United Rugby Championship quarter-final fixtures and kick-off times confirmed

Following the conclusion of the United Rugby Championship (URC) regular season, the quarter-finals have been confirmed.

Munster clinched a 29-24 victory over Ulster to cement their place on top of the overall table and will host the first quarter-final match against Ospreys on Friday, June 7.

The Bulls, Leinster and Glasgow Warriors finished in second, third and fourth respectively and will host the remaining URC quarter-finals on Saturday, June 8.

URC quarter-finals

Defending champions Munster were made to work hard for their final regular season victory over Ulster, but the win means that they will host all of their play-off matches going forward, depending on how far they progress.

They face off against the Ospreys, who are the only Welsh team to reach the play-offs after defeating Cardiff in the very last fixture of the regular season. They snuck into the play-offs after favourable results from Benetton and the Stormers earlier in the day. The Welsh side, however, has not qualified for the Investec Champions Cup next season after the Sharks won the Challenge Cup, defeating Gloucester in the final.

Meanwhile, the Bulls finished second overall after a hard-fought 26-14 win over the Sharks in Durban in their final round of the URC. Jake White’s charges required a bonus point win after Leinster’s victory over Connacht on Friday evening and left it late, with Akker van der Merwe scoring their fourth try with three minutes left to play.

Bulls guarantee top two finish with hard-fought bonus-point win over Sharks

The Bulls will now host Benetton at Loftus Versveld in the quarter-final after the Italian side beat Edinburgh 31-6 in a do-or-die clash for qualification to the play-offs for the two sides.

Finally, Glasgow Warriors’ 38-26 win over Zebre was not enough for Franco Smith’s side to finish higher than fourth, with the Scottish outfit securing a home quarter-final with a round to spare. Glasgow will host inaugural URC champions, the Stormers, at Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday, June 8.

The final eight means that for the first time in the URC era, all five participating nations have at least one team in the play-offs.

WATCH: Springbok hopeful rescues Stormers with RIDICULOUS double defensive intervention

URC quarter-final fixtures, kick-off times and broadcasters

Friday, June 7

QF1: Munster (1) v Ospreys (8)
Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off: 19:35 (UK & IRE) / 20:35 (ITA & SA)
Broadcasters: RTE, S4C, Premier Sports, SuperSport & URC.tv

Saturday, June 8
QF2: Vodacom Bulls (2) v Benetton (7)
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 14:30 (UK & IRE) / 15:30 (ITA & SA)
Broadcasters: SuperSport, Premier Sports, Sky Italia, TG4 & URC.tv

QF3: Leinster (3) v Ulster (6)
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 17:00 (UK & IRE) / 18:00 (ITA & SA)
Broadcasters: TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport & URC.tv

QF4: Glasgow Warriors (4) v DHL Stormers (5)
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Kick-off: 19:35 (UK & IRE) / 20:35 (ITA & SA)
Broadcasters: Premier Sports, SuperSport & URC.tv

The potential Semi-Final line-up will see the winners of QF1 and QF4 meet in Semi-Final 1. The winners of QF2 and QF3 will meet in Semi-Final 2.

Semi-finals

SF1: Munster/Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors/DHL Stormers
SF2: Vodacom Bulls/Benetton v Leinster/Ulster

READ MORE: WATCH: Springbok hopeful rescues Stormers with RIDICULOUS double defensive intervention