Only one match will play out on Friday, an all-Irish derby between Ulster and Munster in Belfast, while Saturday will see three consecutive quarter-final clashes, with the action beginning and ending in South Africa.
The Vodacom Bulls will host the league’s first play-off game on South African soil when they host the Cell C Sharks in Pretoria at 13h45, before Leinster take on the Glasgow Warriors in Dublin at 16h15 (SA Time).
The DHL Stormers and Edinburgh will wrap up the quarter-final stages in Cape Town at 19h00. The timings of each game have also made provision for the possibility of extra-time and a place-kicking competition.
Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarter-finals (SA kick-off times):
Friday, 3 June
20h35: Ulster v Munster – Kingspan Stadium, Belfast (Referee: Jaco Peyper)
Saturday, 4 June:
13h45: Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria (Referee: Andrew Brace)
16h15: Leinster v Glasgow Warriors – RDS Arena, Dublin (Referee: Andrea Piardi)
19h00: DHL Stormers v Edinburgh – DHL Stadium, Cape Town (Referee: Frank Murphy)
Play-Off pathway:
QF1: Leinster v Glasgow Warriors
QF2: DHL Stormers v Edinburgh
QF3: Ulster v Munster
QF4: Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks
Semi-final 1: Winners of QF1 play at home to winners of QF4 (Leinster/Glasgow Warriors v Vodacom Bulls/Cell C Sharks)
Semi-final 2: Winners of QF2 play at home to winners of QF3 (DHL Stormers/Edinburgh v Ulster v Munster)
Team with highest ranking from regular season league table will host Vodacom URC Grand Final.
Rankings for the Vodacom URC Final Eight were determined by each team’s placing in the league table:
- Leinster (67 points)
- DHL Stormers (61)
- Ulster (59)
- Vodacom Bulls (58)
- Cell C Sharks (57)
- Munster (56)
- Edinburgh (54)
- Glasgow Warriors (50)
