The new season of the United Rugby Championship will kick off with a west Wales derby, as the Scarlets welcome the Ospreys to Llanelli on the opening weekend.
The two sides will also face each other in the Christmas derby, with the league reverting to the traditional west and east match-ups, while the four Welsh professional sides are all due to travel to South Africa for two rounds of games at the end of November and early December. All TV details and kick-off times are set to be confirmed next week.
However, the first of those weekends will clash with Wales' final autumn match against Australia - which is being played outside World Rugby's international window - so clubs' preparations will likely be hindered for the trip to the Rainbow Nation.
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The South African sides will sit out the opening week of the URC when the season kicks off in September, with the four teams playing their first matches of the season the following week. They will then catch up on that missed fixture during the first week of the Six Nations in February, when the other 12 sides will not be in action.
"The diversity of our league we so proudly celebrate is also a reason for the immense complexity of putting together our season two fixtures," said URC chief executive Martin Anayi. "This is a monumental task, and it takes many stakeholders many long hours dedicated to making this the best club rugby championship in the world.
"We have to consider a variety of factors across our 16 clubs and five territories, but we believe that our season schedule will give our fans the best rugby week in and week out. My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who has worked tirelessly to put together a blockbuster fixture list right from round one.
"We have seen the success of our tournament format culminating in the grandest of grand finals last season and we look forward to going on this journey with our fans and with our stakeholders to another successful year of world-class rugby in action."
United Rugby Championship schedule 2022/23
Round one
September 16/17/18
Benetton v Glasgow
Cardiff v Munster
Zebre v Leinster
Scarlets v Ospreys
Edinburgh v Dragons
Ulster v Connacht
February 3/4
Stormers v Sharks
Lions v Bulls
Round two
September 23/24/25
Zebre v Sharks
Glasgow v Cardiff
Leinster v Benetton
Scarlets v Ulster
Bulls v Edinburgh
Stormers v Connacht
Ospreys v Lions
Dragons v Munster
Round three
September 30/October 1/2
Cardiff v Lions
Ulster v Leinster
Stormers v Edinburgh
Bulls v Connacht
Ospreys v Glasgow
Munster v Zebre
Benetton v Scarlets
Dragons v Sharks
Round four
October 7/8/9
Connacht v Munster
Edinburgh v Lions
Zebre v Stormers
Leinster v Sharks
Scarlets v Cardiff
Glasgow v Bulls
Ulster v Ospreys
Benetton v Dragons
Round five
October 14/15/16
Ospreys v Stormers
Munster v Bulls
Lions v Ulster
Sharks v Glasgow
Edinburgh v Benetton
Cardiff v Dragons
Scarlets v Zebre,
Connacht v Leinster
Round six
October 21/22/23
Benetton v Bulls
Connacht v Scarlets
Zebre v Edinburgh
Lions v Glasgow
Sharks v Ulster
Cardiff v Stormers
Leinster v Munster
Dragons v Ospreys
Round seven
October 28/29/30
Scarlets v Leinster
Glasgow v Benetton
Munster v Ulster
Dragons v Zebre
Ospreys v Connacht
Cardiff v Edinburgh
February 10/11
Bulls v Sharks
Lions v Stormers
Round eight
November 25/26/27
Stormers v Scarlets
Ulster v Zebre
Bulls v Ospreys
Benetton v Edinburgh
Leinster v Glasgow
Munster v Connacht
Lions v Dragons
Sharks v Cardiff
Round nine
December 2/3/4
Sharks v Ospreys
Edinburgh v Munster
Stormers v Dragons
Zebre v Glasgow
Connacht v Benetton.
Bulls v Cardiff
Leinster v Ulster
Lions v Scarlets
Round 10
December 23/24/26
Sharks v Lions
Stormers v Bulls
Glasgow v Edinburgh
Benetton v Zebre
Connacht v Ulster
Ospreys v Scarlets
Munster v Leinster
Dragons v Cardiff
Round 11
December 31/January 1
Edinburgh v Glasgow
Zebre v Benetton
Sharks v Bulls
Stormers v Lions
Cardiff v Ospreys
Scarlets v Dragons
Ulster v Munster
Leinster v Connacht
Round 12
January 6/7/8
Munster v Lions
Dragons v Bulls
Benetton v Ulster
Glasgow v Stormers
Cardiff v Scarlets
Connacht v Sharks
Ospreys v Leinster
Edinburgh v Zebre
Round 13
January 27/28/29
Ulster v Stormers
Scarlets v Bulls
Benetton v Munster
Dragons v Glasgow
Leinster v Cardiff
Edinburgh v Sharks
Connacht v Lions
Zebre v Ospreys
Round 14
February 17/18/19
Glasgow v Ulster
Munster v Ospreys
Lions v Sharks
Bulls v Stormers
Zebre v Connacht
Scarlets v Edinburgh
Cardiff v Benetton
Leinster v Dragons
Round 15
March 3/4/5
Glasgow v Zebre
Munster v Scarlets
Bulls v Lions
Sharks v Stormers
Edinburgh v Leinster
Ospreys v Benetton
Cardiff v Ulster
Dragons v Connacht
Round 16
March 24/25/26
Zebre v Cardiff
Leinster v Stormers
Benetton v Lions
Ospreys v Dragons
Connacht v Edinburgh
Munster v Glasgow
Scarlets v Sharks
Ulster v Bulls
Round 17
April 14/15/16
Sharks v Benetton
Glasgow v Scarlets
Ulster v Dragons
Lions v Leinster
Bulls v Zebre
Stormers v Munster
Connacht v Cardiff
Edinburgh v Ospreys
Round 18
April 21/22/23
Stormers v Benetton
Ulster v Edinburgh
Lions v Zebre
Dragons v Scarlets
Bulls v Leinster
Ospreys v Cardiff
Sharks v Munster
Glasgow v Connacht
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