URC’s ‘Race To The Eight’ Reaches Thrilling Conclusion
The BKT United Rugby Championship’s ‘Race to the Eight’ will reach a thrilling conclusion this weekend with five teams fighting it out for the three remaining places in the play-offs.
All eyes are firmly on the BKT URC play-offs, where the league’s best teams will contest the ultimate prize – to be crowned the 2025 champions.
Leinster, the Vodacom Bulls, defending champions Glasgow Warriors, and the Hollywoodbets Sharks are all locked into home quarter-finals, and have secured their places in next season’s Investec Champions Cup. But what about the rest?
The DHL Stormers can no longer earn a home berth in the quarter-finals, but they have sealed both a play-off place and Champions Cup qualification.
That leaves five teams battling it out for the final three knockout spots – and a place among the Champions Cup elite.
The Scarlets, Cardiff, Benetton, Munster, and Edinburgh remain in the hunt for a prized double – a place in the URC play-offs and qualification for next season’s Champions Cup. However, the final round will test some more than others.
Benetton and 2023 URC winners Munster face a straight-forward scenario as they meet in Cork in a winner-takes-all encounter tonight (kick-off 8pm).
Edinburgh will likely need a bonus point win over Ulster, while the Scarlets and Cardiff must beat the Hollywoodbets Sharks and the DHL Stormers respectively, in South Africa.
The 50-point threshold is the benchmark that guarantees a play-pff spot beyond doubt – but with just four points separating the five teams left in the mix, predicting who will survive is no easy task.
Plus, if teams finish level on points there is an extensive list of tie breakers to decide who will rank highest.
* In the event of two or more teams finishing level on points at the end of the regular season, the following tie-break criteria will be used:
- Number of games won
- Difference between points scored and points conceded
- Number of tries scored
- The most points scored
- Difference between tries scored and conceded
- Fewest red cards received
- Fewest yellow cards received
As it stands, the four home quarter-finalists are set: Leinster, the Bulls, Glasgow, and the Sharks will enjoy the comforts of their own stomping grounds, but their opponents are still to be decided.
Leinster are the only side in the top four whose position is locked in, meaning they will host quarter-final 1 (QF1). The remaining match-ups will be determined by final standings – second hosts seventh, third hosts sixth, and fourth hosts fifth.
BKT URC PLAY-OFF FORMAT:
Quarter-Finals – Friday, May 30 & Saturday, May 31
QF1: No 1 v No 8
QF2: No 2 v No 7
QF3: No 3 v No 6
QF4: No 4 v No 5
Semi-Finals – Saturday, June 7
SF1: Winners QF1 v Winners QF4
SF2: Winners QF2 v Winners QF3
Final – Saturday, June 14
Winners SF1 v Winners SF2
While the four home quarter-finalists are best placed to reach the URC final, history may yet deliver a twist. No team ranked number 1 has ever lifted the URC trophy.
In past seasons, it was the second-placed Stormers (2022), fifth-placed Munster (2023), and fourth-placed Glasgow (2024) who emerged as the title winners.