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.
The Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. The club was originally named the Llanelli Scarlets but was renamed at the start of the 2008–09 rugby season.
Dragons RFC are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They have been owned by Dragons RFC Ltd since 2023, having been solely owned by the Welsh Rugby Union from 2017 to 2023 and jointly owned by the WRU and Newport RFC between 2004 and 2017. Dragons play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport, which was the home of Newport RFC from 1877 to 2017, and is shared with Newport County AFC, the city's English Football League team. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup/European Rugby Challenge Cup. The region they represent covers an area of southeast Wales including Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen with a total population approaching 600,000 and they are affiliated with a number of semi-professional and amateur clubs throughout the area, including Pontypool RFC, Caerphilly RFC, Cross Keys RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC and Newport RFC.
Kenneth James Owens is a former Welsh rugby union player who played as a hooker for the Scarlets and Wales. He made his debut for the Scarlets in 2006, taking over from Matthew Rees as their first-choice hooker upon Rees' departure for the Cardiff Blues in 2013. He also served as backup to Rees, among others, for Wales following his debut against Namibia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In 2016, he took over as Wales' first-choice hooker, and in January 2023, following almost a year out with a back injury, he was named as captain for the 2023 Six Nations Championship.
Jordan Rhys Williams is a Welsh rugby union footballer who plays for the Dragons. His regular position is at full-back, but he has also played at fly-half and on the wing. He began his career with amateur side New Dock Stars RFC, before being signed by Llanelli RFC and ultimately breaking into the Scarlets regional side. However, he struggled to find playing time with the Scarlets and moved to Bristol in 2016, only to return to Wales with the Dragons two years later. He has also played internationally for Wales at under-16, under-18 and under-20 level, as well as for the Wales Sevens team.
Rhodri Williams is a Wales international rugby union player. A scrum-half, he plays his club rugby for the Dragons, having previously played for Scarlets and Bristol Bears
Sammy Arnold is an English rugby union player for English club Newcastle Falcons. He plays as a centre.
Wyn Jones is a Welsh rugby union player who plays prop for Harlequins.
Joshua Huw Adams is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a wing for United Rugby Championship club Cardiff and the Wales national team.
Tadhg Gerard Beirne is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a lock for United Rugby Championship club Munster, where he is the club captain, and the Ireland national team.
Leon Michael Brown is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for United Rugby Championship club Dragons and the Wales national team.
William Michael Colin Rowlands is a professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for Top 14 club Racing 92. Born in England, he represents Wales at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.
The 2018–19 Pro14 is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the Pro14.
Kieran Richard Hardy is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for United Rugby Championship club Ospreys and the Wales national team.
Rio Dyer is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a wing for United Rugby Championship club Dragons and the Wales national team.
The 2019–20 PRO14 was the nineteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the third season to be referred to as the PRO14.
Jack O'Sullivan is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a flanker or number eight for United Rugby Championship club Munster.
Jac Morgan is a Welsh rugby union player, who plays in the backrow for the Ospreys and Wales. He is the current captain of the Wales national rugby union team.
Iestyn Rees is a German-born Welsh rugby union player, currently playing for Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup side Scarlets. His preferred position is flanker.
The 2019–20 season was Ulster's 26th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and Dan McFarland's second season as head coach. Lock Iain Henderson was named captain in place of retired hooker Rory Best. They competed in the Pro14 and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Both competitions were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, he later stages being played in August, September and October 2020. In the Pro14, Ulster finished second in Conference A, making the playoffs and qualifying for next season's Champions Cup. They beat Edinburgh in the semi-final, but lost to Leinster in the final. They finished second in Pool 3 in the Champions Cup, qualifying for the quarter-finals, where they were beaten by Toulouse.
