The 2023–24 United Rugby Championship was the 23rd season of the professional
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
competition known as the
United Rugby Championship, and the third season under that name. It began on 21 October 2023 and ended on 22 June 2024. The reigning and defending champions were
Munster
Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
, who defeated
Stormers
The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...
in the 2023 final.
Glasgow Warriors claimed the 2023–24 championship, defeating the
Bulls in the
grand final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...
for their second overall championship.
Format
The season consisted of 21 rounds: 18 rounds of regular season play, followed by three rounds of play-offs.
The winner of each Shield was determined solely from the games played amongst the teams within their regional pool, mirroring the format of the old Interprovincial Championship in Ireland.
There were 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 Shield pool (featuring the two Italian and two Scottish sides). The pools served two functions; they guaranteed a full slate of derby matches for each team, and they awarded a minor Regional Shield trophy to the top team in each pool, which thereby functioned as a national championship in three of the four pools and a cross-border regional championship in the Scottish–Italian pool. They were no longer used to determine qualification for the
European Rugby Champions Cup. Instead, the top eight teams in the league table qualified, subject to preserved places for winners of the three main trophies, the URC, the Champions Cup and the
Challenge Cup
The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
if they were not already qualified by league position.
The winner of each Shield was determined solely from the games played amongst the teams within their regional pool, mirroring the format of the old
Interprovincial Championship in Ireland.
Teams played six matches against their regional pool rivals, three home and three away. The remaining twelve matches were made up by a single round robin, consisting of an even number of six home and six away matches against all the sides from the other pools.
For the Championship itself, there was one main league table. The top eight sides in the table qualified for the quarter-finals, followed by semi-finals and a grand final, with teams seeded 1 to 4 with home advantage for the lowest seeded side. The Regional Shield pools had no direct link to the play-offs and by extension the Championship itself, and it was possible to win a Regional Shield but not contest the play-offs.
Teams
United Rugby Championship
Locations
Regional Shield competitions
This season, for the first time, regional shield standings were based entirely on performances against other teams within the same conference.
Therefore, only six games for each team counted towards the regional shields.
URC league standings
European qualification
The national shields no longer factor into qualification for the European Rugby Champions Cup, in order to increase meritocracy and competition within the league.
Priority order for European Champions Cup qualification is:
* 2023–24 United Rugby Championship champions
* the European Rugby Champions Cup champions (if a URC team but not already qualified as above)
* the EPCR Challenge Cup champions (if a URC team but not already qualified as above)
* the next highest-ranked teams during regular season play not already qualified as above, until eight overall qualifiers have been selected.
All 16 teams, however, are guaranteed entry into one of the two competitions.
The following teams have therefore confirmed their qualification for the
European Rugby Champions Cup for the 2024–25 season:
; via
2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup
*
Sharks
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
, who defeated English side
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
36–22 in the final of the 2023–24 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
No URC side won a place with victory in the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup, Leinster losing in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
to
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
.
The following teams therefore confirmed their qualification for the
European Rugby Champions Cup for the 2024–25 season by placement in the URC regular season:
;
*
Munster
Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
, 1st in the regular season table
*
Leinster
Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland.
The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...
, 3rd
*
Ulster
Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
, 6th
;
*
Bulls, 2nd
*
Stormers
The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...
, 5th
;
*
Glasgow Warriors, 4th
The final Champions Cup place was therefore to be taken by either
Benetton (7th) or
Ospreys (8th). If Ospreys won the URC outright, they will take the final berth in the Champions Cup as URC Champion. Any other result would mean Benetton qualify for the Champions Cup in 2024–25. Osprey's quarter final defeat confirmed
Benetton Rugby in the final berth. Wales will have no representative in the 2024–25 Champions Cup.
;
*
Benetton, 7th
Zebre,
Dragons
A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...
,
Scarlets,
Cardiff Rugby,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Connacht
Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...
,
Lions and
Ospreys have qualified for the
European Rugby Challenge Cup for 2024–25. All five nations in URC will be represented in the competition.
Matches
The following are the match results for the 2023–24 United Rugby Championship regular season:
Updated to match(es) played on 18 May 2024
Colours: Green: home team win; Yellow: draw; Red: away team win; Blue: upcoming matches
Regular season
Round 1
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Round 2
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Round 3
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Round 4
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Round 5
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Round 6
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Round 7
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Round 8
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Round 9
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Round 10
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Round 11
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Round 12
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Round 13
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Round 14
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Round 15
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Round 16
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Round 17
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Round 18
Knockout stage
For the first time, all five participating nations are represented in the URC play-offs, following a set of results on the final day that elevated
Ospreys three places in the table to take the last available berth.
Bracket
The play-off draw is seeded based on final positions in the regular season league table.
The higher-ranked teams have home advantage in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
The 2024 United Rugby Championship Final was held in South Africa for the third time in succession. The final was the second appearance of the
Bulls following their defeat in 2022, and the first appearance of
Glasgow Warriors who became the first Scottish team, and indeed the first team outside of South Africa and Ireland, to reach the final since the competition adopted its current format. It was also Glasgow's fourth final appearance overall in the various forms of the competition. For the third year in succession, the top-seeded team entering the playoffs failed to reach the final.
Leading scorers
Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under
World Rugby
World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...
eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.
Most points
Most tries
End of Season Awards
URC Elite XV
The 2023–24 United Rugby Championship Elite XV is:
["URC AWARDS: Elixirr Innovation Award & Elite XV winners announced"]
United Rugby, 14 June 2024.
Award winners
The 2023–24 URC award winners were:
Attendances
This season saw a record United Rugby Championship attendance, with a 3% increase in overall attendance for a total of 1.69 million, and an average of 11,200 per game. The highest attendance for a single round was 146,000 for round 9.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:United Rugby Championship
2023-24
2023–24 in Irish rugby union
2023–24 in Italian rugby union
2023–24 in Scottish rugby union
2023–24 in Welsh rugby union
2023 in South African rugby union
2024 in South African rugby union