2024–25 United Rugby Championship
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2024–25 United Rugby Championship
The 2024–25 United Rugby Championship will be the 24rd season of the professional rugby union competition known as the United Rugby Championship, and the fourth season under that name. It began on 20 September 2024 and will end on 14 June 2025. Format The season consists of 21 rounds: 18 rounds of regular season play, followed by three rounds of play-offs. There are four regional pools: The Irish Shield pool (featuring the four Irish teams), the Welsh Shield pool (featuring the four Welsh teams), the South African Shield pool (featuring the four South African teams) and the Scottish/Italian 'Azzurri/Blue' Shield pool (featuring the two Italian and two Scottish sides). The pools serve two functions; they guarantee a full slate of derby matches for each team, and they award a minor Regional Shield trophy to the top team in each pool, which thereby functions as a national championship in three of the four pools, and a cross-border regional championship in the Scottish–Italian ...
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2023–24 United Rugby Championship
The 2023–24 United Rugby Championship is the 23rd season of the professional rugby union competition known as the United Rugby Championship, and the third season under that name. It began on 21 October 2023 and will end on 22 June 2024. The reigning and defending champions are Munster Rugby who defeated Stormers in the 2023 final. Format The season consists of 21 rounds: 18 rounds of regular season play, followed by three rounds of play-offs. There are four regional pools: The Irish Shield pool (featuring the four Irish teams), the Welsh Shield pool (featuring the four Welsh teams), the South African Shield pool (featuring the four South African teams) and the Scottish/Italian 'Azzurri/Blue' Shield pool (featuring the two Italian and two Scottish sides). The pools serve two functions; they guarantee a full slate of derby matches for each team, and they award a minor Regional Shield trophy to the top team in each pool, which thereby functions as a national championship in three ...
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Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, including the third-place play-off. The Arms Park also hosted the inaugural Heineken Cup Final of 1995–96 and the following year in 1996–97. The history of the rugby ground begins with the first stands appearing for spectators in the ground in 1881–1882. Originally the Arms Park had a cricket ground to the north and a rugby union stadium to the south. By 1969, the cricket ground had been demolished to make way for the present day rugby ground to the north and a second rugby stadium to the south, called the National Stadium. The National Stadium, which was used by Wales national rugby union team, was officially opened on 7 April 1984, however ...
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Edinburgh Rugby Stadium
Edinburgh Rugby Stadium, known as the DAM Health Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the home of Edinburgh Rugby. The stadium is located next to Murrayfield Stadium, in the Murrayfield area of the city. It has a capacity of 7,800, and was completed on 16 February 2021. Structure and facilities The stadium consists of four stands. *North Stand: 2,047 (Main stand) *East Stand: 1,480 *South Stand: 2,704 *West Stand: 1,564 There is seating for the disabled in all areas of the ground with a dedicated disabled terrace in the North Stand. Opening Completed during the Covid-19 period where no fans could attend matches, Edinburgh played their first match at the stadium on 11 September 2021, facing Premiership Rugby side Newcastle Falcons in a pre-season friendly. Transport Buses The stadium is served by Lothian Buses. Rail Despite the line running adjacent to the stadium, the closest railway station to the stadium is , which lies a mil ...
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Jamie Ritchie
Jamie Ritchie (born 16 August 1996) is a Scotland international rugby union player who plays for Edinburgh Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. Rugby Union career Jamie Ritchie started his rugby career while being brought up in Dundee. One of his idols is Dundee-born Andy Nicol. Professional career While still a teenager, Ritchie made his first-team debut in October 2014 with an appearance from the replacements' bench in the Pro12 match against Leinster. In January 2021, Ritchie signed the longest deal in Edinburgh's history, with head coach Richard Cockerill describing Ritchie as a future Scotland captain. "“Jamie is an excellent young player with an old head on his shoulders. He has a really bright future ahead of him and we’re delighted he’s signed such a long-term deal. His work-rate is immense but it’s the quality of work within that which sets him apart," Cockerill said. International career Ritchie has represented Scotland at under-16, under-18 and un ...
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Grant Gilchrist
Grant Gilchrist (born 9 August 1990) is a Scottish rugby union player who plays at lock for Edinburgh Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. Background Gilchrist was schooled at Lornshill Academy, and played with Alloa RFC before moving on to Stirling County RFC. Initially an Elite Development player at Edinburgh Rugby and following a stint in New Zealand as part of the John Macphail Scholarship, he made his first senior appearance in a 34–13 win over Cardiff Blues in September 2011. In 2015 he was made the club's vice-captain. In August 2016, Edinburgh Rugby named him and Stuart McInally as their co-captains for the coming season. International career Gilchrist represented Scotland at under-18, under-19, under-20 levels. He received his first full cap for Scotland against France in the 2013 Six Nations Championship at the Stade de France, aged 22. He was not selected to play in any of Scotland's 2014 Six Nations matches under Scott Johnson. Vern Cotter selected him for ...
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Sean Everitt
Sean Everitt is a South African professional rugby union football coach. He was named as head coach of the Sharks team that plays in the Super Rugby competition. He is also the coach of the Sharks (Currie Cup) team that competes in the Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ....He stepped down from his role as Head Coach after the Sharks suffered a huge defeat 35-0. References Living people South African rugby union coaches Sharks (rugby union) coaches Year of birth missing (living people) {{SouthAfrica-bio-stub ...
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Edinburgh Rugby
Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh plays most of its home games at Edinburgh Rugby Stadium. The original Edinburgh District team played the first ever inter-district match against Glasgow District in 1872, winning the match 3–0. The amateur district team was reformed with professionalism, as Edinburgh Rugby, in 1996 to compete in the Heineken Cup, its best performance coming in the 2011–12 season, when the club reached the semi-final but lost out narrowly to Ulster, 22–19. The quarter-final tie against Toulouse attracted a club record crowd of over 38,000 spectators to Murrayfield. In 2003–04 Edinburgh became the first Scottish team to reach the quarter-finals. In the 2014–15 season, Edinburgh became the first Scottish club to reach a major European final, when th ...
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Rodney Parade
Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales, owned and operated by the Welsh Rugby Union. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre. The ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the city's central bus and railway stations via Newport Bridge or Newport City footbridge. There is no spectator car park at the ground but a number of multi-storey car parks are nearby. Rodney Parade is the home ground of Dragons regional rugby union team. It is also the home ground of Newport County football club, and is the second-oldest sports venue in the Football League, after Deepdale. Stadium capacity is reduced from rugby levels for football matches. In 2021 the rugby union club Newport RFC, the former owners of Rodney Parade, relocated their home matches to Newport Stadium, agreeing with the WRU to play two home matches per season at Rodney Parade. Newport Squash Club has four courts at Rodney Parade. Layout Rodney Parade has two cove ...
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Steffan Hughes (rugby Union)
Steffan Hughes (born 17 February 1994) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays for Dragons RFC as a centre. Hughes previously played for the Scarlets regional team. He is a Wales Under-20 international and previously captained the side. Hughes made his debut for the Scarlets regional team in 2014 having previously played for the Scarlets academy. Ahead of the 2019-2020 season, Hughes was named as one of the Scarlets' vice-captains along with Werner Kruger, James Davies and Jonathan Davies. Hughes had first captained the Scarlets side against the Cheetahs during the 2017-2018 season. Following the 2021–2022 season, Hughes was released by the Scarlets, and subsequently joined Dragons RFC Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ... on a short-term deal as injury cover. ...
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Dai Flanagan
David Flanagan (born 24 October 1985) is a rugby union coach and former player who is the head coach for Dragons RFC. As a player, he played as a fly-half for Pontypridd RFC, the Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys. Born in Cefn Hengoed, Caerphilly, Flanagan began his career as a junior with Ystrad Mynach. After being selected for Wales at under-16 level, he was signed to the Pontypridd academy in 2002. He made his senior debut for Pontypridd during the 2003–04 season and was picked up by the Cardiff Blues academy at the start of the 2005–06 season. That proved to be his annus mirabilis, as he played for Wales at under-21 level, made his regional debut for the Blues and also scored the game-winning drop goal in injury time at the end of the 2006 Welsh Cup final against Neath. After four years playing regional rugby with the Blues, Flanagan signed a three-year contract with the Ospreys for the 2010–11 season, where he would compete with Dan Biggar Daniel Biggar (born 16 Oc ...
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Dragons RFC
Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup/ European Rugby Challenge Cup. The region they represent covers an area of southeast Wales including Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen with a total population approaching 600,000 and they are affiliated with a number of semi-professional and amateur clubs throughout the area, including Pontypool RFC, Caerphilly RFC, Cross Keys RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC and Newport RFC. Formed in 2003 as a result of the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales, the team started life with a third-place finish in the 2003–04 Celtic League, and finished fourth the next season; however, the team finished in the bottom three in each of the next four seas ...
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The Sportsground
Dexcom Stadium (formerly The Sportsground) is the home of Connacht Rugby. It opened in 1927 and has been used to host Connacht Rugby matches since. Dexcom Stadium is able to hold up to 8,129 people without temporary seating. When Greyhound racing in Ireland, greyhound racing takes place at the stadium and adjoining premises, they trade as the Galway Greyhound Stadium. History 20th Century In 1928, the Sports Ground or the Sports Field as it was also known opened. The first rugby team to use the ground was Galwegians RFC who used the ground after moving from the Grammar School grounds. In the 1930s, it hosted the varsity matches and Connacht Senior Cup matches for the University of Galway. Renovations (2011–2016) Up until 2011, the regular capacity of The Sportsground was 5,500. The stadium was modified and extended in 2011, and again in 2016, instigated by the success of Connacht Rugby. The facilities include the: * Main Stand – which has enclosed corporate facilitie ...
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