What was starting to be perceived as an annual Christmas derby between the DHL Stormers and the Vodacom Bulls in Cape Town is no longer, with the fixture set to start the 2024/25 Vodacom United Rugby Championship for both teams.
The first game on South African soil will in fact be earlier on the same day, with the Emirates Lions visiting Durban to play the Hollywoodbets Sharks as the competition opens with a series of derby matches. There will still be festive season derbies, and the Stormers will be playing two over that period in Cape Town, but their opponents this time around will be the Emirates Lions four days before Christmas, with the Sharks being hosted at the DHL Stadium on 28 December.
The full schedule for the 2024/25 campaign is now available thanks to the first-ever in-season launch of the following seasons’ fixtures.
As the current campaign comes down to the most competitive final round in the league’s history, supporters can now benefit from the earliest-ever release of fixtures which comes 114 days before kick-off.
NO FOUR MATCH TOURS FOR SA TEAMS
The good news for the South African franchises is that it appears their complaints from this current season, where most of them had to undertake four match overseas tours near the beginning of the competition, appear to have been listened to, and their wishes to a large extent accommodated.
The Sharks in particular had a nightmare start to the current season, with clashes with high ranking Leinster and champions Munster part of a four match trip that left them winless after their opening four games. They will be on tour after playing the Lions, but this time around it will just be three games on the road.
There are no four match tours on any local team’s schedule for the season that will kick off on 21 September. The Bulls will be playing four overseas games consecutively, starting with their fourth round clash with the Ospreys on 12 October, but they will be returning home after their 25 October clash with Benetton in Treviso and then comes a break of over a month before they head back to Europe for a one-off overseas game against Connacht.
The single game trips appear to have been introduced to make the travel load and logistics easier for the South African teams by doing away with a four game trip. The month off coincides with the international window, with the Springboks due to visit Europe at that time (the November tour), and that should also please the local teams as it means there will be fewer under-strength games.
That should particularly please the Sharks, who have the most Springboks on their books and suffered for having to go on the road early in the competition without their international players in this season’s edition of the URC.
FIRST TWO GAMES WILL BE WITHOUT BOK FIRST CHOICES
The need to have good depth to the squad remains, however, as the Sharks will be missing their top players for the first two games, including the opening derbies, as the Castle Lager Rugby Championship only ends with the 28 September clash with Argentina in Nelspruit, which will coincide with round 2 of the URC.
It goes without saying that Sharks coach John Plumtree and everyone else involved with the Sharks will be hoping that the Boks can be released to do franchise duty immediately the southern hemisphere international tournament ends rather than being wrapped in cotton wool during the period that comes immediately after that.
With only two derby matches scheduled for the period from 25 January through to 22 March, which coincides with the playing of the Guinness Six Nations, it can be assumed that will again be the designated rest period for the Springboks.
The Lions and the Stormers both end their URC season’s with four home games, which should please them, with the Lions also having two plum home games sandwiched between their opening derby against the Sharks and their first overseas game against the Dragons on 13 October.
The sequence of home or away fixtures against non-Shield opponents is in year two. This means all fixtures from last season are reversed so that each team will complete their balance of home and away games against the same opponents over a two-year cycle.
EARLY FIXTURE RELEASE TO ASSIST PLANNING
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.
Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship CEO, said: “Given the complexity of our scheduling we are thrilled to have our fixtures published earlier than ever before,” said URC CEO Martin Anayi in a press release announcing the fixtures.
“Our fixture list is at the core of our entire league with fans, teams, broadcasters and media all setting their schedules to it and now we have set a new standard by delivering it while the current season is still in play.
“Our whole team is focused on making the United Rugby Championship the best league in the world and setting fan-friendly goals is key to that. Our clubs have been more engaged than ever in supporting this while our broadcast partners also play a crucial role in allowing the kick-off times to be set so far in advance.
“This weekend we will discover who has triumphed in the Race to Eight before the gripping drama of our play-offs takes centre stage. Now, no matter how the season ends fans can immediately look to next season’s fixtures to begin planning for another thrilling campaign.”
Full list of SA franchise Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixtures 2024/2025
Hollywoodbets Sharks
September 21/2024: Emirates Lions (home)
September 28: Connacht (away)
October 5: Dragons (away)
October 12: Benetton (away)
October 19: Glasgow Warriors (home)
October 26: Munster (home)
30 November: DHL Stormers (home)
21 December: Vodacom Bulls (home)
28 December: DHL Stormers (away)
25 January 2025: Cardiff (away)
15 February: Vodacom Bulls (away)
1 March: Emirates Lions (away)
22 March: Zebre Parma (home)
29 March: Leinster (home)
18 April: Edinburgh (away)
26 April: Ulster (away)
9 May: Ospreys (home)
17 May: Scarlets (home)
Vodacom Bulls
21 September: DHL Stormers (away)
28 September: Edinburgh (home)
5 October: Ulster (home)
12 October: Ospreys (away)
18 October: Scarlets (away)
25 October: Benetton (away)
30 November: Connacht (away)
21 December: Hollywoodbets Sharks (away)
TBC: Emirates Lions (home)
25 January 2025: Emirates Lions (away)
15 February: Hollywoodbets Sharks (home)
1 March: DHL Stormers (home)
22 March: Leinster (home)
29 March: Zebre Parma (home)
19 April: Munster (away)
25 April: Glasgow Warriors (away)
10 May: Cardiff (home)
17 May: Dragons (home)
DHL Stormers
21 September 2024: Vodacom Bulls (home)
28 September: Ospreys (away)
5 October: Zebre Parma (away)
12 October: Edinburgh (away)
19 October: Munster (home)
26 October: Glasgow Warriors (home)
30 November: Hollywoodbets Sharks (away)
21 December: Emirates Lions (home)
28 December: Hollywoodbets Sharks (home)
25 January 2025: Leinster (away)
15 February: Emirates Lions (away)
1 March: Vodacom Bulls (away)
22 March: Scarlets (away)
28 March: Ulster (away)
19 April: Connacht (home)
26 April: Benetton (home)
10 May: Dragons (home)
16 May: Cardiff (home)
Emirates Lions
21 September 2024: Hollywoodbets Sharks (away)
28 September: Ulster (home)
5 October: Edinburgh (home)
13 October: Dragons (away)
19 October: Zebre Parma (away)
26 October: Leinster (away)
30 November: Munster (away)
21 December: DHL Stormers (away)
TBC: Vodacom Bulls (away)
25 January 2025: Vodacom Bulls (home)
15 February: DHL Stormers (home)
1 March: Hollywoodbets Sharks (home)
21 March: Cardiff (away)
29 March: Glasgow Warriors (away)
19 April: Benetton (home)
26 April: Connacht (home)
11 May: Scarlets (home)
17 May: Ospreys (home)