URC play-off race explained: what's at stake in final three fixtures, seedings and club scenarios

Glasgow Warriors sit top of the table but that could change this weekend as they face second placed Stormers in Cape Town. Meanwhile, the season will come to an end for Edinburgh after Week 18 with the capital club now mathematically unable to finish in the play-off spots.

Ahead of these last few league phase matches, here is a look at the current lay of the land in the division and how the play-offs could look:

Which teams will be in the 2025/26 URC play-offs?

No team is mathematically guaranteed to be in the play-offs just yet but Glasgow Warriors, Stormers and Leinster are all but certain to be there. Lions and Ulster are also in strong positions ahead of Week 16 while Munster, Cardiff and Bulls make up the rest of the top eight.

Connacht are only just outside of the play-off spots at the moment and could theoretically jump as high as fourth this weekend, especially given they play the Lions who currently occupy that spot. Also still in contention are Ospreys and Sharks but both would require incredibly strong finishes to the regular season to sneak in.

Here is the current top eight in the URC:

1. Glasgow Warriors
2. Stormers
3. Leinster
4. Lions
5. Ulster
6. Munster
7. Cardiff
8. Bulls

How the URC play-offs work and why it’s important for Glasgow to finish top

Once the regular league season has completed after 18 rounds of fixtures, the URC then progresses to the play-offs where the top eight teams compete for the championship. These are straight knockout matches comprising of quarter-finals (round of eight), semi-finals and a final.

The top four teams are given home advantage in the quarter-finals and play the corresponding team from the league standings - 1st vs 8th, 2nd vs 7th, 3rd vs 6th and 4th vs 5th. In the semi finals, the teams that finished first and second retain home advantage, if they’re still in the competition, and the team that finished top of the table retains home advantage for the final.

It is important to note that seedings do not transfer during the play-offs, meaning if the team that finished eighth beat the team that finished first in the quarter-finals they would not then gain home advantage for the semi finals and final. Instead, the team who finished second (if they have not also been eliminated) would gain home advantage in the final.

URC league fixtures

Here are the remaining fixtures in the 2025/26 URC league season:

Round 16 (Friday 24 – Saturday 25 April 2026)

• Cardiff Rugby vs Ospreys — Fri 24 Apr
• Edinburgh vs Sharks — Fri 24 Apr
• Zebre Parma vs Dragons — Fri 24 Apr
• Lions vs Connacht — Sat 25 Apr
• Stormers vs Glasgow Warriors — Sat 25 Apr
• Munster vs Ulster — Sat 25 Apr
• Scarlets vs Bulls — Sat 25 Apr
• Benetton vs Leinster — Sat 25 Apr

Round 17 (Friday 8 – Saturday 9 May 2026)

• Glasgow Warriors vs Cardiff Rugby — Fri 8 May
• Ulster vs Stormers — Fri 8 May
• Bulls vs Zebre Parma — Sat 9 May
• Sharks vs Benetton — Sat 9 May
• Leinster vs Lions — Sat 9 May
• Ospreys vs Scarlets — Sat 9 May
• Connacht vs Munster — Sat 9 May
• Dragons vs Edinburgh — Sat 9 May

Round 18 (Friday 15 – Saturday 16 May 2026)

• Cardiff Rugby vs Stormers — Fri 15 May
• Ulster vs Glasgow Warriors — Fri 15 May
• Edinburgh vs Connacht — Fri 15 May
• Sharks vs Zebre Parma — Sat 16 May
• Bulls vs Benetton — Sat 16 May
• Scarlets vs Dragons — Sat 16 May
• Leinster vs Ospreys — Sat 16 May
• Munster vs Lions — Sat 16 May

URC 2025/26 season play-off dates

The quarter-finals of this seasons’ URC play-offs are due to be played across the weekend of May 29-31. The semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday, June 6. The Grand Final is currently scheduled for Saturday, June 20.

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