Rainbow Cup to kick off with derbies all round
THE dates and kick-off times for the first three rounds of the Rainbow Cup have been revealed, with three Sunday afternoon Welsh derbies as part of the schedule.
The new cross-continent competition will get under way as planned next week, despite continuing doubts over whether the four South African sides will be able to travel to the UK and Ireland to play games.
That’s not an issue for the opening three rounds of fixtures as they are all derbies.
It will be two South African sides that will kick things off, with the Stormers hosting the Sharks in Cape Town on the evening of Friday, April 23.
The first Welsh derby will see the Ospreys taking on Cardiff Blues at the Liberty Stadium the following day, with the Dragons entertaining the Scarlets on the Sunday.
There will be further Sunday games in Wales on the next two rounds, with the Blues home to the Dragons on May 9 and the Ospreys travelling to Rodney Parade seven days later.
Details are yet to be confirmed for the meeting between the Scarlets and the Blues in Llanelli on the weekend of May 15-16.
All the matches will be shown live by Premier Sports, including those from South Africa.
S4C will have delayed coverage for the opening three rounds, but then a live game on each weekend in rounds 4, 5 and 6.
It remains to be seen just what format those latter fixtures will take.
The plan is for the four South African sides – Storners, Sharks, Bulls and Lions – to travel over to play PRO14 teams in the last three rounds of matches, ahead of a final on the weekend of June 19.
But securing permission for them to come over from South Africa, which at present is on the travel red list for the UK and Ireland, has proved problematic due to Covid-19 considerations.
However, competition organisers remain hopeful the situation can be resolved, enabling them to journey over to play the games as planned.
RAINBOW CUP FIXTURES
ROUND 1 Friday, April 23
DHL Stormers v Cell C Sharks (6pm UK): Cape Town Stadium
Ulster v Connacht (8.15pm): Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
Edinburgh v Zebre (8.15pm): Murrayfield
Saturday, April 24
Benetton v Glasgow (1pm UK): Stadio de Monigo, Treviso
Vodacom Bulls v Emirates Lions (3pm UK): Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Ospreys v Cardiff Blues (5.15pm): Liberty Stadium
Leinster v Munster (7.35pm): RDS Arena, Dublin
Sunday, April 25
Dragons v Scarlets (1pm): Rodney Parade
ROUND 2 Friday, April 30
Cell C Sharks v Emirates Lions (6pm UK): Jonsson Kings Park, Durban Saturday, May 1 DHL Stormers v Vodacom Bulls (4pm Uk):cape Town Stadium Friday, May 7 Zebre v Benetton (6pm): Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma
Munster v Ulster (8.15pm): Thomond Park, Limerick
Glasgow v Edinburgh (8.15pm): Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Saturday, May 8
Connacht v Leinster (7.35pm): The Sportsground, Galway
Scarlets v Ospreys (7.35pm): Parc y Scarlets Sunday, May 9 Cardiff Blues v Dragons (1pm): Cardiff Arms Park
ROUND 3 Saturday, May 8
Emirates Lions v DHL Stormers (3pm UK): Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks (5.15pm UK): Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria Friday, May 14 Munster v Connacht (6pm): Thomond Park, Limerick
Leinster v Ulster (8.15pm): RDS Arena, Dublin Saturday, May 15 Scarlets v Cardiff Blues (May 15/16): Parc y Scarlets
Benetton v Zebre (5.15pm): Stadio de Monigo, Treviso
Edinburgh v Glasgow (7.35pm): BT Murrayfield Sunday, May 16 Dragons v Ospreys (1pm): Rodney Parade
ROUND 4: Weekend of May 29.
ROUND 5: Weekend of June 5.
ROUND 6: Weekend of June 12.
FINAL: Weekend of June 19.