The regular season of the United Rugby Championship has concluded, with the quarter-finals now confirmed.
Munster cemented their top spot in the overall standings with a 29–24 victory over Ulster, and will face the Ospreys in the first leg of the quarter-final on Friday 7 June.
The Bulls, Leinster and Glasgow Warriors are in second, third and fourth place respectively and will host the remaining URC quarter-final matches on Saturday 8 June.
URC Quarterfinals
Defending champions Munster fought hard to beat Ulster in their final regular season game, but the win means Munster will host all future play-off matches, depending on how they advance.
Their opponents are the Ospreys, the only Welsh team to qualify for the playoffs after beating Cardiff in the final game of the regular season. The Ospreys slipped into the playoffs due to good performances by Benetton and the Stormers earlier in the day. However, no Welsh team has qualified for next season’s Investec Champions Cup as the Sharks won the Challenge Cup by beating Gloucester in the final.
Meanwhile, the Bulls finished second overall after a tough 14-26 defeat to the Sharks in Durban in the final URC match. Jake White’s side needed a bonus-point win following Leinster’s win over Connacht on Friday night, and Akker van der Merwe’s bonus-point try with three minutes left on the clock sealed the win.
The Bulls secured a top-two finish with a hard-fought bonus point win over the Sharks
The Bulls will host Benetton at Loftus Versfeld in the quarter-finals after the Italian outfit beat Edinburgh 31-6 in a showdown that determined both teams’ play-off places.
Finally, Glasgow Warriors beat Zebre 38-26, but Franco Smith’s Scottish team could not finish higher than fourth place and booked a home quarter-final spot with one round to spare. Glasgow will host the inaugural URC champions, the Stormers, at Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday 8 June.
The last eight means that for the first time in the URC era, at least one team from all five participating countries will advance to the playoffs.
Watch: Springbok prospect saves Stormers with outrageous double defensive intervention
URC quarterfinal match schedule, kick-off time and broadcasting station
Friday, June 7
Quarterfinal 1: (1) Munster vs (8) Ospreys
venue: Tommond Park, Limerick
kick off: 19:35 (UK and Ireland) / 20:35 (Italy and South Africa)
Broadcaster: RTE, S4C, Premier Sport, SuperSport, URC.tv
Saturday, June 8
Quarterfinal 2: (2) Vodacom Bulls vs (7) Benetton
venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
kick off: 14:30 (UK and Ireland) / 15:30 (Italy and South Africa)
Broadcaster: SuperSport, Premier Sports, Sky Italia, TG4, URC.tv
Quarterfinal 3: (3) Leinster vs (6) Ulster
venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 17:00 (UK & Ireland) / 18:00 (Italy & South Africa)
Broadcaster: TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, URC.tv
QF4: (4) Glasgow Warriors vs (5) DHL Stormers
venue: Scotstown Stadium, Glasgow
kick off: 19:35 (UK and Ireland) / 20:35 (Italy and South Africa)
Broadcaster: Premier Sports, Super Sports, URC.tv
The possible semi-final line-ups are as follows: Semi-final 1 will see the winners of QF1 and QF4 play against each other. Semi-final 2 will see the winners of QF2 and QF3 play against each other.
Semi-finals
SF1: Munster/Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors/DHL Stormers
SF2: Vodacom Bulls/Benetton v Leinster/Ulster.
read more: Watch: Springbok prospect saves Stormers with outrageous double defensive intervention
