United Rugby Championship
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in South Africa, and the BKT United Rugby Championship in the competition's other territories, the split branding mirroring the format previously adopted in Super Rugby. The Championship represents the highest level of domestic club or franchise rugby in each of its constituent countries.
| Current season or competition: 2023–24 United Rugby Championship | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 2001 |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Nations | Ireland (4 teams) Italy (2 teams) Scotland (2 teams) South Africa (4 teams) Wales (4 teams) |
| Holders | Munster (4th title) (2022–23) |
| Most titles | Leinster (8 titles) |
| Website | unitedrugby.com |
The Championship is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe (along with the English Premiership and the French Top 14), the most successful teams from which go forward to compete in the highest-level continental club competitions, the European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. Since 2022–23, despite the name, South African teams have been eligible to qualify for European competitions.