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United Rugby Championship Power Poll: Munster Rugby At The Top

United Rugby Championship Power Poll: Munster Rugby At The Top

The URC Round 1 finished with several upsets, including the defending champions falling in Belfast. How far did Glasgow Warriors fall?

Sep 25, 2024 by Joe Harrington
URC Recap: Round 1 Highlights

The United Rugby Championship 2024-2025 season began on Sept. 20 with Leinster Rugby hanging on to beat Edinburgh Rugby and Cardiff Rugby dominating Zebre Parma. 

It kicked off a big week that featured a dramatic win by Ulster Rugby who stunned defending URC champion Glasgow Warriors in the final moments and one last season’s worst clubs, RFC Dragons, upset the Ospreys in Week 1. 

Munster Rugby, the best team on the table last season, started the season fighting off a Connacht Rugby squad that looks to be a real threat in the league this season after several offseason additions. 

Here is the URC Power Poll After Week 1 and where they play this weekend. 

1. Munster Rugby (1-0-0) 

Munster Rugby didn’t win the URC in 2023-2024, but they were the best team on the table and reached the semifinals before they were upset. The 2023 URC champions are second on the table to Cardiff Rugby, but Munster leads the first power poll because the win against Connacht Rugby could look good at the end of the season. 

2.Glasgow Warriors (0-0-1)

The Warriors lost in Round 1, but the defending champions are still near the top. Lots of teams lose in Belfast and Ulster needed a try in extra time to do it. The Warriors have their first home match on Sept. 27 against the upstart Benetton squad that played in the league’s only draw in Week 1. 

3. Leinster Rugby (1-0-0)

Leinster Rugby went to Scotland and came back with a win, which is something that it didn’t do a year ago in Round 1 against Glasgow. Leinster is the favorite to win this league and will only get better when at full strength. Jamison Gibson-Park’s strong play was a surprise as the scrum-half wasn’t a sure thing to play because of health. He did typical JGP things. 

4. Vodacom Bulls (0-0-0)

The Bulls begin the season Pretoria against Edinburgh Rugby after all the South African teams were off in Week 1 due to the Currie Cup and the International season. The Bulls will be missing its international players, but the squad reached the URC Grand Final a few months ago and upset Munster in the semifinals. 

5. Ulster Rugby (1-0-0)

Ulster Rugby pulled off the biggest upset of Round 1 when they beat the Glasgow Warriors. Ulster finished sixth in the table last season, so it’s not a huge surprise the club knocked off the Warriors at home, but it’s still impressive. A trip to South Africa looms this weekend. 

6. DHL Stormers ( 0-0-0)

The DHL Stormers didn’t play in Round 1, but the 2022 URC champions reached back-to-back finals before losing to the Warriors in last season's quarterfinals. The Stormers finished fifth in the table and eventually will have Steven Kitsoff back on the field after his injury-plagued season in Ulster. 

7. Hollywoodbets Sharks (0-0-0)

The Sharks won the Currie Cup Championship, beating the Emirates Lions to cap off the premiere South African tournament. The Sharks, the defending EPCR Challenge Cup Champions, had a dreadful URC season in 2023-2024 but the combo of the Currie Cup, the Challenge Cup results and the signing of Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who returns after a year with Racing 92, has them in this spot. The team is loaded with talent, but that talent-- Eben Etzebeth, Kolisi and others -- likely won’t be available for some time due to the Rugby Championship.  

8. Connacht Rugby (0-0-1)

Connacht returns to Western Ireland after coming close to beating Munster in Limerick. The Westerners saw the return of Mack Hansen and the debut of Josh Ioane. Now Irish international Finlay Bealham will return for Connacht this week and star Bundee Aki will be available in Round 3. 

9. Edinburgh Rugby (0-0-1)

One of the toughest back-to-back matches you can have in the URC with Leinster and the Bulls, but Edinburgh has a chance to take advantage of a Bulls club that will be missing some of its top players this weekend. Edinburgh nearly upset Leinster Rugby in Scotland last week as its looks to build off its 11-0-7 season a year ago. 

10. Cardiff Rugby (1-0-0)

Cardiff is at the top of the table this week at 1-0 following a win over Zebre Parma, which was 1-1-16 in 2023-2024. The win was a good first step for Cardiff, which finished 12th last season with a 4-1-13 record. Still, Cardiff Rugby was in a tough match with Zebre, which is why they aren’t higher. 

11. Emirates Lions (0-0-0)

The Lions reached the Currie Cup final this summer and narrowly lost to the Sharks. Now they host an Ulster team coming off a giant win. The Lions finished last season 9-0-9 and just outside the playoff picture. 

12. Benetton Rugby (0-1-0)

Benetton Rugby has a lot of momentum entering this season after making the playoffs and qualifying for the Champions Cup. Because of that, an opening match draw against the Scarlets, which finished 13th last season and went 5-0-13, feels like a letdown for an Italian club with high expectations this season. 

13. Scarlets Rugby (0-1-0)

One team’s letdown is another team’s positive vibe. The Scarlets got the season off on the right foot by avoiding a loss in Treviso. Now they have a Welsh Shield match against Cardiff looking to throw that shield into even more disarray. 

14. Dragons RFC (1-0-0)

The season-opening win over fellow Welsh club Ospreys was the most surprising result in the URC. The Ospreys made the URC playoffs last season and the Dragons went 3-0-15 and finished 15 out of 16 on the final table. They’ll likely have a “life comes at you fast moment” when they travel to Leinster for the Dublin URC home opener. 

15. Zebre Parma (0-0-1)

Zebre finished last in the table in 2023-2024 and started the season with a narrow loss in Cardiff Rugby. It was a positive result for Zebre that they were a try away from leaving Wales with a win. They have a challenging home opener against Munster Rugby this week. 

16. Ospreys (0-0-1)

Overreaction? Should the reigning Welsh Shield winner be here? Are the Dragons that much better than they were when the season ended last season? The result was a disaster for the Ospreys, especially knowing that the DHL Stormers are coming to Wales this week. 

URC Standings Table After Round 1

Rank

Team

Played

Won

Lost

Drawn

For

Against

Pts Differential

Bonus

Points

1

Cardiff Rugby

1

1

0

0

22

17

5

1

5

2

Munster Rugby

1

1

0

0

35

33

2

1

5

3

Leinster Rugby

1

1

0

0

33

31

2

1

5

4

Dragons RFC

1

1

0

0

23

21

2

0

4

5

Ulster Rugby

1

1

0

0

20

19

1

0

4

6

Benetton Rugby

1

0

0

1

20

20

0

0

2

7

Scarlets

1

0

0

1

20

20

-2

0

2

8

Connacht Rugby

1

0

1

0

33

35

-2

2

2

9

Edinburgh Rugby

1

0

1

0

31

33

-1

2

2

10

Glasgow Warriors

1

0

1

0

19

20

-2

1

1

11

Ospreys

1

0

1

0

21

23

-5

1

1

12

Zebre Parma

1

0

1

0

17

22

0

1

1

13

Vodacom Bulls

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

14

Emirates Lions

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

15

Hollywoodbets Sharks

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

16

DHL Stormers

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0


URC Rugby Schedule For Week 2 Fixtures

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URC Rugby Fixtures Friday, Sept. 27

URC Rugby Fixtures Saturday, Sept. 28

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