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Lions United Rugby Championship 2026/27 Fixtures

The Lions don’t enjoy playing in Cape Town but for the rest, they have enjoyed success on the road. They will be confident in 2026/27 that they can win enough matches away from home to make the URC play-offs.

Published

3 months ago

19th May 2026

Keo

Francke Horn of Fidelity SecureDrive Lions in action with Dylan Richardson of Edinburgh during the United Rugby Championship match between Fidelity SecureDrive Lions and Edinburgh at Ellis Park on March 21, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Lions United Rugby Championship 2026/27 Fixtures are reason for optimism given an away record that speaks favourably in many instances for the Johannesburg-based club.

Lions United Rugby Championship 2026/27 Fixtures

The Lions nine away fixtures in the 2026/27 URC season may on the surface appear daunting given the defeats over the history of the tournament, but there is context to the optimism.

2026/27 Away Opponent	Lions away losses in URC era (first five seasons)
Vodacom Bulls	3
Edinburgh	1
Glasgow Warriors	2
DHL Stormers	4
Hollywoodbets Sharks	3
Scarlets	1
Connacht	1
Dragons RFC	0
Ulster	2

The toughest historical away fixture for the Lions among this group has clearly been the Stormers in Cape Town, where they have lost four times in the first five URC seasons.

Key trends from the URC Lions era:

The Lions have only ever one once away to the Stormers in the URC.
They have also struggled in Durban and Pretoria:
- three away losses to the Sharks,
- three away defeats to the Bulls.
Scotland has been mixed:
- one defeat in Edinburgh,
- two losses in Glasgow.
Wales has been kinder:
- unbeaten away to Dragons,
- only one away defeat to Scarlets.
They have lost twice away to Ulster in Belfast.

What is comforting for the Lions is they have experienced success mostly where they will travel, in South Africa and overseas. With the exception of the Stormers in the tournament’s first season, they have shown an ability to win on the road.

The Lions this season qualified for the last eight play-offs for the first time in five seasons. They will travel to defending champions Leinster for the quarter-final on the 30th May. They have never won in Dublin, but have always been competitive.

This season the Lions have played their most consistent rugby, especially at home at Ellis Park.

But the teams who win the title have always shown an ability to win on the road.

One just has to think of the incredible run of Munster in the second season, where they won their final two league matches on the road, then won the quarter-final, semi-final and final away from home.

The Lions biggest positives have been their pack and the halfback pairing of Morne van den Berg and Chris Smith, who joined them this season.

Smith won the league’s Golden Boot for most points scored through penalties, conversions and drop goals.

Tries scored don’t count for the Golden Boot.

Captain and No 8 Francke Horn has been exceptional.