United Rugby Championship: South African teams to sit out opening round
- Published
Stormers had never won the Super Rugby title but now boast silverware from their maiden league campaign in Europe
The South African sides will sit out the opening week of the United Rugby Championship (URC) when the season kicks off in September.
The four teams, including champions Stormers, will play their first matches in the second week of the tournament.
South Africa will host two derbies during the first week of the Six Nations in February when the other 12 sides will sit out the fixtures.
Broadcast selections and kick-off times are set to be confirmed next week.
In Wales, Scarlets will host Ospreys in a derby on the opening weekend, while the two sides will also face each other in the Christmas derby, with the league reverting to the traditional west and east derbies.
All four Welsh professional sides are due to travel to South Africa for two weekends of games at the end of November and early December.
The first of those weekends will clash with Wales' final autumn match against Australia, which is played outside World Rugby's international window.
The final round of regular action will be in April 2023, with the domestic season finishing earlier because of the 2023 World Cup in France.
"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."
United Rugby Championship fixtures
Round one
16/17/18 September
Benetton v Glasgow
Cardiff v Munster
Zebre v Leinster
Scarlets v Ospreys
Edinburgh v Dragons
Ulster v Connacht
3/4 February
Stormers v Sharks
Lions v Bulls
Round two
23/24/25 September
Zebre v Sharks
Glasgow v Cardiff
Leinster v Benetton
Scarlets v Ulster
Bulls v Edinburgh
Stormers v Connacht
Ospreys v Lions
Dragons v Munster
Round three
30 September/1/2 October
Cardiff v Lions
Ulster v Leinster
Stormers v Edinburgh
Bulls v Connacht
Ospreys v Glasgow
Munster v Zebre
Benetton v Scarlets
Dragons v Sharks
Round four
7/8/9 October
Connacht v Munster
Edinburgh v Lions
Zebre v Stormers
Leinster v Sharks
Scarlets v Cardiff
Glasgow v Bulls
Ulster v Ospreys
Benetton v Dragons
Round five
14/15/16 October
Ospreys v Stormers
Munster v Bulls
Lions v Ulster
Sharks v Glasgow
Edinburgh v Benetton
Cardiff v Dragons
Scarlets v Zebre,
Connacht v Leinster
Round six
21/22/23 October
Benetton v Bulls
Connacht v Scarlets
Zebre v Edinburgh
Lions v Glasgow
Sharks v Ulster
Cardiff v Stormers
Leinster v Munster
Dragons v Ospreys
Round seven
28/29/30 October
Scarlets v Leinster
Glasgow v Benetton
Munster v Ulster
Dragons v Zebre
Ospreys v Connacht
Cardiff v Edinburgh
10/11 February
Bulls v Sharks
Lions v Stormers
Round eight
25/26/27 November
Stormers v Scarlets
Ulster v Zebre
Bulls v Ospreys
Benetton v Edinburgh
Leinster v Glasgow
Munster v Connacht
Lions v Dragons
Sharks v Cardiff
Round nine
2/3/4 December
Sharks v Ospreys
Edinburgh v Munster
Stormers v Dragons
Zebre v Glasgow
Connacht v Benetton
Bulls v Cardiff
Leinster v Ulster
Lions v Scarlets
Round 10
23/24/26 December
Sharks v Lions
Stormers v Bulls
Glasgow v Edinburgh
Benetton v Zebre
Connacht v Ulster
Ospreys v Scarlets
Munster v Leinster
Dragons v Cardiff
Round 11
31 December/1 January
Edinburgh v Glasgow
Zebre v Benetton
Sharks v Bulls
Stormers v Lions
Cardiff v Ospreys
Scarlets v Dragons
Ulster v Munster
Leinster v Connacht
Round 12
6/7/8 January
Munster v Lions
Dragons v Bulls
Benetton v Ulster
Glasgow v Stormers
Cardiff v Scarlets
Connacht v Sharks
Ospreys v Leinster
Edinburgh v Zebre
Round 13
27/28/29 January
Ulster v Stormers
Scarlets v Bulls
Benetton v Munster
Dragons v Glasgow
Leinster v Cardiff
Edinburgh v Sharks
Connacht v Lions
Zebre v Ospreys
Round 14
17/18/19 February
Glasgow v Ulster
Munster v Ospreys
Lions v Sharks
Bulls v Stormers
Zebre v Connacht
Scarlets v Edinburgh
Cardiff v Benetton
Leinster v Dragons
Round 15
3/4/5 March
Glasgow v Zebre
Munster v Scarlets
Bulls v Lions
Stormers v Sharks
Edinburgh v Leinster
Ospreys v Benetton
Cardiff v Ulster
Dragons v Connacht
Round 16
24/25/26 March
Zebre v Cardiff
Leinster v Stormers
Benetton v Lions
Ospreys v Dragons
Connacht v Edinburgh
Munster v Glasgow
Scarlets v Sharks
Ulster v Bulls
Round 17
14/15/16 April
Sharks v Benetton
Glasgow v Scarlets
Ulster v Dragons
Lions v Leinster
Bulls v Zebre
Stormers v Munster
Connacht v Cardiff
Edinburgh v Ospreys
Round 18
21/22/23 April
Stormers v Benetton
Ulster v Edinburgh
Lions v Zebre
Dragons v Scarlets
Bulls v Leinster
Ospreys v Cardiff
Sharks v Munster
Glasgow v Connacht