steyn Scotstoun Stadium 7,351
Leinster   Ireland   Leo Cullen   James Ryan
  Garry Ringrose[4] 		RDS Arena
Aviva Stadium 		18,500
51,700
Lions   South Africa   Ivan van Rooyen   Marius Louw Ellis Park Stadium 62,567
Munster   Ireland   Graham Rowntree   Peter O'Mahony Thomond Park
Musgrave Park 		25,600
8,008
Ospreys   Wales   Toby Booth   Justin Tipuric Swansea.com Stadium 20,827
Scarlets   Wales   Dwayne Peel   Josh Macleod Parc y Scarlets 14,870
Sharks   South Africa   John Plumtree   Lukhanyo Am Kings Park Stadium 52,000
Stormers   South Africa   John Dobson   Salmaan Moerat Cape Town Stadium
Danie Craven Stadium[5] 		55,000
16,000
Ulster   Ireland   Richie Murphy   Iain Henderson Ravenhill Stadium 18,196
Zebre Parma   Italy   Fabio Roselli   David Sisi Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi 5,000

Locations

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Location of Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams:
2024–25 United Rugby Championship (the United Kingdom and Ireland)
 Location of Italian teams:
2024–25 United Rugby Championship (Northern Italy)

Location of South African teams:

2024–25 United Rugby Championship (South Africa)

Regional Shield competitions

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Regional shield standing will be based entirely on performances against other teams within the same conference.[2] Therefore, only six games for each team will count towards the regional shields.

2024–25 United Rugby Championship Regional Shield Pools view · watch · edit · discuss
  Irish Shield
Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts Pos overall
1   Connacht 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2   Leinster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3   Munster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   Ulster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Scottish/Italian Shield
Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts Pos overall
1   Benetton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2   Edinburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3   Glasgow Warriors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   Zebre Parma 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  South African Shield
Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts Pos overall
1   Bulls 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2   Lions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3   Sharks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   Stormers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Welsh Shield
Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts Pos overall
1   Cardiff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2   Dragons 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3   Ospreys 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   Scarlets 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[6]
  1. number of matches won
  2. the difference between points for and points against
  3. the number of tries scored
  4. the most points scored
  5. the difference between tries for and tries against
  6. the fewest red cards received
  7. the fewest yellow cards received
Green background indicates teams currently leading the regional shield. Upon the conclusion of the regular season, these teams win their respective regional shields.

(S) : URC Shield champion

URC league standings

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2023–24 United Rugby Championship
 watch · edit · discuss
Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1   Benetton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2   Bulls 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3   Cardiff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   Connacht 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5   Dragons 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6   Edinburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7   Glasgow Warriors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8   Leinster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9   Lions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10   Munster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11   Ospreys 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12   Scarlets 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13   Sharks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14   Stormers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15   Ulster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16   Zebre Parma 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[7]
  1. number of matches won;
  2. the difference between points for and points against;
  3. the number of tries scored;
  4. the most points scored;
  5. the difference between tries for and tries against;
  6. the fewest red cards received;
  7. the fewest yellow cards received.
Green background indicates teams that are in play-off places and earn a place in the 2025–26 European Champions Cup

Pink background indicates teams that are in play-off places and earn a place in the 2025–26 European Challenge Cup
Yellow background indicates the team that won the 2024–25 European Challenge Cup and thus qualify for the 2025–26 European Champions Cup, but are not in a play-off place
Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2025–26 European Challenge Cup.
Q: qualified for play-offs. H: home field advantage secured for quarter-and semi-final. h; home field advantage secured for quarter-final X: cannot reach play-offs. E: qualified for Champions Cup.

European qualification

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Priority order for European Champions Cup qualification is:

  • 2024–25 United Rugby Championship champions
  • the European Rugby Champions Cup champions (if a URC team but not already qualified as above)
  • the EPCR Challenge Cup champions (if a URC team but not already qualified as above)
  • the next highest-ranked teams during regular season play not already qualified as above, until eight overall qualifiers have been selected.

Regular season

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Round 1

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20 September 2024
19:35
Cardiff  v  Zebre Parma
Cardiff Arms Park
20 September 2024
19:35
Edinburgh  v  Leinster
Edinburgh Rugby Stadium
21 September 2024
15:45
Sharks  v  Lions
Kings Park Stadium
21 September 2024
15:00
Dragons  v  Ospreys
Rodney Parade
21 September 2024
18:15
Stormers  v  Bulls
Cape Town Stadium
21 September 2024
17:30
Munster  v  Connacht
Thomond Park
21 September 2024
20:35
Benetton  v  Scarlets
Stadio Monigo
21 September 2024
19:45
Ulster  v  Glasgow Warriors
Ravenhill Stadium

Round 2

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27 September 2024
19:35
Glasgow Warriors  v  Benetton
Scotstoun Stadium
27 September 2024
19:35
Leinster  v  Dragons
Aviva Stadium
28 September 2024
13:45
Lions  v  Ulster
Ellis Park Stadium
28 September 2024
16:00
Bulls  v  Edinburgh
Loftus Versfeld Stadium
28 September 2024
16:00
Zebre Parma  v  Munster
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
28 September 2024
17:15
Scarlets  v  Cardiff
Parc y Scarlets
28 September 2024
19:35
Connacht  v  Sharks
The Sportsground
28 September 2024
19:35
Ospreys  v  Stormers
Swansea.com Stadium

Round 3

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4 October 2024
19:35
Scarlets  v  Connacht
Parc y Scarlets
4 October 2024
19:35
Cardiff  v  Glasgow Warriors
Cardiff Arms Park
5 October 2024
13:45
Lions  v  Edinburgh
Emirates Airline Park
5 October 2024
16:00
Bulls  v  Ulster
Loftus Versfeld Stadium
5 October 2024
18:15
Benetton  v  Leinster
Stadio Monigo
5 October 2024
17:15
Dragons  v  Sharks
Rodney Parade
5 October 2024
19:35
Munster  v  Ospreys
Thomond Park
5 October 2024
20:35
Zebre Parma  v  Stormers
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi

Round 4

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11 October 2024
19:35
Glasgow Warriors  v  Zebre Parma
Scotstoun Stadium
12 October 2024
16:00
Benetton  v  Sharks
Stadio Monigo
12 October 2024
15:00
Cardiff  v  Scarlets
Cardiff Arms Park
12 October 2024
17:15
Edinburgh  v  Stormers
Edinburgh Rugby Stadium
12 October 2024
17:45
Leinster  v  Munster
Aviva Stadium
12 October 2024
19:35
Ospreys  v  Bulls
Swansea.com Stadium
12 October 2024
20:00
Ulster  v  Connacht
Ravenhill Stadium
13 October 2024
Dragons  v  Lions
Rodney Parade

References

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  1. ^ "Full 2024/2025 URC Fixture List". United Rugby Championship.
  2. ^ a b "Meritocracy Qualification Will Make URC Stronger". United Rugby Championship. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b "United Rugby Championship Format Explained". Pro14. 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Leinster Name Garry Ringrose And James Ryan As Co-Captains", Irish Rugby, 9 November 2023
  5. ^ "DHL Stormers to face Edinburgh at DHL Stadium". The Stormers. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  6. ^ League Format (3) "Competition Rules". United Rugby Championship. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  7. ^ League Format (3) "Competition Rules". United Rugby Championship. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
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