Английская Википедия:2022–23 United Rugby Championship

Содержание

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

The 2022–23 United Rugby Championship was the 22nd season of the professional rugby union competition United Rugby Championship. It began on 16 September 2022 and ended on 27 May 2023. For sponsorship reasons it was known in South Africa as Vodacom United Rugby Championship or Vodacom URC, while in the Northern Hemisphere it was known as the BKT United Rugby Championship or BKT URC.

The final which was held on 27 May 2023 was between defending champions the Stormers and Munster with Munster winning 19–14.

Format

The tournament consists of 21 rounds; 18 rounds of regular season play, followed by three rounds of play-offs.

There are four regional pools: The Irish Shield pool (featuring the four Irish teams), the Welsh Shield pool (featuring the four Welsh teams), the South African Shield pool (featuring the four South African teams) and the Scottish/Italian 'Azzurri/Blue' Shield pool (featuring the two Italian and two Scottish sides). The pools serve three functions; they guarantee a full slate of derby matches for each team, they are the primary route for qualification for the European Rugby Champions Cup, and they award a minor Regional Shield trophy to the top team in each pool, which thereby functions as a national championship in three of the four pools, and a cross-border regional championship in the Scottish-Italian pool.

Teams play six matches against their regional pool rivals home and away. The remaining twelve matches are made up by a single round robin, consisting of an even number of six home and six away matches against all the sides from the other pools.

For the Championship itself, there is only one main league table (the conference system used in previous Pro14 years has been dropped). The top eight sides in the table will qualify for the quarter finals, followed by semi-finals and a grand final, with teams seeded 1 to 4 with home advantage for the lowest seeded side. The Regional Shield pools have no direct link to the play-offs and by extension the Championship itself, and it is technically possible to win a Regional Shield but not contest the play-offs, as the Welsh sides showed in 2023.

A total of eight sides will qualify for the following season's European Rugby Champions Cup, but by a slightly different distribution method than the play-offs, while the remaining eight sides will qualify for the EPCR Challenge Cup. All points won in the competition contributed to rankings in the regional pools, with the top side in each regional pool automatically qualifying for the European Rugby Champions Cup. The remaining four places then go to (if not already qualified) the winners of the URC, the European Champions Cup and the European Challenge Cup, (if either or both of the European champions is a URC team that is not already qualified as URC Champion or URC Regional Shield winner) followed then by the highest ranked teams in the main table (who haven't already qualified by other means). A similar format was used to determine playoff contenders in the Super Rugby competition.

Teams

United Rugby Championship

Team	Country	Coach / Director of Rugby	Captain	Stadium	Capacity
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort Шаблон:Sort	Stadio Comunale di Monigo	Шаблон:Sort
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Loftus Versfeld	51,762
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Cardiff Arms Park	12,125
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Galway Sportsgrounds	Шаблон:Sort
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort Шаблон:Sort	Rodney Parade	Шаблон:Sort
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort Шаблон:Sort	Edinburgh Rugby Stadium Murrayfield Stadium	Шаблон:Sort Шаблон:Sort
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Scotstoun Stadium	Шаблон:Sort
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	RDS Arena Aviva Stadium	18,500 51,700
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Ellis Park Stadium	62,567
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Thomond Park Musgrave Park	25,600 8,008
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Swansea.com Stadium	20,827
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Parc y Scarlets	14,870
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Kings Park Stadium	52,000
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Cape Town Stadium Danie Craven Stadium	55,000 16,000
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Ravenhill Stadium	18,196
Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Sort	Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi	5,000

Regional Pools and European qualification

The Regional pools of the regular season are the primary mechanism by which teams qualify for European competition, with the 'winner' of each regional pool guaranteed qualification for the European Rugby Champions Cup, ensuring at least one South African, one Welsh and one Irish side qualify for the premier European competition. As Scotland and Italy are sharing a single regional pool, at least one team from those two countries combined is also guaranteed entry, but neither country individually is so guaranteed. The remaining four places will be awarded to those with the four best overall regular season records, regardless of which pool they take part in. As such, it is possible that a team will qualify for the ERCC without reaching the URC play-offs by topping its pool, but finishing ninth or lower overall. If the club that wins the URC championship has not qualified for the Champions Cup on the above criteria, it will qualify instead of the last of the qualified teams that did not win its pool. The same will apply if a URC team wins the 2022-2023 Champions Cup or Challenge Cup and qualifies for the 2023-2024 Champions Cup without having qualified by its league position.

Priority order for European Champions Cup Qualification is therefore :

• 2022–23 United Rugby Championship champion
• the four URC Shield winners (if not already qualified as URC Champion)
• the European Rugby Champions Cup champion (if a URC team but not already qualified as above)
• the European Rugby Challenge Cup champion (if a URC team but not already qualified as above)
• the next highest-ranked teams during regular season play not already qualified as above, until eight overall qualifiers have been selected (between 1 and 4 can qualify under this head).

In theory, a team as high as third overall could therefore fail to qualify for the Champions Cup if it fails to win any of the four available titles (URC, its Regional Shield, Champions or Challenge Cup), and they are all won by much lower ranked URC teams, while the team in last place, if it wins a European competition, can qualify for the following year's Champions Cup. In practice, a team may qualify from an overall 9th or 10th position as the shield winner in a weak regional pool, but the emphasis on derby matches, and the points available in them, tend to ensure that the lowest placed shield winner cannot finish lower than tenth.

All 16 teams, however, are guaranteed entry into one of the two competitions. The lowest a team can finish overall while winning its URC shield and qualifying for the Champions Cup is thirteenth.

The following teams have therefore confirmed their qualification for the European Rugby Champions Cup for the 2023-24 season as URC Champions:

• Шаблон:Rut, who defeated Stormers 19-14 in the URC Grand Final to become URC Champions.

The following teams have confirmed their qualification for the European Rugby Champions Cup for the 2023-24 season upon winning their URC Regional Shield:

• Шаблон:Rut, as the URC Irish Shield winner
• Шаблон:Rut, as the URC South African Shield winner
• Шаблон:Rut, as the URC Scottish-Italian Shield Winner
• Шаблон:Rut, as the URC Welsh Shield winner

As no URC team won a European trophy (Leinster and Glasgow being runners up in the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup respectively), the reserved places for the winners of those competitions is ignored.

The overall champion and four shield winners are therefore joined by the following teams, who claim the final three places in the Champions Cup:

• Шаблон:Rut, by league placing
• Шаблон:Rut, by league placing
• Шаблон:Rut, by league placing .

As Cardiff, the URC Welsh shield winner, sit below eighth in the overall standings, the eighth placed team, Sharks, could not qualify by League standings, despite finishing in eighth place. By losing their URC quarter-final, Sharks were therefore the eighth and final team eliminated from contention for a spot in the 2023-24 European Rugby Champions Cup.

Ulster Rugby, Munster Rugby and Bulls qualified through their league placings at the end of the regular season. Connacht also qualified for the European Rugby Champions Cup by league placing following the elimination of Sharks, the only remaining team that could deny them the final spot by winning the URC Championship.

Munster 'upgraded' their qualification route by winning the URC Championship itself, which technically takes priority over league placing (or winning the Regional Shield), but as they had already secured the place through league placing, it did not materially alter the overall list of qualifiers.

Zebre Parma, Dragons, Scarlets, Ospreys, Edinburgh Rugby, Benetton, Lions and Sharks have qualified for the European Rugby Challenge Cup for 2023-24. For the second season, only the Welsh Shield winner gains Champions Cup qualification from among the Welsh sides, and no Italian side qualify for the Champions Cup.

URC League standings

The overall United Rugby Championship table is the central pillar of the regular season, and the mechanism by which the teams qualifying for the Championship play-off bracket are decided. The top eight teams in the table at the end of the regular season, regardless of regional pool, qualify for the play-off quarter-finals, seeded in the order they finished the regular season.

The season concluded with seven of the play-off contenders from last season making the knock-out stages for a second time, with only Connacht, replacing Edinburgh, entering the post-season for the first time. All four Irish provinces qualified for the knock-out rounds. For the second year, no Welsh or Italian team qualified for the final stages, Benetton being the last Welsh or Italian side eliminated on the final day of the regular season.

Leinster Rugby topped the regular season standings for the fourth successive time, and the tenth time in total, both a record. They have confirmed home advantage and first seeding for the whole play-offs. Ulster Rugby have confirmed home advantage for a quarter-final and semi-final. As the final will be held in the Aviva Stadium, neither side will need to leave Ireland to win the competition.

Glasgow Warriors and Stormers as guaranteed fourth and third placed team, have home advantage for the quarter-finals only.

Leinster, Ulster, Glasgow, Stormers, Munster and the Bulls have qualified for the 2023–24 Champions Cup by virtue of their league position. Cardiff Rugby have also qualified as the highest-placed Welsh team.

The remaining position went to Connacht after the Sharks were eliminated from the Championship playoffs.

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Knockout stage

Bracket

The play-off draw is seeded based on final positions in the regular season league table.

The higher-ranked teams will have home advantage in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

Attendances by club

Attendance was up by 32% in the season, with a regular season average of 9,500 per game. The all-time attendance record for the URC and Pro14/12 was set in the semi-final between the Stormers and Connacht in Cape Town, with 47,261 spectators. The previous record was 47,125 in 2019 at Celtic Park in the final between Glasgow Warriors and Leinster. The record lasted only three weeks as a sell-out crowd of 56,344 watched the 2022-23 final between Stormers and Munster

Regular season

Club	Home games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	Capacity
Шаблон:Flagicon Benetton	9	31,263	3,474	4,288	1,971	69%
Шаблон:Flagicon Bulls	9	114,782	12,754	41,205	4,120	25%
Шаблон:Flagicon Cardiff	9	69,475	7,719	12,121	5,550	63%
Шаблон:Flagicon Connacht	9	49,539	5,504	7,512	4,030	68%
Шаблон:Flagicon Dragons	9	61,365	6,818	20,569	4,039	59%
Шаблон:Flagicon Edinburgh	9	75,482	8,387	25,137	5,193	82%
Шаблон:Flagicon Glasgow	9	58,173	6,464	7,338	5,790	88%
Шаблон:Flagicon Leinster	9	165,245	18,361	45,436	12,441	83%
Шаблон:Flagicon Lions	9	58,895	6,544	10,000	2,894	10%
Шаблон:Flagicon Munster	9	123,493	13,720	25,600	6,485	70%
Шаблон:Flagicon Ospreys	9	66,967	7,441	20,569	4,052	33%
Шаблон:Flagicon Scarlets	9	66,379	7,375	9,582	5,597	50%
Шаблон:Flagicon Sharks	9	141,847	15,760	25,813	7,487	30%
Шаблон:Flagicon Stormers	9	151,271	16,808	30,701	9,358	32%
Шаблон:Flagicon Ulster	9	121,290	13,477	16,741	10,858	75%
Шаблон:Flagicon Zebre	9	19,526	2,215	3,000	1,800	43%

Play-offs

Club	Home games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	Capacity
Шаблон:Flagicon Glasgow	1	6,943	6,943	6,943	6,943	-
Шаблон:Flagicon Leinster	2	41,257	20,629	26,795	14,462	-
Шаблон:Flagicon Stormers	3	146,367	48,789	55,000	44,106	-
Шаблон:Flagicon Ulster	1	12,844	12,844	12,844	12,844	-

End of Season Awards

URC Dream Team

The 2022–23 United Rugby Championship Dream team is:

Pos		Player	Team
FB	15	Шаблон:Flagicon Kurt-Lee Arendse	Шаблон:Flagicon Bulls
RW	14	Шаблон:Flagicon Darcy Graham	Шаблон:Flagicon Edinburgh Rugby
OC	13	Шаблон:Flagicon Sione Tuipulotu	Шаблон:Flagicon Glasgow
IC	12	Шаблон:Flagicon Daniel du Plessis	Шаблон:Flagicon Stormers
LW	11	Шаблон:Flagicon Simone Gesi	Шаблон:Flagicon Zebre Parma
FH	10	Шаблон:Flagicon Ross Byrne	Шаблон:Flagicon Leinster
SH	9	Шаблон:Flagicon Grant Williams	Шаблон:Flagicon Sharks
N8	8	Шаблон:Flagicon Gavin Coombes	Шаблон:Flagicon Munster
OF	7	Шаблон:Flagicon Scott Penny	Шаблон:Flagicon Leinster
BF	6	Шаблон:Flagicon Vaea Fifita	Шаблон:Flagicon Scarlets
RL	5	Шаблон:Flagicon Federico Ruzza	Шаблон:Flagicon Benetton
TP	4	Шаблон:Flagicon Niall Murray	Шаблон:Flagicon Conancht
TP	3	Шаблон:Flagicon Finlay Bealham	Шаблон:Flagicon Conancht
HK	2	Шаблон:Flagicon Dan Sheehan	Шаблон:Flagicon Leinster
LP	1	Шаблон:Flagicon Steven Kitshoff	Шаблон:Flagicon Stormers

Award winners

The 2022–23 URC award winners were:

Award	Winner
Players' Player of the Season	Шаблон:Flagicon Dan Sheehan (Leinster)
Next-Gen Player of the Season	Шаблон:Flagicon Tom Stewart (Ulster)
Fans' Player of the Season	Шаблон:Flagicon Manie Libbok (Stormers)
Golden Boot	Шаблон:Flagicon Johan Goosen (Bulls)
Top Try Scorer	Шаблон:Flagicon Tom Stewart (Ulster)
Try of the Season powered by URC.tv	Шаблон:Flagicon Joaquin Riera (Benetton)
Tackle Machine	Шаблон:Flagicon John Hodnett (Munster)
Turnover King	Шаблон:Flagicon Thomas Young (Cardiff)
Ironman Award	Шаблон:Flagicon Quan Horn (Lions)
Coach of the Season	Шаблон:Flagicon Franco Smith Glasgow

External links

• Official website