URC ROUND 18 – ‘All or Nothing’ in the Race for 8

The South African trio of Bulls, Sharks and Stormers will all play in next season’s Investec Champions Cup, courtesy of their guaranteed Top 8 finish in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. This weekend’s final league round is a fight for the remaining three Champions Cup places.

South Africa’s Lions will play in the EPCR Challenge Cup, having missed out on a Top 8 placing.

THREE SPOTS LEFT FOR PLAY-OFFS & CHAMPIONS CUP

A ruthless run of results in Round 17 has left just three Play-Off spots up for grabs in the final round of regular season action. Those three teams will also complete the URC representatives in next season’s Investec Champions Cup

In the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, this is what has been confirmed leading into this weekend’s final round of league action.

• Leinster, Bulls, Glasgow, Sharks all guaranteed home Quarter-Finals

• Stormers guaranteed a Quarter-Final place

• Munster, Benetton, Cardiff, Scarlets, Edinburgh split by just four league points

With one round of #VURC matches to go, this is how the play-off picture looks as it stands 👀 pic.twitter.com/rbKaJIWh0j

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 13, 2025

R18 ‘ALL OR NOTHING GAMES’

Three fixtures this weekend will occur between teams fighting for Play-Off places and seeding:

• DHL Stormers (5) v Cardiff (9)

Only three teams can overtake Stormers in the event of a loss, a win would be enough to put Cardiff into the Play-Offs

• Munster (8) v Benetton (7)

Both teams are locked on 46 points but Benetton have won 9 games to Munster’s 8. The winner is guaranteed a Play-Off place, and the loser is likely to miss out if no league points are gained. A draw with try BPs could give both a chance.

• Hollywoodbets Sharks (4) v Scarlets (6)

Sharks playing for a possible 3rd seed in the Play-Offs while Scarlets may need to win or salvage winning and losing bonus points to make it into the Quarter-Finals. A win for Scarlets would guarantee them a Play-Off place.

INVESTEC CHAMPIONS CUP QUALIFICATION BATTLE

• Leinster, Bulls, Glasgow, Sharks and Stormers all qualified

• Just three from Munster, Benetton, Cardiff, Scarlets, Edinburgh can qualify

Record after record after record

•  In the first three seasons, every record has been broken and the 2024/25 season should continue the trend.

47.7million for the 2023/24 season

• Attendances grew for the third year in a row and set a new record of 1.69million

• Social media growth continues to outpace all within the industry with 1.5million fans

following URC social channels (more than Premiership Rugby!)

• YouTube views more than trebled in numbers with over 40million watching URC highlights

Unpredictability

The URC has crowned three different champions in a row (DHL Stormers, Munster & Glasgow

Warriors) while the Play-Offs are producing more away wins than ever before. In the regular

season we are seeing more surprise results.