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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.
Gavin Michael Thomas is a Welsh former international rugby union player who played as a flanker. He played his club rugby for Tondu, Bridgend, Bath, the Ospreys, the Scarlets and the Newport Gwent Dragons, and was capped 24 times for Wales.
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.
Tavis Knoyle is a Wales international rugby union footballer who plays at scrum-half.
Rhys Patchell is a Wales international rugby union player. A fly-half, he currently plays for the Highlanders in Super Rugby, having previously played for the Scarlets and Cardiff Blues. Patchell represented Wales on 22 occasions between 2013 and 2023.
Cory Allen is a retired Welsh international rugby union player. A centre or wing, he played for Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys. Allen joined the Dragons in 2021, but did not feature for the side.
Judgement Day is an annual Welsh Rugby Union event that takes place at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and is part of the United Rugby Championship competition. The four regions – Cardiff Rugby, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – join with the Welsh Rugby Union in organising a double-header fixture at the Millennium Stadium. The annual derby day clash will be repeated in the foreseeable future, with the two east Wales regions taking on the two west Wales regions. In 2020, the two matches were held on consecutive days at Rodney Parade due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing a change to the format of the 2019–20 season and the Millennium Stadium being unavailable due to it being used as the Dragon's Heart Hospital.
Sio Tomkinson is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a centre for the Western Force in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. He has previously played for the Dragons RFC in the United Rugby Championship and for the Highlanders.
The 2016–17 season was the 14th season in the history of the Scarlets, a Welsh rugby union regional side based in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. In this season, they won the Pro12 playoffs after finishing third in the league, and also competed in the Rugby Champions Cup and the Anglo-Welsh Cup. It was Wales international centre Jonathan Davies' first season back at the region after leaving for Clermont Auvergne in 2014. Scarlets also signed Welsh international Rhys Patchell, South African international Werner Kruger and New Zealander Johnny McNicholl ahead of the 2016–17 season, whilst Welsh internationals Rhodri Jones and Rhodri Williams, club stalwart Phil John and New Zealand international Regan King were among the players who left.
Taine Plumtree is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for the Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship. Plumtree began his career with Wellington in the NPC, and played for the Blues in Super Rugby. Plumtree has represented Wales, making his debut on 5 August 2023.
The 2021–22 season was the 18th in the history of the Scarlets, a Welsh regional rugby union side based in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. In this season, they competed in the inaugural United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup. It was Dwayne Peel's first season as head coach of the region, following the departure of his predecessor Glenn Delaney.
The 2022–23 United Rugby Championship was the 22nd season of the professional rugby union competition United Rugby Championship. It began on 16 September 2022 and ended on 27 May 2023. For sponsorship reasons it was known in South Africa as Vodacom United Rugby Championship or Vodacom URC, while in the Northern Hemisphere it was known as the BKT United Rugby Championship or BKT URC.
References
- ↑ "MICHAEL COLLINS – THANK YOU & FAREWELL". Otago Rugby Football Union. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ↑ "Scarlets sign Otago centre Michael Collins". BBC Sport. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ↑ "Super Rugby's Blues sign ex-Scarlets back Michael Collins". BBC Sport. 16 October 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ↑ "Highlanders name Tongan hitman Zane Kapeli in 2020 Super Rugby squad". Stuff. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ↑ "Michael Collins: Ospreys sign Wales-qualified full-back from Super Rugby". BBC Sport. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ↑ "Michael Collins grabs two tries as Ospreys slay Dragons". United Rugby Championship. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ↑ "Versatile back Collins is latest Ospreys departure". BBC Sport. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ↑ "Welsh-qualified Highlanders star Michael Collins lifts the lid on his move to Ospreys". RugbyPass. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
