The four best teams in South Africa will be presented in the new cross-continental competition with 16 teams.
The United Rugby Championship schedule 2021-22 has been released, and the event will begin on Friday, 24 September. Here you can enjoy the URC live stream in high-definition on your mobile screen from all over the world.
The four major South African teams, Bulls, Lions, Sharks, and Stormers, have now joined together with 12 teams from Italy, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales are forming 16 team matches.
The regular season will have 18 rounds, followed by the eight-team playoffs in June, and the finals will be played.
Due to Covid-19 travel reasons, the South African team will play the first four rounds of the away game, starting with Ireland and Italy.
The Welsh Derby plan has a new look, with matches dotted around the schedule instead of all the same weekend.
For example, the first weekend of the season Dragons will host the Ospreys, while Cardiff will play against the Connacht team, and the Scarlet will challenge Edinburgh.
The Scarlets will be the first Welsh team to play with the South African opponents and compete with the Lions in the second round on Friday, 1st October. The Ospreys face Cardiff in the second round at Liberty Stadium Derby.
As predicted, Cardiff will play the Dragons at home on 23rd October, seven days before Wales will face New Zealand in the Fall International, which means that neither team may have their Welsh players.
Cardiff and Scarlets first travel to South Africa to play against Lions and Sharks on the weekend on November 27-28, respectively.
During, the Christmas holidays, there will be two rounds of Welsh derby, two games on Boxing Day, and two games on New Year's Day.
The Judgment Day Welsh Derby double-header will return to the Principality Stadium on the weekend of 23 April.
There is a total of 144 regular-season games, followed by playoff quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals.
Each game will be live on Premier Sports, and after a three-year break BBC Wales will return to show 18 Friday night games, and 27 matches will be live on S4C.
The URC Chief Executive Officer Martin Anayi said: “We believe these games will ensure that URC can fulfill its promise to lead in a new era for our league, in which South Africa’s best players will compete with our teams Celtic and Italian.
When we carefully get rid of the pandemic, URC will become one of the world's leading rugby leagues. This schedule list should ignite our competition and take it to a new level.
The South African derbies for R5, R8, and R9 will be held on the weekends of the 5th February, 12th February, and 19th March, respectively.
Session | Matches | Time |
Friday, September 24 | ||
Round 1 | Zebre v/s Emirates Lions | 17:35 UK / 18:35 ITA & SA |
Round 1 | Ulster v/s Glasgow Warriors | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Round 1 | Cardiff v/s Connacht | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Saturday, September 25 | ||
Round 1 | Benetton v/s DHL Stormers | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA & SA |
Round 1 | Leinster v/s Vodacom Bulls | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA & SA |
Round 1 | Edinburgh v Scarlets | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA & SA |
Round 1 | Munster v/s Sharks | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Sunday, September 26 | ||
Round 1 | Dragons v/s Ospreys | 14:00 UK / 15:00 ITA & SA |
Friday, October 1 | ||
Round 2 | Connacht v/s Vodacom Bulls | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Round 2 | Scarlets v/s Emirates Lions | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Saturday, October 2 | ||
Round 2 | Benetton v/s Edinburgh | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA & SA |
Round 2 | Glasgow Warriors v/s Cell C Sharks | 15:00 UK / 16:00 ITA & SA |
Round 2 | Zebre v/s Ulster | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA & SA |
Round 2 | Dragons v /s Leinster | TBA |
Round 2 | Ospreys v/s Cardiff | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Round 2 | Munster v/s DHL Stormers | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Friday, October 8 | ||
Round 3 | Ulster v/s Benetton | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Round 3 | Ospreys v/s Cell C Sharks | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Saturday, October 9 | ||
Round 3 | Leinster v/s Zebre | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA & SA |
Round 3 | Glasgow Warriors v/s Emirates Lions | 15:00 UK / 16:00 ITA & SA |
Round 3 | Connacht v/s Dragons | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA & SA |
Round 3 | Edinburgh v/s DHL Stormers | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA & SA |
Round 3 | Cardiff v/s Vodacom Bulls | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Sunday, October 10 | ||
Round 3 | Scarlets v/s Munster | 14:00 UK / 15:00 ITA & SA |
Friday, October 15 | ||
Round 4 | Ulster v/s Lions | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Round 4 | Dragons v/s DHL Stormers | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Saturday, October 16 | ||
Round 4 | Zebre v/s Glasgow Warriors | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA & SA |
Round 4 | Benetton v/s Ospreys | 15:00 UK / 16:00 ITA & SA |
Round 4 | Leinster v/s Scarlets | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA & SA |
Round 4 | Edinburgh v/s Vodacom Bulls | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA & SA |
Round 4 | Munster v/s Connacht | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Round 4 | Cardiff v/s Cell C Sharks | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Friday, October 22 | ||
Round 5 | Scarlets v/s Benetton | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Saturday, October 23 | ||
Round 5 | Zebre v/s Edinburgh | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA & SA |
Round 5 | Glasgow Warriors v/s Leinster | 15:00 UK / 16:00 ITA & SA |
Round 5 | Connacht v/s Ulster | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA & SA |
Round 5 | Cardiff v/s Dragons | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA & SA |
Round 5 | Ospreys v/s Munster | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA & SA |
Friday, November 26 | ||
Round 6 | Connacht v/s Ospreys | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA/ 21:35 SA |
Saturday, November 27 | ||
Round 6 | DHL Stormers v/s Zebre | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA / 15:00 SA |
Round 6 | Benetton v/s Glasgow Warriors | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA / 15:00 SA |
Round 6 | Cell C Sharks v/s Scarlets | 15:30 UK / 16:30 ITA / 17:30 SA |
Round 6 | Dragons v/s Edinburgh | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA |
Round 6 | Vodacom Bulls v/s Munster | 17:45 UK / 18:45 ITA / 19:45 SA |
Round 6 | Leinster v/s Ulster | 20:00 UK / 21:00 ITA / 22:00 SA |
Sunday, November 28 | ||
Round 6 | Emirates Lions v/s Cardiff | 14:00 UK / 15:00 ITA / 16:00 SA |
Friday, December 3 | ||
Round 7 | Vodacom Bulls v/s Scarlets | 17:35 UK / 18:35 ITA / 19:35 SA |
Round 7 | Edinburgh v/s Benetton | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA |
Round 7 | Leinster v/s Connacht | 19:45 UK / 20:45 ITA / 21:45 SA |
Saturday, December 4 | ||
Round 7 | Cell C Sharks v/s Zebre | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA / 15:00 SA |
Round 7 | Ospreys v/s Ulster | 15:00 UK / 16:00 ITA / 17:00 SA |
Round 7 | Emirates Lions v/s Munster | 15:30 UK / 16:30 ITA / 17:30 SA |
Round 7 | Glasgow Warriors v/s Dragons | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA |
Round 7 | DHL Stormers v/s Cardiff | 17:45 UK / 18:45 ITA / 19:45 SA |
Friday, December 24 | ||
Round 8 | Zebre v/s Benetton | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA / 15:00 SA |
Sunday, December 26 | ||
Round 8 | Cardiff v/s Scarlets | 15:00 UK / 16:00 ITA / 17:00 SA |
Round 8 | Ulster v/s Connacht | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA |
Round 8 | Ospreys v/s Dragons | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA |
Round 8 | Munster v/s Leinster | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA |
Monday, December 27 | ||
Round 8 | Glasgow Warriors v/s Edinburgh | 19:00 UK / 20:00 ITA / 21:00 SA |
Saturday, January 1 | ||
Round 9 | Dragons v/s Cardiff | 15:00 UK / 16:00 ITA / 17:00 SA |
Round 9 | Connacht v/s Munster | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA |
Round 9 | Scarlets v/s Ospreys | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA |
Round 9 | Ulster v/s Leinster | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA / 21:35 SA |
Sunday, January 2 | ||
Round 9 | Benetton v/s Zebre | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA / 15:00 SA |
Round 9 | Edinburgh v/s Glasgow Warriors | 14:00 UK / 15:00 ITA / 16:00 SA |
Friday, January 7 | ||
Round 10 | Leinster v/s Emirates Lions | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA / 21 :35 SA |
Saturday, January 8 | ||
Round 10 | Benetton v/s Cell C Sharks | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA / 15:00 SA |
Round 10 | Zebre v/s Vodacom Bulls | 15:00 UK / 16:00 ITA / 17:00 SA |
Round 10 | Edinburgh v/s Cardiff | 15:00 UK / 16:00 ITA / 17:00 SA |
Round 10 | Connacht v/s DHL Stormers | 17:00 UK / 18:00 ITA / 19:00 SA |
Round 10 | Glasgow Warriors v/s Ospreys | 17:15 UK / 18:15 ITA / 19:15 SA |
Round 10 | Munster v/s Ulster | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA / 21 :35 SA |
Round 10 | Scarlets v/s Dragons | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA / 21 :35 SA |