New URC term to open with a West Wales derby
THE new season of the United Rugby Championship will kick off with a west Wales derby, as the Scarlets welcome the Ospreys to Llanelli on the opening weekend.
The two sides will also face each other in the Christmas derby, with the league reverting to the traditional west and east match-ups, while the four Welsh professional sides are all due to travel to South Africa for two rounds of games at the end of November and early December. All TV details and kickoff times are set to be confirmed next week.
However, the first of those weekends will clash with Wales’ final autumn match against Australia which is being played outside World Rugby’s international window - so clubs’ preparations will likely be hindered for the trip to the Rainbow Nation.
The South African sides will sit out the opening week of the URC when the season kicks off in September, with the four teams playing their first matches of the season the following week.
They will then catch up on that missed fixture during the first week of the Six Nations in February, when the other 12 sides will not be in action. “The diversity of our league we so proudly celebrate is also a reason for the immense complexity of putting together our season two fixtures,” said URC chief executive Martin Anayi. “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 one.
“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.”