United Rugby Championship

Badge

Poster

Established
2001 (24 years old)

First Recorded Event
2008-09-05

Current Season
2025-2026

Current Round
6

Sport
Sport Icon

Rugby

Location
Worldwide

Gender
Male

TV Rights
US - ESPN [2018-2021]
Asia - Premier Sports [2020-present]
Germany - DAZN [2018-present]
Ireland - RTÉ Sport [2021-present]
Ireland - TG4 [2010-present]
Ireland - URC TV [2021-present]
Ireland - Premier Sports [2021-present]
Italy - Sky Sport [2023-present]
Latin America - Star+ [2022-present]
New Zealand - TVNZ [2023-present]
Northern Ireland - BBC [2021-present]
Rest of World - URC TV [2021–present]
South Africa - SuperSport [2017-present]
UK - Premier Sports [2018-present]
USA - FloSports [2022-present]
Wales - BBC [2021-present]
Wales - S4C [2001-present]

Logo

Upcoming
19 Dec	Cardiff R	7:45pm	Scarlets
19 Dec	Leinster	7:45pm	Ulster
20 Dec	Benetton	2:00pm	Zebre
20 Dec	Glasgow	3:00pm	Edinburgh
20 Dec	Ospreys	5:30pm	Munster
20 Dec	Dragons	7:45pm	Connacht
20 Dec	Stormers	1:30pm	Lions
20 Dec	The Shark	4:00pm	Bulls
26 Dec	Cardiff R	3:00pm	Dragons
26 Dec	Scarlets	5:30pm	Ospreys
Results
29 Nov	Bulls	33 - 43	Lions
29 Nov	Scarlets	23 - 0	Glasgow
29 Nov	Connacht	44 - 17	The Shark
29 Nov	Edinburgh	19 - 17	Ospreys
29 Nov	Munster	21 - 27	Stormers
29 Nov	Zebre	14 - 29	Cardiff R
28 Nov	Ulster	47 - 13	Benetton
28 Nov	Dragons	10 - 24	Leinster
25 Oct	Lions	49 - 31	Ulster
25 Oct	Munster	17 - 15	Connacht

Description

The United Rugby Championship is an annual rugby union competition involving professional sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. The league is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe (along with the English Premiership and the French Top 14), the most successful European teams from which go forward to compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup, the pan-European championship which replaced the Heineken Cup after the 2013–14 season.

Beginning with the creation of the Welsh–Scottish League in 1999, the league would become known as the Celtic League when it grew to include teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The league was sponsored by Irish cider makers Magners from the 2006–07 season until 2010–11. At the start of the 2010–11 season, the league expanded from 10 to 12 teams, adding two Italian teams. Following the end of Magners' sponsorship, the league was sponsored by RaboDirect from 2011–12 through to 2013–14. The Pro12 name was adopted in 2011 to reflect that the league now included teams from outside the Celtic nations. A further expansion to 14 teams took place from the 2017–18 season, with two South African teams joining the Championship. The current sponsorship deal with Guinness commenced at the beginning of the 2014–15 season.

Seasons