Ulster-Connacht Clash To Launch New URC Season

Ulster-Connacht Clash To Launch New URC Season

The second United Rugby Championship season kicks off in 50 days' time with the league ready to build upon an enormously successful first campaign that saw the DHL Stormers claim the inaugural URC title. All 18 rounds are confirmed with broadcast selections and kick-off times to be confirmed in early August. This is the first step in the journey to crown the champions of 2022/23 and now fans can identify the weekends where their team will take on rivals new and old from north and south. The URC will kick off on Friday, September 16, and will see the regular season come to an end in round 18 on Sunday, April 23 next year. Each week teams from five rugby powerhouse nations cross the hemispheres to compete and fight for the right to be our champion. Every match features a clash of rugby styles, cultures, languages and identity. It is the diversity of our competition that makes us different. Looking ahead to the first seven rounds of the URC, before we head into the Autumn Nations Series, there is plenty to get excited about. Round 1 will see provincial rivals Ulster and Connacht go head-to-head at Kingspan Stadium, while the Scarlets host the Ospreys in another mouth-watering derby encounter. The Stormers will make their first appearance since lifting the trophy in Cape Town as they welcome Connacht in round 2 where the smoke from the fireworks at the grand final has hardly settled. Munster have two trips to Wales - Cardiff and Newport - to start their first season under new head coach Graham Rowntree, while Leinster face the two Italian sides first up, before hitting Belfast for a crunch round 3 derby. Another early fixture to look out for is in round round 5 when the Vodacom Bulls travel to Thomond Park for the first time to take on Munster, two iconic teams playing at an iconic stadium. The URC format will see all 16 teams ranked across a single table which will reward the top eight teams with their places in the quarter-finals, followed by the semi-finals to set the stage for the grand final. Every game counts. Any team can win on any given weekend. URC CEO Martin Anayi commented: "The diversity of our league we so proudly celebrate, is also a reason for the immense complexity of putting together our season 2 fixtures. "This is a monumental task, and it takes many stakeholders many long hours dedicated to making this the best club rugby championship in the world. "We have to consider a variety of factors across our 16 clubs and five territories, but we believe that our season schedule will give our fans the best rugby week in and week out. "My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who has worked tirelessly to put together a blockbuster fixture list right from round 1. "We have seen the success of our tournament format culminating in the grandest of grand finals last season and we look forward to going on this journey with our fans and with our stakeholders to another successful year of world-class rugby in action."

UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP - 2022/23 SEASON FIXTURES:

ROUND 1 - Friday, September 16/Saturday, September 17/Sunday, September 18 Edinburgh v Dragons Ulster v Connacht Benetton v Glasgow Warriors Zebre Parma v Leinster Scarlets v Ospreys Cardiff v Munster Cell C Sharks v DHL Stormers * February 3/4 Emirates Lions v Vodacom Bulls * February 3/4 ROUND 2 – Friday, September 23/Saturday, September 24/Sunday, September 25 Zebre Parma v Cell C Sharks Glasgow Warriors v Cardiff Leinster v Benetton DHL Stormers v Connacht Vodacom Bulls v Edinburgh Scarlets v Ulster Ospreys v Emirates Lions Dragons v Munster ROUND 3 – Friday, September 30/Saturday, October 1/Sunday, October 2 Cardiff v Emirates Lions Ulster v Leinster Benetton v Scarlets DHL Stormers v Edinburgh Vodacom Bulls v Connacht Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors Munster v Zebre Parma Dragons v Cell C Sharks ROUND 4 – Friday, October 7/Saturday, October 8/Sunday, October 9 Edinburgh v Emirates Lions Zebre Parma v DHL Stormers Glasgow Warriors v Vodacom Bulls Connacht v Munster Benetton v Dragons Scarlets v Cardiff Leinster v Cell C Sharks Ulster v Ospreys ROUND 5 – Friday, October 14/Saturday, October 15/Sunday, October 16 Edinburgh v Benetton Ospreys v DHL Stormers Emirates Lions v Ulster Cell C Sharks v Glasgow Warriors Munster v Vodacom Bulls Scarlets v Zebre Parma Cardiff v Dragons Connacht v Leinster ROUND 6 – Friday, October 21/Saturday, October 22/Sunday, October 23 Connacht v Scarlets Benetton v Vodacom Bulls Zebre Parma v Edinburgh Emirates Lions v Glasgow Warriors Cell C Sharks v Ulster Dragons v Ospreys Cardiff v DHL Stormers Leinster v Munster ROUND 7 – Friday, October 28/Saturday, October 29/Sunday, October 30 Scarlets v Leinster Glasgow Warriors v Benetton Cardiff v Edinburgh Dragons v Zebre Parma Munster v Ulster Ospreys v Connacht Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks * February 10/11 Emirates Lions v DHL Stormers * February 10/11 ROUND 8 – Friday, November 25/Saturday, November 26/Sunday, November 27 Benetton v Edinburgh Emirates Lions v Dragons Vodacom Bulls v Ospreys Cell C Sharks v Cardiff Munster v Connacht DHL Stormers v Scarlets Leinster v Glasgow Warriors Ulster v Zebre Parma ROUND 9 – Friday, December 2/Saturday, December 3/Sunday, December 4 Edinburgh v Munster Zebre Parma v Glasgow Warriors Cell C Sharks v Ospreys DHL Stormers v Dragons Emirates Lions v Scarlets Vodacom Bulls v Cardiff Connacht v Benetton Leinster v Ulster ROUND 10 – Friday, December 23/Saturday, December 24/Monday, December 26 Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh Cell C Sharks v Emirates Lions DHL Stormers v Vodacom Bulls Benetton v Zebre Parma Dragons v Cardiff Connacht v Ulster Munster v Leinster Ospreys v Scarlets ROUND 11 – Friday, December 30/Saturday, December 31/Sunday, January 1 Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors Cell C Sharks v Vodacom Bulls DHL Stormers v Emirates Lions Zebre Parma v Benetton Scarlets v Dragons Leinster v Connacht Ulster v Munster Cardiff v Ospreys ROUND 12 – Friday, January 6/Saturday, January 7/Sunday, January 8 Dragons v Vodacom Bulls Glasgow Warriors v DHL Stormers Benetton v Ulster Connacht v Cell C Sharks Cardiff v Scarlets Munster v Emirates Lions Ospreys v Leinster Edinburgh v Zebre Parma ROUND 13 – Friday, January 27/Saturday, January 28/Sunday, January 29 Ulster v DHL Stormers Zebre Parma v Ospreys Benetton v Munster Dragons v Glasgow Warriors Connacht v Emirates Lions Scarlets v Vodacom Bulls Edinburgh v Cell C Sharks Leinster v Cardiff ROUND 14 – Friday, February 17/Saturday, February 18/Sunday, February 19 Glasgow Warriors v Ulster Munster v Ospreys Zebre Parma v Connacht Scarlets v Edinburgh Leinster v Dragons Cardiff v Benetton Vodacom Bulls v DHL Stormers Emirates Lions v Cell C Sharks ROUND 15 – Friday, March 3/Saturday, March 4/Sunday, March 5 Munster v Scarlets Glasgow Warriors v Zebre Parma Cardiff v Ulster Dragons v Connacht Edinburgh v Leinster Ospreys v Benetton Vodacom Bulls v Emirates Lions DHL Stormers v Cell C Sharks ROUND 16 – Friday, March 24/Saturday, March 25/Sunday, March 26 Benetton v Emirates Lions Ulster v Vodacom Bulls Scarlets v Cell C Sharks Zebre Parma v Cardiff Leinster v DHL Stormers Ospreys v Dragons Connacht v Edinburgh Munster v Glasgow Warriors ROUND 17 – Friday, April 14 /Saturday, April 15/Sunday, April 16 Cell C Sharks v Benetton Connacht v Cardiff Glasgow Warriors v Scarlets Vodacom Bulls v Zebre Parma Emirates Lions v Leinster Edinburgh v Ospreys DHL Stormers v Munster Ulster v Dragons ROUND 18 – Friday, April 21/Saturday, April 22/Sunday, April 23 DHL Stormers v Benetton Glasgow Warriors v Connacht Emirates Lions v Zebre Parma Vodacom Bulls v Leinster Ospreys v Cardiff Dragons v Scarlets Cell C Sharks v Munster Ulster v Edinburgh