The dates and kick-off times for the United Rugby Championship quarter-finals have been confirmed. Ulster will host Connacht in the first of the last eight ties at the Kingspan Stadium on Friday, May 5th at 7.35pm, with Leinster at home to the Sharks and Munster away to Glasgow the next day.
The other quarter-final will see defending champions the Stormers take on their South African rivals, the Bulls, in a rematch of last season’s URC Grand Final. The game at DHL Stadium will kick-off at 3.30pm local time/2.30pm Irish.
Leinster will host the Sharks in the Aviva Stadium at 5pm for what will be their second meeting in Dublin this season. Leo Cullen’s side won a thriller, by 54-34, at the RDS in early October.
The quarter-finals will be completed in Scotstoun Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm) when Glasgow Warriors host Munster. Munster go into the game on the back of just one defeat in their last 11 matches although that was a 38-26 loss to Glasgow at Thomond Park a month ago, and the Warriors’ 29-27 win over Connacht last Saturday night extended their unbeaten home run to 17 matches.
The semi-finals will be played the weekend of May 12/13th, and in a change to last season’s rules, the teams with the highest seeding in each semi-final will have home venue rights. In other words, if Leinster beat the Sharks, they will be at home to Glasgow or Munster in the final four, while in the other half of the draw, either Ulster will host the winners of the Stormers-Bulls tie, or Connacht will earn a trip to South Africa.
URC quarter-finals
Friday May 5th
2: Ulster v Connacht, Kingspan Stadium, Belfast, 7.35pm (live on TG4, SuperSport, ViaPlay, Premier Sports, FloRugby)
Saturday May 6th
3: DHL Stormers v Vodacom Bulls, DHL Stadium, Cape Town, 2.30pm Irish time (live on SuperSport, TG4, ViaPlay, Premier Sports, FloRugby)
1: Leinster v Cell C Sharks, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, 5pm (lve on RTÉ, SuperSport, ViaPlay, Premier Sports, FloRugby)
4: Glasgow Warriors v Munster, Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow, 7.35pm (live on RTÉ, SuperSport, ViaPlay, Premier Sports, FloRugby)
Semi-finals
1: Leinster (1)/Cell C Sharks (8) v Glasgow Warriors (4)/Munster (5)
2: Ulster (2)/Connacht (7) v DHL Stormers (3)/Vodacom Bulls (6)
The semi-final winners will meet on Saturday, May 27 at the venue of the highest-ranked team.
