The Stormers, Lions, Sharks and Bulls all start their 2026/27 seasons this weekend when Vodacom URC Round 1 kicks off on Friday, 25 September. Two of South Africa’s four franchises play at home and two are on the road. All four games are live on SuperSport.
The Lions host Leinster at Ellis Park. Leinster have won the last two titles, and in June’s Grand Final they beat the Bulls, who now start their season in Italy.
URC Round 1 kick-off times (SA time)
Friday, 25 September
Connacht vs Stormers – Dexcom Stadium, Galway – 20:45
Saturday, 26 September
Lions vs Leinster – 10bet Ellis Park, Johannesburg – 13:30
Sharks vs Ospreys – Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban – 16:00
Zebre Parma vs Bulls – Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma – 18:30
URC Round 1 has eight games: three on Friday and five on Saturday. The Stormers play first, on Friday night in Galway. Two other games also kick off at 20:45: Benetton vs Dragons in Treviso and Ulster vs Edinburgh in Belfast.
On Saturday, all the South African action is on one afternoon. The first game is at Ellis Park, where the Lions host the champions at 13:30. Only one South African side opens against the team that has won the last two titles, and the Lions get to do it at home. The game starts at 12:30 in Dublin, so Leinster supporters back home can watch it over lunch.
At 16:00 the Sharks host the Ospreys at Kings Park. Their game is the only one kicking off at that time, so it has the whole URC stage to itself.
The Bulls finish the South African part of the opening round against Zebre Parma at 18:30. The Pretoria side start their season on the road, and their game kicks off at the same time as Munster vs Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park. The weekend ends with the Welsh derby, Scarlets vs Cardiff, at 20:45.
The three Saturday games involving South African sides don’t overlap. The Sharks kick off two and a half hours after the Lions, and the Bulls kick off two and a half hours after the Sharks, so fans can watch all three live, one after the other.
Where to watch URC Round 1
SuperSport has every game this weekend. URC.tv and Flo Rugby are also showing the full round. TG4 has both the Stormers game in Galway and the Lions game against Leinster. In the UK and Ireland, Premier Sports carries every game in the round, and Sky Italia has both Italian home games, including the Bulls game in Parma.
Each South African side will go on three two-game URC tours this season. That means every trip north covers two matches before the squad returns, which cuts down on long-haul travel. The competition says the new fixture list also has a more even spread of home and away games across the regular season.
The fixture list came out in May, 129 days before URC Round 1. No URC fixture list has ever been published that early.
Martin Anayi, URC CEO
“Fan certainty is hugely important to us. The more notice we can provide around fixtures and kick-off times, the easier it becomes for supporters to plan their weekends.”
The play-off format stays the same. The top eight teams go through to the quarter-finals, which start on 28 May. The semi-finals start on 5 June, and the Grand Final is on Saturday, 19 June 2027.
That is nine months away. Until then, every log point counts, and the first ones are up for grabs on Friday night in Galway.
Four South African sides and four very different URC Round 1 openers: one in Galway, two at home and one in Parma.
Stormers, Lions, Sharks or Bulls — who are you backing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
