It was confirmed on Tuesday that South Africa’s four franchises – the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions – will be playing in a new-look competition, called the United Rugby Championship (URC).
The tournament starts in September and will see our sides play against each other and the 12 existing teams from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy, for a total of 18 round-robin matches per season.
It is a hugely exciting time for South African rugby because, most importantly, there is also the opportunity for our sides – through the URC – to qualify to play in the prestigious European Champions Cup from the 2022/23 season.