URC trial adds new twist to hotly-debated Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tactic

The United Rugby Championship (URC) has decided to bring forward the deadline for team announcements in the upcoming 2026/27 season to 14:00pm (UK time) on Thursday.

“Rather than Friday and Saturday teams being announced on separate days, all 16 teams will now work to a coordinated Thursday announcement time. For Friday fixtures, the timing remains largely unchanged, while teams playing on Saturdays and Sundays will generally be announced around 48 hours before kick-off rather than 24 hours,” the URC said in a statement.

Previously, this might have seen as a minor, inconsequential change, but the protocol around team announcements was hotly debated during the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series (RGRS) between South Africa and New Zealand.

Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus shook things up ahead of the second Test against the All Blacks in Cape Town by naming his team as usual on Monday, only to then make a series of changes as the week progressed, right up until an hour before kick-off.

As the series was not a World Rugby-run competition nor overseen by SANZAAR, it enabled Erasmus to break with convention and ignore the normal Test match practice of naming teams at least 48 hours before kick-off, with changes only allowed due to injury.

Citing a change in the weather conditions, Erasmus changed his whole front row around, benching Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw, and starting with his original replacements, Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie and Thomas Du Toit, instead.

The previous week he pushed back his team announcement three days, in what he said was a mark of respect for the All Blacks.

“It’s out of respect for New Zealand, knowing how tough this one is going to be. For this one especially, the less time they have to prepare for our team, the better,” Erasmus said at the time.

While Erasmus’ tinkering could be classed as a tactical ploy, the URC’s motivation behind the deadline change is to get more eyes on the league.

URC bosses hope that the trial will help create a longer window for media outlets, such as broadcast partner Premier Sports, to build up storylines around the matches and increase the hype, while also helping the 16 participating clubs to shift tickets.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

1

Draws

0

Wins

4

Average Points scored

21

33

First try wins

100%

Home team wins

80%

The 2026/27 URC season gets underway next Friday, 25 September, with games between Connacht and Stormers, Benetton and Dragons and Ulster and Edinburgh.

Champions Leinster start their title defence the following day in Johannesburg, against the Lions, in the first of five games on Saturday.

In the remaining fixtures, the Sharks are at home to the Ospreys, Munster entertain Glasgow in arguably the pick of the matches, Zebre take on the Bulls, before an all-Welsh derby between Scarlets and Cardiff brings round one to a close.