1 month until URC 2022-23 kick-off

The 2022-23 URC begins in exactly one month, bringing viewers the best of Celtic, Italian and South African club rugby. 

The old format had a vigorous injection last season with the introduction of the four South African sides in the form of the Sharks, Bulls, Lions and Stormers. The newcomers took a while to find their feet amongst the new opposition, grounds and fans, but soon rose with strength; so much so that the competition culminated in an all-South African final – between the Stormers and Bulls in Cape Town: 

The South African contingent will only kick off their respective campaigns in Round 2 (Zebre Parma vs Sharks, Bulls vs Edinburgh, Stormers vs Connacht, Ospreys vs Lions). The reigning champs, the Stormers, are expected to be strong again as they retain much of the same squad which is littered with Springboks. However, their high number of international representatives works against them as well, as it means many top names will be unavailable for large chunks of the season due to Springbok commitments. 

Jake White’s Bulls will, in all likelihood, be title contenders again this season. A team with relatively few Springboks, player consistency was a good friend of theirs as they navigated their way through the competition. The highlight of their campaign was arguably an away semi-final defeat of Irish giants Leinster.  

The strength of Irish rugby is there for all to see at the moment and all four provinces are looking in good shape again going into the next season. Leinster remain a powerhouse but, like the Stormers, will be missing some top players at various stages throughout the season.  

Wales’ top-performing club last season was Ospreys who finished their campaign in 9th spot, followed by Scarlets in 10th , then Cardiff in 14th and, finally, Dragons in 15th . There is thus vast room for improvement amongst the Welsh contingent and most hopes will again be with Ospreys who have been tipped to fly the colours this season.  

For an in-depth look at the opening round, click here