URC semi-finals: All you need to know

The final four face off as the BKT United Rugby Championship nears its end with two Irish provinces in the mix.

Defending champions Munster, who accounted for Ospreys last weekend, are in Limerick hosting a Glasgow Warriors side bidding to reach a first final since 2019.

Leinster, after finishing third in the table and beating Ulster on Saturday, are in Pretoria and face a Bulls outfit who were far from impressive in their quarter-final victory over Benetton.

Find out all you need to know about the games here.

ONLINE

We’ll have live blogs, reports and reaction from the games.

TV

You can see live coverage of Bulls v Leinster from 2.25pm on Saturday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player (kick-off 3pm).

Munster v Glasgow (Saturday, 6pm) is live on TG4 and Premier Sports.

All games are also shown live on URC.tv.

RADIO

Listen to live commentary of both games on RTÉ Radio 1’s Saturday Sport.

WEATHER

Sunny and pleasant conditions are forecast for Pretoria on Saturday afternoon. Around 23C.

It’s set to rain all day in Limerick on Saturday but it may lighten up around tea-time. Temperature around 15C.

Following last weekend’s relatively comfortable 43-20 victory a depleted Ulster side, Leo Cullen’s men are in South Africa for their first away URC play-off game since the win over Glasgow in the 2019 final.

Leinster scored seven tries in a 47-14 win when the sides met at the RDS in March.

Their only victory in South Africa since 2018 was against the Lions in Johannesburg in April 2023.

The visitors have lost their last three away games in the championship and have not lost four in succession on their travels since 2016.

The Bulls have won their two previous URC play-off fixtures at Loftus Versfeld, both quarter-finals, over the Sharks in 2022 and over Benetton last week.

Jake White’s side have won their last five championship matches since their home defeat to Munster in Round 14, their only home defeat this season.

Teams: Midday

Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU, 45th game)

Munster did what they needed to do and no more when beating the Ospreys 23-7 last week. In ways it was the perfect preparation, giving Graham Rowntree plenty to work on after a game in which the result never really looked in doubt.

The victory took their winning streak to 10, their best run since 2011 and the defending champions will come into this game full of confidence.

The sides met in the regular season at the start of December and Munster ran out 40-29 winners at Musgrave Park.

Munster have played in 12 previous Championship semi finals, winning six and losing six. However, they have been successful in all four previous semi-finals played at Thomond Park

Franco Smith’s side actually beat Munster when the teams last met in Limerick, in March 2023, however the Warriors have lost all five semi-finals they have played away from home.

The pair also met in the quarter-finals last season when Munster recorded a 14-5 win in Scotstoun.

Teams: Midday

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 44th game)

Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences