There’s a case to be made that no United Rugby Championship club has performed better since the league went to its current format in 2021 than Munster Rugby. 

The club has lived among the top five teams in the URC table, won a URC championship in 2023 and was the best team of the 2023-2024 regular season. 

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Meanwhile, it’s rather easy to point to Zebre Parma as being the worst team over that time. 

For starters, the club didn’t win a match in 2022-2023 and had just two URC wins since entering this season since 2021.

This is why it’s not hyperbole to say the Round 2 loss by Munster to Zebre Parma at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Italy just may be the biggest upset in URC history. If it not the biggest upset, it’s certainly the most shocking result. 

Munster Rugby was our No. 1 team in the power poll after Round 1, and perhaps its narrow win over Connacht Rugby at home was a warning sign. But still, Zebre was 1-1-16 last season, 0-0-18 the year before and 1-0-17 in the first season of what is now the URC. 

To say you saw that Munster Rugby loss coming, even with all the international roster issues and injuries, would have been hard to believe. 

And, of course, it means there’s a new No. 1. 

Here is the FloRugby URC Power Poll after Round 2:

1. Leinster Rugby (2-0-0)

• Last week: No. 3
• Round 2: Leinster Rugby 34, Dragons RFC 6
• Round 3: Benetton Rugby vs. Leinster Rugby

In Round 1, Leinster Rugby won a close match against Edinburgh Rugby and picked up bonus points in the process. 

Leinster picked up more bonus points in a drubbing of a then-undefeated Dragons RFC club at Aviva Stadium in Round 2. 

Leinster Rugby will only get stronger as the season progresses and more Irish nationals return to the club. 

2. Glasgow Warriors (1-0-1)

• Last week: No. 2
• Round 2: Glasgow Warriors 42, Benetton Rugby 10
• Round 3: Cardiff Rugby vs. Glasgow Warriors

The match of the week in Round 3 just may be Cardiff Rugby vs. Glasgow. 

The Warriors lost a heartbreaker to Ulster Rugby, but we didn’t drop the defending champions that much. And after a huge win over Benetton back in Scotland, it was the right choice. 

While the Round 3 match against Cardiff Rugby will be about Cardiff, the Warriors don’t want to drop to 1-0-2 on the season. 

3. Vodacom Bulls (1-0-0)

• Last week: No. 4
• Round 2: Vodacom Bulls 22, Edinburgh Rugby 16
• Round 3: Vodacom Bulls vs. Ulster Rugby 

The South Africa shield split its first four games in Round 2, and it probably reflects the impact of the Rugby Championship and Currie Cup seasons have had on the early rosters. But the Bulls beat a tough Edinburgh team that nearly beat Leinster Rugby the week before. 

They move up a spot in the rankings and will have another tough match against Ulster Rugby, which beat the Glasgow Warriors in Round 1. 

4. Connacht Rugby (1-0-1)

• Last week: No. 8
• Round 2: Connacht Rugby 36, Hollywoodbets Sharks 30
• Round 3: Scarlets vs. Connacht Rugby

Buy Connacht Rugby stock now. 

One of the biggest risers in the rankings, the Westerners nearly beat Munster in Round 1 and then beat the Hollywoodbets Sharks at home. 

The club also got superstar Bundee Aki back this week. Aki suffered a knee injury in Ireland’s first summer test match and has been sidelined, but he’s expected to play this week. 

5. Cardiff Rugby (2-0-0)

• Last week: No. 10
• Round 2: Cardiff Rugby 24, Scarlets 15
• Round 3: Cardiff Rugby vs. Glasgow Warriors

Cardiff’s win over Zebre Parma looks good now, and the team followed it up with a 24-15 win over the Scarlets. 

Now comes the real test in the defending URC champions, the Glasgow Warriors. Cardiff, which finished 12th on the table last year, is one of two teams currently sitting at 2-0-0 on the season. 

6. Emirates Lions (1-0-0)

• Last week: No. 11
• Round 2: Emirates Lions 35, Ulster Rugby 22
• Round 3: Emirates Lions vs. Edinburgh Rugby

The lowest-ranked team among the South African shield a week ago, the Lions leap frog to No. 6 this week. 

Ulster came to South Africa after one of the biggest wins of Round 1 and left with a 13-point loss. The Lions have a had a strong summer and will get the hard-luck 0-0-2 Edinburgh team this week. 

7. Zebre Parma (1-0-0)

• Last Week: No. 15
• Round 2: Zebre Parma 42, Munster Rugby 33
• Round 3: Zebre Parma vs. DHL Stormers

Zebre has a real chance to win back-to-back matches in URC play for the first time this week. 

The Stormers are ravaged by roster quagmires and probably won’t have the South African national players back this week. 

Back-to-back wins in the URC is one thing. Back-to-back wins over the 2022 URC champion and the 2023 URC champion, and two of the best professional clubs over the last decade, is another thing. 

Zebre was the biggest climber after beating last week’s No. 1 team.

8. Ospreys (1-0-1)

• Last week: No. 16
• Round 2: Ospreys 37, DHL Stormers 24
• Round 3: Munster Rugby vs. Ospreys

We dropped the Ospreys to No. 16 after a faceplant against Dragons RFC in Round 1, but then they beat the DHL Stormers, who we think will make the postseason rather easily, in Round 2. 

A win in Ireland against an angry Munster club would put the playoff club from last year back on track. 

9. Munster Rugby (1-0-1)

• Last week: No. 1
• Round 2: Zebre Parma 42, Munster Rugby 33
• Round 3: Munster Rugby vs. Ospreys 

It’s quite the tumble for Munster Rugby, but a loss to Zebre Parma will do that. 

Munster also nearly lost to a Connacht team that was missing Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham in Round 1. 

No one thinks Munster Rugby is going to last long outside of the playoff picture, and the Red Army can pick up a big win over a team that entered the season as the favorite in the Welsh Shield. 

10. Ulster Rugby (1-0-1)

• Last week: No. 5
• Round 2: Emirates Lions 35, Ulster Rugby 22
• Round 3: Round 3: Vodacom Bulls vs. Ulster Rugby

Perhaps dropping Ulster this low is unfair considering the issues many European teams have traveling to South Africa during the season, combined with the Irish international players being limited in these early rounds. But Ulster Rugby lost rather comfortably to the Lions. They have a tough match against the Bulls this week. 

11. Edinburgh Rugby (0-0-2)

• Last week: No. 9
• Round 2: Vodacom Bulls 22, Edinburgh Rugby 16
• Round 3: Emirates Lions vs. Edinburgh Rugby 

Edinburgh Rugby is better than its record, and an 0-0-2 season start will happen to most teams that begin the season against Leinster Rugby and the Vodacom Bulls. 

This makes their match against the Emirates Lions a big one for a club spending its second straight week in South Africa. 

12. Hollywoodbets Sharks (0-0-1)

• Last week: No. 7
• Round 2: Connacht Rugby 36, Hollywoodbets Sharks 30
• Round 3: Dragons RFC vs. Hollywoodbets Sharks

The Sharks will get better as the season goes on and the superstar Springboks rejoin the roster. 

Losing to a Connacht team we think will be good isn’t a troublesome sign. And while the Dragons beat the Ospreys in Round 1, they were crushed by the Leinster (though they played them very close in the first half). 

13. Benetton Rugby (0-1-1)

• Last week: No. 12
• Round 2: Glasgow Warriors 42, Benetton Rugby 10
• Round 3: Benetton Rugby vs. Leinster Rugby 

Benetton Rugby was blasted in Scotland in Round 2 after a rather frustrating draw to the Scarlets in Round 1. 

The surprise club of 2023-2024 is off to a rocky start, and to make matters worse, Benetton hosts No. 1 Leinster Rugby this week. 

14. Dragons RFC (1-0-1)

• Last week: No. 14
• Round 2: Leinster Rugby 34, Dragons RFC 6
• Round 3: Dragons RFC vs. Hollywoodbets Sharks

The Dragons won three matches last season and actually do have a golden opportunity to win their second game by Round 3 this week. 

The Sharks lost to Connacht in close match, but the Dragons catch the Sharks at the right time, with the Springboks stars likely not joining the team in full yet. 

15. Scarlets (0-1-1)

• Last week: No. 13
• Round 2: Cardiff Rugby 24, Scarlets 15
• Round 3: Scarlets vs. Connacht Rugby

The Scarlets tied with Benetton, and it felt like a big win for the club that went 5-0-13 the year before and finished 13th. But the loss to Cardiff Rugby brings them down entering Round 3, and they now travel to Connacht Rugby. 

16. DHL Stormers (0-0-1)

• Last week: No. 6
• Round 2: Ospreys 37, DHL Stormers 24
• Round 3: Zebre Parma vs. DHL Stormers

The biggest faller of the rankings, we dropped the Stormers here because they were handedly beaten by the Ospreys, who were coming off a stunning loss to the Dragons RFC in Round 1. We had the Ospreys at No. 16 here a week ago. 

The Stormers didn’t play in Round 1, and the roster still is missing its best players due to the international season and injury recovery. 

I expect the Stormers to bounce back, but Zebre Parma is getting the Stormers at the right time and getting them at home. If Parma can beat Munster at home, they certainly can knock off the Stormers. 

URC Standings Table After Round 2

URC Rugby Schedule For Week 3 Fixtures

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URC Rugby Fixtures Friday, Oct. 4

• 2:35 p.m. ET - Scarlets vs Connacht
• 2:35 p.m. ET - Cardiff vs Glasgow Warriors

URC Rugby Fixtures Saturday, Oct. 5

• 7:45 a.m. ET - Lions vs Edinburgh
• 10:00 a.m. ET - Vodacom Bulls vs Ulster
• 12:15 p.m. ET - Dragons vs Sharks
• 12:15 p.m. ET - Benetton vs Leinster
• 2:35 p.m. ET - Zebre Parma vs DHL Stormers
• 2:35 p.m. ET - Munster vs Ospreys

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