Schedule Confirmed For United Rugby Championship Quarter-Finals
Stuart McCloskey is tackled by Jack O'Donoghue during Munster's United Rugby Championship win over Ulster at Kingspan Stadium last month ©INPHO/Bryan Keane
The United Rugby Championship play-offs will kick off on Friday, June 3 after the schedule for the quarter-finals was confirmed today.
Four games will take place across Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4 with Ulster’s home quarter-final against provincial rivals Munster serving as the curtain raiser to the last-eight at 7.35pm.
Saturday will see three consecutive quarter-final clashes with the action beginning and ending in South Africa.
The Vodacom Bulls will host the league’s first-ever play-off game on South African soil when they face Cell C Sharks in Pretoria at 1.45pm local time.
The action then returns to the northern Hemisphere as Leinster take on Glasgow Warriors at the RDS (kick-off 3.15pm), before Edinburgh’s trip to Cape Town to face the DHL Stormers at 7pm local time.
The timings of each match have allowed for the possibility of extra-time and a place-kicking competition. In Ireland, the Ulster and DHL Stormers fixtures will be available live on TG4, with the Leinster and Vodacom Bulls games screened by RTÉ.
All four games in the last-eight will be broadcast live in the UK and Ireland by Premier Sports and by SuperSport in South Africa, while URC TV will serve fans in Ireland and internationally.
UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINALS:
Friday, June 3 –
ULSTER v MUNSTER, Kingspan Stadium, 7.35pm
Saturday, June 4 –
Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks, Loftus Versfeld, 1.45pm local time/12.45pm Irish time
LEINSTER v Glasgow Warriors, the RDS, 3.15pm
DHL Stormers v Edinburgh, DHL Stadium, 7pm local time/6pm Irish time
PLAY-OFF PATHWAY:
QF1: LEINSTER v Glasgow Warriors
QF2: DHL Stormers v Edinburgh
QF3: ULSTER v MUNSTER
QF4: Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks
Winners of QF1 play at home to winners of QF4 in Semi-final 1
Winners of QF2 play at home to winners of QF3 in Semi-final 2
Team with highest ranking from regular season league table will host the URC final
UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP RANKINGS FOR LAST-EIGHT:
1. LEINSTER 67 points
2. DHL Stormers 61 points
3. ULSTER 59 points
4. Vodacom Bulls 58 points
5. Cell C Sharks 57 points
6. MUNSTER 56 points
7. Edinburgh 54 points
8. Glasgow Warriors 50 points