URC fixtures released 102 days before kick-off
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With 102 days until the new Vodacom United Rugby Championship season kicks off the league can confirm its fixture schedule in full for the 2023/24 campaign.
This represents the earliest release of the league’s fixtures (with kick-off times) in the history of the competition which will provide teams and fans with greater time to plan for the season ahead.
The league’s 23rd season will kick off on Saturday, 21 October with six games taking place followed by a further two on Sunday, 22 October. Vodacom URC champions Munster will begin their title defence on Saturday when they host the Cell C Sharks from Durban at 17h15 in Thomond Park.
The first fixture of the regular season’s 144 games will come from Italy when Ulster travel to face Zebre Parma, before Connacht host Ospreys at the same time that the Emirates Lions and DHL Stormers contest the first derby of the year.
In Wales, Dragons will host Edinburgh and Cardiff welcome Benetton to the Arms Park. The following day the Vodacom Bulls take on Scarlets before a clash between two of last season’s play-off sides as Leinster visit Scotstoun to take on Glasgow Warriors.
After a two-year window of home or away fixtures against non-Shield opponents, the sequencing has been refreshed. The home and away sequence from this season will be reversed for the 2024/25 campaign to ensure a fair balance of home and away games against the same opponents over a two-year cycle.
In a new approach aimed at reducing long-haul travel across the league, the South African teams will tour twice rather than three times. This means a four-match tour to Europe in the early part of the season followed by a two-game tour after the Six Nations (a balance of two three-game tours will be implemented if future calendars allow for it).
Additionally, the earlier generation of fixtures will assist all teams in their cross-hemisphere travel with improved access to different seat classes and cost efficiencies related to bookings made further in advance.
The opening weekends of the Vodacom URC will see games played across Saturday and Sunday afternoons to avoid clashes with Rugby World Cup fixtures on Friday and Saturday nights.
With no November Test series break, Vodacom URC teams will take on a schedule of 11 consecutive weekends of rugby (including EPCR) so January will also provide two relief weekends for teams to take a break in play and to accommodate traditional festive fixturing on Tuesday 26 December in Wales and Ireland.
Further efficiencies in fixture generation and grading have also been made possible due to the Vodacom URC’s supplier arrangement with Ligalytics, a German sports scheduling firm who work with many sports including rugby, soccer, cricket, basketball and hockey.
The league would also like to thank Dragons RFC and Ospreys Rugby, who both share venues with football teams, to allow the scheduling work to begin ahead of the publication of the EFL fixture list. This has allowed for a considerable amount of progress to occur much earlier than in previous years and to deliver earlier publishing of the fixtures.
Also, in the previous season, all derby games in Wales will occur in afternoon or late afternoon slots thanks to the support of all broadcasters involved.
Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship CEO, said: “The fixture list is the central pillar to the operation of our league and teams and providing certainty to fans, clubs and broadcasters earlier than ever will have a positive impact.
“Providing a set of fixtures that aims to balance kick-off times which encourage attendance and deliver big broadcast while factoring in the travel necessary to compete in the Vodacom URC is a monumental task that cannot be underestimated.
“Each year we feel we are learning more and more about how to refine and improve our process and the final fixture list itself and I must express great gratitude to our broadcast partners who have supported so many requests from the league and our clubs. To deliver this fixture list 102 days ahead of kick-off is unprecedented for our league and gives us another target to beat again next year.”
2023/24 Vodacom United Rugby Championship Fixtures
Round 1 – Saturday, October 21
Zebre Parma v Ulster 13h00 IRE & UK / 14h00 ITA & SA | ITA, Viaplay, SuperSport, Premier Sports
Connacht v Ospreys | 15h00 IRE & UK / 16h00 ITA & SA | TG4, S4C, Viaplay, SuperSport, Premier Sports
Emirates Lions v DHL Stormers | 15h05 IRE & UK / 16h05 ITA & SA | SuperSport, Viaplay, Premier Sports
Dragons RFC v Edinburgh | 15h05 IRE & UK / 16h05 ITA & SA | Viaplay, SuperSport, Premier Sports
Cardiff Rugby v Benetton | 17h15 IRE & UK / 18h15 ITA & SA | S4C, Viaplay, SuperSport, Premier Sports
Munster v Cell C Sharks | 17h15 IRE & UK / 18h15 ITA & SA | TG4, Viaplay, SuperSport, Premier Sports
Sunday, October 22
Vodacom Bulls v Scarlets | 14h00 IRE & UK / 15h00 ITA & SA | SuperSport, BBC Wales, Viaplay, Premier Sports
Glasgow Warriors v Leinster | 16h00 IRE & UK / 17h00 ITA & SA | Viaplay, RTÉ, SuperSport, Premier Sports
