URC to kick off with blue-chip bash between Stormers and Leinster
Stormers set to meet Leinster in Cape Town when curtain lifts
Next season's United Rugby Championship (URC) kicks off on September 26 with a blue-chip fixture between the Stormers and Leinster in Cape Town.
The eight-time champions will travel to Cape Town for the third time in search of their first victory in the Mother City.
The Stormers have a good record against Leinster with just one defeat in their four previous match-ups.
Games will take place on the opening weekend in all five competing territories with Glasgow Warriors hosting the Sharks, Scarlets facing Munster, Connacht taking on Benetton and Ospreys visiting Loftus Versfeld for a clash against the Bulls.
The Lions start their campaign in Cardiff.
The Sharks will go into their away clash against the Warriors in a match-up that has only seen home victories.
The Bulls will take on the Ospreys in the knowledge they are unbeaten after four clashes against the Welsh outfit.
The 2025/2026 season includes festive derby rounds which are again locked in for rounds seven, eight and nine.
The format of the competition remains unchanged, with the top eight teams progressing to the playoffs beginning on May 29 next year.
The semifinals will be played a week later, followed by the Grand Final on June 20.
“Advance planning is critical to the success of the URC and it is fantastic that we have continued to raise the bar in publishing our fixtures as early as possible,” said URC CEO Martin Anayi.
“For clubs and fans, planning their weekends and knowing where their teams are playing so far ahead of time makes a big difference. The drama and excitement of the URC is matched by the complexity of putting all of the pieces of the fixture list together, but it is made much easier thanks to the support of our teams and broadcasters to assist us in this process.
“For the moment, we look forward to the playoffs that kick off next week after another regular season full of surprises. The Race to the Eight provided huge jeopardy and now we move into the ultimate win or go home stage of the competition which will lift the intensity to another level.”
The URC fixture process continues to benefit from its collaboration with Ligalytics, a German sports data and scheduling firm trusted across rugby, football, cricket, basketball and hockey.
For the 2025/2026 season, Ligalytics produced 202 workable fixture models based on more than 4,000 individual constraints — allowing the league to deliver on essential travel requirements, support a balanced cadence of home and away fixtures across the full competition and accommodate stadium availability and local restrictions.