A new season that starts earlier because of the Rugby World Cup, has several breaks and will need some careful planning was released on Tuesday by the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, becoming the earliest publication of the fixtures in competition history.
It’s not hard to understand why. In a Rugby World Cup year, and allowing for a change in the Investec Champions League programme to start earlier in October, the fixtures have been worked out earlier with the league starting on Friday, 25 September.
Pick of the games for the South African teams in Round one is Leinster heading to Ellis Park to face the Fidelity SecureDrive Lions, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks host Ospreys on the first weekend.
The DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls will both travel on weekend one - with the Stormers heading to Galway for a tough fixture against Connacht, while the Bulls open in Parma against Zebre.
BREAKING: The full #VURC fixture list for the 2026/27 season has been officially released 📆 pic.twitter.com/At6k8l1ENd
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 19, 2026
Round two sees the Stormers head to Edinburgh and the Bulls face off with Munster at Thomond Park, while at home the Sharks take on Leinster and Ospreys head to Ellis Park to face the Lions before heading home.
The competition will take a break for the World Cup and planning will be particularly challenging as there are multiple breaks in the year that could break momentum.
FESTIVE DERBIES AND THEMED ROUNDS
After only three rounds of the URC, the first round of the Champions Cup takes place. Then there are two more rounds before the November test window and the conclusion of the Nations’ Championship.
Teams return for one URC game before the second round of the Champions Cup and then the three rounds of festive action before the final two pool rounds of the Champions Cup.
Finally two more rounds of the URC are scheduled before the start of Six Nations. Teams will need to find a way to keep momentum with the different challenges every few weeks.
Festive derby rounds will again form a major part of the season, with Rounds 7, 8 and 9 staged across December and early January, while the Race to the Eight will build from Round 13 as the battle for knockout rugby intensifies.
Themed rounds will also return during the 2026/27 campaign, with further details to be confirmed in the near future.
The format of the competition remains unchanged, with the top eight teams progressing to the playoffs.
The quarterfinals will begin on Friday, 28 May, with the semifinals taking place from Saturday, 5 June before the Grand Final on Saturday, 19 June to crown the 2026/27 champions.