The DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls will kick off the 2025/26 Vodacom United Rugby Championship season at home against Leinster and Ospreys, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Emirates Lions start their campaigns in Glasgow and Cardiff when the new season commences in the final weekend of September.
The full Vodacom URC fixture list for the 2025/26 season has been officially released – marking the earliest-ever publication of league fixtures in competition history.
With the campaign set to kick off on 26 September, this release arrives 128 days ahead of Round 1, beating the previous benchmark of 114 days. The record-setting publication offers fans and clubs more time than ever before to plan their schedules around the league’s biggest moments.
Round 1 will kick off in Cape Town where the 2022 Vodacom URC champions, DHL Stormers, will take on the eight-time league winners, Leinster, at DHL Stadium on Friday, 26 September.
Games will take place across the weekend in all five competing territories with highlights including Glasgow Warriors hosting Hollywoodbets Sharks, Scarlets facing Munster, Connacht taking on Benetton and Ospreys visiting the Vodacom Bulls.
As is now the norm, Vodacom URC supporters across the globe can download fixtures directly to their devices via the Ecal URC 25/26 calendar, ensuring they never miss a kick-off — no matter their time zone. (Note: updates may take up to an hour to sync)
The 2025/26 season promises a packed calendar of action, including festive derby rounds which are once again locked in for Rounds 7, 8 and 9, while the Race to the Eight steps up from Round 13 as teams compete for play-off places and Investec Champions Cup qualification.
In addition, a range of themed rounds such as Kids Round, Origin Round, and Unity Round will be confirmed in the coming weeks, enhancing the match-day experience for fans and clubs alike.
The format of the competition remains unchanged, with the top eight teams progressing to the play-offs beginning 29 May. The semi-finals will be played on 6 June, followed by the Grand Final on 20 June to crown the 2025/26 champions.
Broadcast coverage for fixtures will continue to evolve, with additional partners to be announced as talks with a Free-to-air partner in the UK and in international territories continue.
Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship CEO, said: “Advance planning is critical to the success of the United Rugby Championship and it is fantastic that we have continued to raise the bar in publishing our fixtures as early as possible.
“For clubs and fans, planning their weekends and knowing where their teams are playing so far ahead of time makes a big difference. The drama and excitement of the Vodacom URC is matched by the complexity of putting all of the pieces of the fixture list together, but it is made much easier thanks to the support of our teams and broadcasters to assist us in this process.
“For the moment, we look forward to the play-offs that kick off next week after another regular season full of surprises. The Race to the Eight provided huge jeopardy and now we move into the ultimate win or go home stage of the competition which will lift the intensity up to another level.”
The Vodacom URC fixture process continues to benefit from its work with Ligalytics, a German sports data and scheduling firm trusted across rugby, football, cricket, basketball, and hockey. For the 2025/26 season, Ligalytics produced 202 workable fixture models based on over 4,000 individual constraints — allowing the league to deliver on essential travel requirements, support a balanced cadence of home and away fixtures across the full competition, and accommodate stadium availability and local restrictions.
Full fixtures available here: https://myza.co.za/urc-round-1-to-start-in-cape-town/
Touring Windows
- Multi-game tours can take place between Rounds 1–5 and Rounds 13–18.
- Single-game tours are scheduled in Rounds 6 and 10, aligning with EPCR windows.
Season Schedule
Round 1: September 26/27
Round 2: October 3/4
Round 3: October 10/11
Round 4: October 17/18
Round 5: October 24/25
Round 6: November 28/29
Round 7 (Festive Derbies): December 19/20
Round 8 (Festive Derbies): December 26/27
Round 9 (Festive Derbies): January 2/3
Round 10: January 23/24
Round 11: January 30/31
Round 12: February 27/28
Round 13: March 20/21
Round 14: March 27/28
Round 15: April 17/18
Round 16: April 24/25
Round 17: May 8/9
Round 18: May 15/16
Play-Off Schedule
Quarter-Finals: May 29/30
Semi-Finals: June 6/7
Grand Final: June 20
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The South African national rugby team, known as the Springboks or Boks, has won the Rugby World Cup three times: in 1995, 2007, and 2019. They are one of the most successful teams in the history of the competition.
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