The United Rugby Championship is born - starting Sept 2021

First topic message reminder :

From PRO Rugby:


The ‘United Rugby Championship will kick off in September 2021 as the top clubs from South Africa (Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls) combine with the Guinness PRO14 to create a world-class 16-team league.

The United Rugby Championship will be bigger, bolder and stronger than its predecessors. Teams from five of rugby’s elite nations – Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales and South Africa will transform the competition into a league of super clubs, which will embrace difference and champion its athletes on their journey with the URC proudly representing all of those involved with the game.

Off the field the United Rugby Championship will strive to provide a platform for our players to tell their stories so that their achievements in sport and society can inspire the next-generation of rugby talent and the sport’s supporters to prove that rugby is a game for all.

This game-changing agreement between SA Rugby and PRO14 Rugby will strengthen their existing partnership and will drive greater growth of the game for the benefit of all 16 teams in the league.

Martin Anayi, CEO of United Rugby Championship, said: “Fans have always asked more of our league and now we are taking it to new heights. The United Rugby Championship will see World Cup winners, icons of the Guinness Six Nations, the Rugby Championship and stars of the British & Irish Lions tour turning up the intensity in an exciting new league format. Since the origins of the Celtic League in 2001, the vision has been to innovate and evolve in order to create a compelling competition which would challenge our players and teams to be at their very best every single week. Their potential has never been in doubt and now we can provide them with the arena to be the very best.

“Forming the United Rugby Championship will begin to reshape the world of club rugby. We are creating a league that embraces and celebrates difference and where the only way to succeed will be to match the skill and intensity of the international game.

“The arrival of South Africa’s elite teams and the removal of fixtures from international match weekends will make our league stronger across the board. We will see heroes taking on heroes every week in iconic locations to create an appeal that will be unmatched in in the world of club rugby.

“We now have a clear purpose and identity that everyone associated with our league can stand behind. We have listened and we have answered the challenge set by our clubs to take this competition to the next level both on and off the field. North and south will now collide on a regular basis and we cannot wait to see who will rise up as the first champions of the United Rugby Championship.”

Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby, said: “South African rugby has for many years imagined a future aligned with northern-hemisphere rugby and this announcement marks the arrival of that vision.

“Our teams will be pitting themselves against the leading clubs from four nations, steeped in rugby tradition and folklore. They’ll do it without having to cross time zones or acclimatise while 100 per cent of matches will kick off in South African prime time.

“This is a watershed moment in South African rugby history, opening new doors and heralding a new and exciting era for our sport.”

CROSSING NEW HORIZONS IN RUGBY

This agreement will create a pathway for SA Rugby to become a full shareholder in Pro Rugby Championship (PRC DAC) alongside the Celtic and Italian unions. In a sporting landscape looking towards the post-pandemic future this unification of north and south provides everyone involved in the United Rugby Championship with optimism for prosperous days ahead.

Subject to contract, all teams in the United Rugby Championship will be eligible to qualify for EPCR competitions in time for the 2022/23 season.

In comparison to the Guinness PRO14 structure, the 18-round regular season in the United Rugby Championship will see the return of a single-standing table that will prevent clashes with international weekends and leave little margin for error for those chasing the title. Every game will count in the league which will be further strengthened by an expanded knock-out series that aims to deliver more jeopardy with a full schedule of quarter-finals and semi-finals capped off by a Grand Final played in a destination venue.

The United Rugby Championship will set the stage where the diversity of playing styles, languages and fan cultures will clash across iconic locations in rugby heartlands week after week. The new league will also allow South Africa’s former Super Rugby sides to operate in a common time zone which will help open up greater audiences across the league and increase commercial appeal.

UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE FORMAT

The URC will use one league table to rank the teams who will reach the knock-out stages and compete to reach the title and become the champions.

Fixtures: The regular season of the United Rugby Championship will take place across 18 rounds with each team’s fixtures comprising of six (6) Home AND away fixtures against their regional pool opponents and12 Home OR away fixtures against the remaining teams in the league.

Regional pools

Irish Pool: Connacht, Leinster, Munster, Ulster

Welsh Pool: Dragons, Cardiff Rugby, Ospreys, Scarlets

South African Pool: Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls

Italian & Scottish Pool: Benetton Rugby, Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors, Zebre Rugby Club

Final Series/Play-Offs: One league table will be used to rank teams and after 18 rounds the top eight sides will qualify for the Play-Offs. Teams will be seeded from 1 to 8 and will receive home advantage according to their seeding. A full round of Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals will take place to produce two teams who will qualify for the Grand Final.

UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP – CHAMPIONS CUP AND CHALLENGE CUP PARTICIPATION

A total of eight teams from the United Rugby Championship will qualify each season for the following season’s Heineken Champions Cup. The balance of teams will participate in the Challenge Cup.

Subject to the finalisation of contract terms with EPCR, South African teams will be eligible to qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup from the 2022/23 season if they have finished in the United Rugby Championship qualification places from the prior season.

All points won during the URC season will contribute to rankings in the regional pools and the highest-ranking team in each of the four pools will earn a place in the Champions Cup for the following season. This addition to the format is expected to add even greater intensity to these age-old local rivalries.

The remaining four places in the Champions Cup will be awarded to the four highest-ranked teams from the single-standing league table who have not already qualified through the four regional pools.

LordDowlais wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

This absolutely slams home what I have been saying from day 1. I had all the naysayers on here rubbishing my claims, and everyone saying how I was wrong. Anyway, rather than revel in this and rub peoples noses in it, I just hope that the damage done by putting the league behind an obscure paywall channel in Wales has not done any long term, or need I say it terminal damage, yes we need to open the league up to a wider audience if we are to compete and make the pro game in all our countries competitive and putting it back on free to air TV is a massive, massive step forwards in achieving this.

It was back on in my club last night, and we were all watching Scarlets V Lions, and people were all talking about the South Africans coming on board, I have not heard this chat in my club for the best part of 4 years.

Alternatively, you've omitted the greater South African audience from your analysis and the fact that there were more games in this round as there are more teams playing this season....

Did they take the SA audience into consideration ?

Look at the fourth paragraph of the press release. That should answer your question.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/only-5767-people-turned-up-21767314

That neatly ties all the things together, low attendance, want of the English and walesonline.

It’s cos it was on TV!

No 7&1/2 wrote:https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/only-5767-people-turned-up-21767314

That neatly ties all the things together, low attendance, want of the English and walesonline.

Have to agree the article is all over the shop and using figures that weaken the case not strenghten it.

Talks about the small Welsh population yet overlooks that these are the two most populace places in Wales.  Don't know what Dragons or Scarlets got but the attendance is least affected by population as the other two games played the same weekend.

It blames Premier for TV times but fairly sure BBC/SC4 had a bigger say as it is their key time.

Compares it to Bristol v Bath and goes on about English Welsh rivalry but if fans can't go to Swansea then how will they go to Bath or Bristol or do they just really hate the English and are ambivalent to the rivalry between the two biggest population centres in Rugby terms.

Talks about transport issues and then says they could be played in harder places to get to.

Gives out about the playing style ignoring what England produces week in week out.

Talks about big name players to up attendances in Ireland but ignores the attendance growth in Connacht without big names and ignores the big names Blues have like Halaholo

And so on.

Brendan wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/only-5767-people-turned-up-21767314

That neatly ties all the things together, low attendance, want of the English and walesonline.

Have to agree the article is all over the shop and using figures that weaken the case not strenghten it.

Talks about the small Welsh population yet overlooks that these are the two most populace places in Wales.  Don't know what Dragons or Scarlets got but the attendance is least affected by population as the other two games played the same weekend.

It blames Premier for TV times but fairly sure BBC/SC4 had a bigger say as it is their key time.

Compares it to Bristol v Bath and goes on about English Welsh rivalry but if fans can't go to Swansea then how will they go to Bath or Bristol or do they just really hate the English and are ambivalent to the rivalry between the two biggest population centres in Rugby terms.

Talks about transport issues and then says they could be played in harder places to get to.

Gives out about the playing style ignoring what England produces week in week out.

Talks about big name players to up attendances in Ireland but ignores the attendance growth in Connacht without big names and ignores the big names Blues have like Halaholo

And so on.

The game was only on Premier Sports, so I'm not sure why you think that the BBC had a 'bigger say'.

The article is, of course, horrendous and the research behind it is every poorer. Cardiff have never averaged 15k, nor Scarlets 10k.

The Blues weren't playing, either.

And it doesn't mention Covid at all which, I'd wager, is the biggest reason of all for affecting attendance.

Nor does it mention that other news outlet(s) reported the crowd at over 7k.

It's a typical piece of contradictory drivel written to orders from the soccer loving Sports Editor who is anti the pro rugby clubs in Wales.

Record One Million Fans Tune into URC R2
2 min read
8 Oct 2021






The United Rugby Championship has recorded over one million viewers for a single round for the first time ever, just one week after setting a new viewership record for the league.

R1 of the URC broke the previous league record and a 15% increase last weekend during the second round has pushed the total domestic audience beyond one million. This figure is the combination of the average viewing figures for each of the eight matches. With international viewing figures, audiences from URC TV and consolidated reports due after Round 5 these figures will grow yet again.

Average viewership across the UK, Ireland, Italy and South Africa have proven to be greater than the initial forecasts and with some of the biggest games still to come across the next 16 rounds and the knock-out stages – the URC is on course to shatter previous viewing figures right across the season.

The return of Free-to-Air coverage in the UK and Ireland has been well received with both RTÉ and BBC Wales recording peak audiences of 308,000 and 267,000 respectively with TG4 and S4C maintaining their strong viewership figures from previous seasons. BBC Northern Ireland will broadcast their first fixture this weekend (Ulster v Benetton) which will further increase that exposure to the league.

Of the 16 games played, the five most watched URC games involve Welsh, Italian, Irish and South African teams with audiences across those games averaging a peak audience of 255,000 per game.

Top Five Highest Audiences

Munster v DHL Stormers (R2) | 308,000 peak
Munster v Cell C Sharks (R1) | 278,000 peak
Cardiff v Connacht (R1) | 267,900 peak
Scarlets v Emirates Lions (R2) | 251,200 peak
Benetton v DHL Stormers (R1) | 174,900 peak
Martin Anayi, CEO of United Rugby Championship, said: “To break our stated goal of one million viewers in a single round this soon is a terrific vote of confidence from our fans and is a tremendous boost to our clubs and broadcasters. The biggest days of the URC season are still to come and this gives a great foundation to build our audiences and grow the sport.”

profitius wrote:Munster v DHL Stormers (R2) | 308,000 peak
Munster v Cell C Sharks (R1) | 278,000 peak
Cardiff v Connacht (R1) | 267,900 peak
Scarlets v Emirates Lions (R2) | 251,200 peak
Benetton v DHL Stormers (R1) | 174,900 peak

Those figures are massively encouraging, it shows that there is massive interest outside the match going fan and shows the potential is there to get more supporters through the gates, also, it opens up a whole new genre for advertising to aim at.

Excellent news.

Definitely backs up there is a demand from people who don't want to pay to watch.

Be interested to see a comparison between the Welsh football tonight and the URC game on.

Good to see the Benetton game in there but seems Stormers and Munster are the biggest viewerships.

Encouraging

LordDowlais wrote:

profitius wrote:Munster v DHL Stormers (R2) | 308,000 peak
Munster v Cell C Sharks (R1) | 278,000 peak
Cardiff v Connacht (R1) | 267,900 peak
Scarlets v Emirates Lions (R2) | 251,200 peak
Benetton v DHL Stormers (R1) | 174,900 peak

Those figures are massively encouraging, it shows that there is massive interest outside the match going fan and shows the potential is there to get more supporters through the gates, also, it opens up a whole new genre for advertising to aim at.

Excellent news.

Crowds are done whilst Free To Air TV viewing figures are on the up.

Do you reckon there's a correlation there? What do you think?

PhilBB wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

profitius wrote:Munster v DHL Stormers (R2) | 308,000 peak
Munster v Cell C Sharks (R1) | 278,000 peak
Cardiff v Connacht (R1) | 267,900 peak
Scarlets v Emirates Lions (R2) | 251,200 peak
Benetton v DHL Stormers (R1) | 174,900 peak

Those figures are massively encouraging, it shows that there is massive interest outside the match going fan and shows the potential is there to get more supporters through the gates, also, it opens up a whole new genre for advertising to aim at.

Excellent news.

Crowds are done whilst Free To Air TV viewing figures are on the up.

Do you reckon there's a correlation there? What do you think?

Long term it should help keep the public interested. I used to like a bit of formula 1 in the 90s but have no interest in it now since it went behind a paywall. Out of sight out of mind.

profitius wrote:

Long term it should help keep the public interested. I used to like a bit of formula 1 in the 90s but have no interest in it now since it went behind a paywall. Out of sight out of mind.

How do you spend "interested"?

PhilBB wrote:

profitius wrote:

Long term it should help keep the public interested. I used to like a bit of formula 1 in the 90s but have no interest in it now since it went behind a paywall. Out of sight out of mind.

How do you spend "interested"?

In the gift shop

The Oracle wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

profitius wrote:

Long term it should help keep the public interested. I used to like a bit of formula 1 in the 90s but have no interest in it now since it went behind a paywall. Out of sight out of mind.

How do you spend "interested"?

In the gift shop

Very good! Where everything costs £0?

PhilBB wrote:

profitius wrote:

Long term it should help keep the public interested. I used to like a bit of formula 1 in the 90s but have no interest in it now since it went behind a paywall. Out of sight out of mind.

How do you spend "interested"?

You invest in the future.

profitius wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

profitius wrote:

Long term it should help keep the public interested. I used to like a bit of formula 1 in the 90s but have no interest in it now since it went behind a paywall. Out of sight out of mind.

How do you spend "interested"?

You invest in the future.

How do you invest without cash? If you give somebody a product at a cost of £0, guess how much they value it for and are willing to pay for it in the future?

If you want this point underlined, look at how many refused to pay £90 for Premier Sports for a year, for every game, home and away, plus so much more (now including Top14 rugby, too).

Why? because they value rugby at what it's always cost them - £0.

I guess the idea is to whet the appetite with free on TV stuff and then promote the ‘match day experience’ as being so much more than the TV experience. Try before you buy, if you will. I’ve certainly had much more fun attending games (and therefore spending money) than I have sat at home watching the game on the sofa with the wife! So the match day experience is better in my opinion, and worth the cash

Is Covid restrictions in the UK still an issue for attending matches?

The restrictions wouldn't cause as much issue anymore however I think what would hurt it is that a lot of people still don't feel safe to do so or live with vulnerable people. I have a friend who doesn't feel safe to go there yet and I myself live with vulnerable people so can't be attending matches either

How bloody difficult is it?

Three rucks, three penalties.

penalty for a late tackle, how the hell?

Sorry but that is just cowpat

Can't watch this Poopie

neilthom7 wrote:The restrictions wouldn't cause as much issue anymore however I think what would hurt it is that a lot of people still don't feel safe to do so or live with vulnerable people.  I have a friend who doesn't feel safe to go there yet and I myself live with vulnerable people so can't be attending matches either

Agreed. The introduction of the covid pass requirement in Wales, may also put some others off.

PhilBB wrote:

profitius wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

profitius wrote:

Long term it should help keep the public interested. I used to like a bit of formula 1 in the 90s but have no interest in it now since it went behind a paywall. Out of sight out of mind.

How do you spend "interested"?

You invest in the future.

How do you invest without cash? If you give somebody a product at a cost of £0, guess how much they value it for and are willing to pay for it in the future?

If you want this point underlined, look at how many refused to pay £90 for Premier Sports for a year, for every game, home and away, plus so much more (now including Top14 rugby, too).

Why? because they value rugby at what it's always cost them - £0.

They have invested by taking a lower offer to have it on free to air. The difference is what they have invested.

First tey by Glasgow never crossed the line, not much scrutiny by the TMO there. You would forgive the SA sides if they felt being screwed here.

Number seven dives into the tackle and loins concede a penalty for high tackle.

At last a ruck penalty to an SA team for opposition sealing off.

Glasgow very fortunate with that result. Their try was never a try.

Who was your pick to do well, wasn’t it Sharks? Followed by Bulls…

Yep, said Sharks and Bulls will be top two for SA

Old Man wrote:First tey by Glasgow never crossed the line, not much scrutiny by the TMO there. You would forgive the SA sides if they felt being screwed here.

They were there. It wasn't even close to the line. A shocker from the TMO.

Yep

Shocking call from the SA ref to sinbin Rowlands. I feel he’s been easily influenced by the crowd since the start.

In real time I thought it was a try but the replay looked like he was short. Mind you, my son who was sitting beside me swears it was on the line.
I thought Glasgow were the better side over the 80 minutes. Not by much though.

Yes, they made more of the play, but a non try is a non try.

News just in.

It has been decided that although SA has been removed from the red list in the UK, their Home matches this year will not be hosted in SA, it will continue to be held in Italy.

I read that this is because they were removed from the red list so late that changing the arrangements would be impossible. Maybe stadiums had already signed contracts, accepted deposits. It’s really frustrating for SA teams and bad for the tournament I think. Intheir first year in particular the SA sides need their home support to help them achieve more wins and get a positive response from their rugby fans towards the league. It’s a horrible disadvantage and a great expense for them not to have real home games. God damn it. This really is a crap year to start a tournament.

News Article

SA teams are getting assistance in referee interpretations

News Article

SARU has taken over the administration of Western Province Rugby Union, there has been problems for a while, last week 5 executives resigned.

It's probably for the best. At least they can turn things around rather than dig a bigger whole and ruin the whole WP rugby system.

WP are the Stormers yes? This sounds like good news. I hope that this steadies the ship.

It has been confirmed that crowds of max 2000 can now attend rugby matches, the condition is though you must be fully vaccinated.

That is a major step in the right direction

Old Man wrote:It has been confirmed that crowds of max 2000 can now attend rugby matches, the condition is though you must be fully vaccinated.

That is a major step in the right direction

How long are the SA teams playing their home games in Italy? Is it all season?

Apparently the first matches in SA will be round eight.

Ah that's better than I thought - will be a huge step for SA to get crowds back into sporting events.

profitius wrote:

They have invested by taking a lower offer to have it on free to air. The difference is what they have invested.

How much was the lower offer?

https://www.unitedrugby.com/latest/news/south-africa-to-host-first-urc-games-in-r6-r7