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Final details confirmed for 25 URC games, including Christmas derbies

Garry Ringrose leads out Leinster at Munster last December (Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

The final details for 25 URC fixtures for the 2024/25 season have been officially confirmed by the organisers of the five union tournament. Exact details for the entire opening round weekend on September 21 but 10 other rounds have now been adjusted – including rounds eight and nine over the Christmas period when Munster will host Leinster in Limerick on December 27.

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Other confirmations include the details of the October 12 reverse of that all-Irish fixture, the derby that Leinster will stage at Croke Park which is the home of the GAA in Ireland, and the October 26 visit of defending champions Glasgow to the Stormers. Cape Town won’t play host to that match as Stellenbosch has instead been pencilled in as the venue.

A statement read: “With less than a month to go ahead of the 2024/25 season the BKT United Rugby Championship has finalised outstanding fixture information while a number of other games have been adjusted. Below is a comprehensive list of games which have either now been confirmed or had venues or kick-off times updated.

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“All fixtures are now up to date on the league’s official website. Each fixture lists a kick-off relevant to the core territories of the BKT URC in the UK & Ireland (UK & IRE), South Africa (SA) and Italy (ITA).”

ROUND 2
Saturday, September 28
Emirates Lions v Ulster
Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
KO: 11:55 UK & IRE / 12:55 ITA & SA

Vodacom Bulls v Edinburgh
Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
KO: 14:00 UK & IRE / 15:00 ITA & SA

Ospreys v DHL Stormers
Dunraven Brewery Field, Bridgend
KO: 19:35 UK & IRE / 20:35 ITA & SA

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ROUND 4
Saturday, October 12
Leinster v Munster
Croke Park, Dublin
KO: 17:45 UK & IRE / 18:45 ITA & SA

Ospreys v Vodacom Bulls
Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
KO: 19:35 UK & IRE / 20:35 ITA & SA

ROUND 6
Saturday, October 26
DHL Stormers v Glasgow Warriors
Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
KO: 12:45 UK & IRE / 13:45 ITA & SA

Ospreys v Edinburgh
Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
KO: 15:00 UK & IRE / 16:00 ITA & SA

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ROUND 8
Friday, December 20
Ulster v Munster
Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
KO: 19:35 UK & IRE / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA

Saturday, December 21
DHL Stormers v Emirates Lions
DHL Stadium, Cape Town
KO: 13:45 UK & IRE / 14:45 ITA / 15:45 SA

Hollywoodbets Sharks v Vodacom Bulls
Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
KO: 16:00 UK & IRE / 17:00 ITA / 18:00 SA

Ospreys v Scarlets
Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
KO: 17:15 UK & IRE / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA

Leinster v Connacht
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
KO: 17:30 UK & IRE / 18:30 ITA / 19:30 SA

Thursday, December 26
Dragons RFC v Cardiff
Rodney Parade, Newport
KO: 17:15 UK & IRE / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA

ROUND 9
Friday, December 27
Munster v Leinster
Thomond Park, Limerick
KO: 19:35 UK & IRE / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA

Saturday, December 28
DHL Stormers v Hollywoodbets Sharks
DHL Stadium, Cape Town
KO: 15:00 UK & IRE / 16:00 ITA / 17:00 SA

Connacht v Ulster
Dexcom Stadium, Galway
KO: 19:35 UK & IRE / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA

Saturday, February 22
Vodacom Bulls v Emirates Lions
Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
KO: 12:00 UK & IRE / 13:00 ITA / 14:00 SA

ROUND 10
Friday, January 24
Ospreys v Benetton
Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
KO: 19:35 UK & IRE / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA

ROUND 11
Friday, February 14
Ospreys v Leinster
Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
KO: 19:35 UK & IRE / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA

Saturday, February 15
Munster v Scarlets
Thomond Park, Limerick
KO: 17:15 UK & IRE / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA

Sunday, February 16
Dragons RFC v Glasgow Warriors
Rodney Parade, Newport
KO: 14:00 UK & IRE / 15:00 ITA / 16:00 SA

ROUND 12
Friday, February 28
Munster v Edinburgh
Virgin Media Park, Cork
KO: 19:35 UK & IRE / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA

ROUND 13
Saturday, March 22
Ospreys v Connacht
Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
KO: 17:15 UK & IRE / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA

ROUND 14
Saturday, March 29
Connacht v Munster
Dexcom Stadium, Galway
KO: 14:30 UK & IRE / 15:30 ITA / 16:30 SA

ROUND 16
Saturday, April 26
Ospreys v Dragons RFC
Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
KO: 15:00 UK & IRE / 16:00 ITA & SA

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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