Sport
Preview
BKT United Rugby Championship 2024/25 Preview
With the 2024/25 season just around the corner, we are taking a look at the opening fixtures and how the teams are set up for the upcoming campaign.
The BKT United Rugby Championship season kicks off Friday 20 September with Leinster taking a trip across the Irish Sea to face Edinburgh, while Saturday 21 September sees Munster welcome Connacht to Thomond Park and Ulster play host to defending champions Glasgow Warriors at Kingspan Stadium.
Leinster
Leinster’s BKT United Rugby Championship campaign ended in disappointment last year as they fell at the penultimate hurdle, coming out second best in a thriller against Vodacom Bulls. They will look to use that loss, along with their Champions Cup defeat in May, as motivation to take the extra leap this season.
The arrivals of New Zealand standout Jordie Barrett and World Cup winner RG Snyman from rivals Munster will only serve as encouragement to a Leinster team propped up with international talent from Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong and Josh Van Der Flier in the forwards to Hugo Keenan, Garry Ringrose and James Lowe in the backs. A lingering question remains at fly-half as Leinster navigate the post-Johnny Sexton era. They are presented with a wealth of options at the position, with Ross Byrne presumably retaining his starting role. However, with capable deputies in brother Harry, Ciarán Frawley and Sam Prendergast, there remain question marks around the position.
Leo Cullen’s men open their URC campaign against Edinburgh on Friday 20 September, before welcoming Dragons to Aviva Stadium on Friday 27 September for their first home fixture. Edinburgh fell short of making the URC Quarter Finals by just a point last year. The two sides met at the RDS Arena last year, with Leinster coming out the victors. They will look to start their season off strongly by replicating that result in Scotland.
Tickets for Leinster’s opening home fixtures are on sale now HERE.
Munster
Munster joined Leinster in their semi final disappointment as the defending champions fell to Glasgow Warriors in Thomond Park. Their fantastic campaign saw them top the URC table and they’ll be aiming to reach their third semi final in as many years, and hopefully their second final in that time as well.
The summer has seen many losses for Munster including fly-half Joey Carbery departing for Bordeaux, the aforementioned RG Snyman making the switch to Leinster and former Ireland international Simon Zebo hanging up his boots. The core of the team remains in the likes of Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony, Tadhg Beirne and Jack Crowley. Strength has been added in the backs with the incomings of Thaakir Abrahams from Lyon, Billy Burns from Ulster and the duo of Diarmuid Kilgallen and Tom Farrell from Connacht.
Munster welcome Connacht to Thomond Park to kick off their season, a fixture they ran out comfortable victors in back in May. They shouldn’t take their foot off the gas for it, unless they want a repeat of the reverse fixture on New Year’s Day, a game where Connacht denied Munster a single try in a 22 – 9 win.
Tickets for Munster’s opening home fixtures are on sale now HERE.
Ulster
Ulster have seen success in the BKT United Rugby Championship, reaching the Quarter Final stage in each of the last three seasons. A swift exit at the hands of Leinster halted any plans they had of going all the way.
The 2024/25 URC season will be the first for new manager Richie Murphy. The departure of Billy Burns to Munster will come as a blow but the addition of New Zealand U20s fly-half Aidan Morgan may come to ease those concerns. The Irish-qualified talent will join an established squad of international caliber players including Jacob Stockdale, Iain Henderson, Nick Timoney and Rob Herring.
Their opening weekend opponents come in the form of defending URC champions Glasgow Warriors. It was Glasgow that came out on top when the two sides met in November last year, in a 33 – 20 win. However, Ulster will approach the game unfazed, looking to take the biggest scalp and make a statement for the rest of the season. They then play hosts to rivals Connacht in their first Irish Shield match on Saturday 12 October.
Tickets for Ulster’s opening home fixtures are on sale now HERE.
Focus Game
For our highlighted game, we couldn’t pick anything other than this. Leinster and Munster take to the biggest stage in Ireland for their first meeting of the season. Both teams having lost in the semi finals last year will face their toughest challenge of the season so far as they face off against their familiar opponents.
The fixture swung the way of Leinster last year, winning both of the matches they played against each other. The first was a closely fought affair at Aviva Stadium in November, before the two sides met again on St. Stephen’s Day in a game hampered by terrible weather.
All of that will be in the back of both teams’ minds as they take to the pitch at Croke Park on Saturday 12 October, with their only focus being on the 80 minutes of rugby ahead of them.
Tickets for Leinster v Munster at Croke Park are on sale HERE.
