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Inaugural URC final to be held at the home of highest-ranked team
The inaugural United Rugby Championship (URC) final will take place at the home venue of the highest-ranked team, tournament organisers have confirmed.
The announcement places an even greater importance on the remaining games of the regular season before the play-offs take centre stage.
Despite some talk that the final could be held in South Africa, that will now not be the case unless one of their franchises are the highest-ranked team in the last two.
Leinster will look to consolidate their place at the top of the pile but Leo Cullen has brought a depleted squad to South Africa for the upcoming two games against the Sharks and Stormers.
Munster's trip to Ulster tomorrow will have an added edge to it as both provinces look to secure the highest seeding possible heading into the play-offs.
“With some thrilling rugby ahead of us the time is right to confirm our plans for the first-ever United Rugby Championship Grand Final,” said Martin Anayi, URC CEO.
“For this campaign, it is important to understand how our teams and their fans are returning to normality after so long away from stadia and that our job is to deliver the best URC Grand Final we can in these circumstances.
“The reward of the highest-ranked team hosting the URC Grand Final adds even more to the competitive edge over the closing rounds of the league that will set us up for an incredible Play-Offs which now showcases our best eight teams in a battle to reach the URC Grand Final.”
Tournament organisers also noted: The merit-based format to decide the venue for the URC Final has previously been used between 2010 and 2014 for those season deciders and again in 2020 and 2021.
The United Rugby Championship play-offs
- The Final Eight teams from the league table qualify for the quarter-final stage
- Teams are then ranked 1 to 8 with the top four teams earning home games for the Final Eight stage
- The two highest-ranked winners from the Final Eight (quarter-finals) will play their Final Four fixtures (semi-finals) at home
- The two winners from the Final Four will qualify for the United Rugby Championship Final with the highest-ranked team hosting the game
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