After a disappointing 2024/25 campaign, attention amongst Connacht rugby supporters has already been switched to the new season as details of the provincial side’s fixtures have been released.
Some of Connacht’s finest may be currently more focussed on the Lions tour to Australia, with Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham all on duty, while others are on respective international tours. But certainly those players will have had their attention piqued by the recent release of the fixtures for the 2025/25 United Rugby Championship (URC) as well as details emerging for the upcoming European Challenge Cup, for which Connacht qualified after finishing a disappointing 13th in the URC standings last time out.
Indeed, the most recently completed campaign was not one of the province’s finest. That 13th place finish, with six wins and 12 losses from the club’s 18 matches was somewhat underwhelmingly complemented by an agonising quarter-final defeat in the Challenge Cup at the hands of French side Racing 92. But as all supporters know, recent events have a habit of being quickly forgotten when a new campaign features on the horizon. Certainly fans are starting to talk up the team’s chances, while the top Irish sports betting and casino sites are also getting behind the province with odds more reflective of a competitive campaign. Here’s what is in store.
The 2025/26 URC campaign
Connacht kick off their 2025/26 season with a home game against Benetton Rugby, scheduled for the Dexcom Stadium on 27th September. The first of the all-Irish match-ups will occur when the side travel south to take on Munster at Thomond Park on 25th October. The first home game featuring a fellow Irish side will take place when Aki and company take on Ulster at the Dexcom Stadium on the 27th December. There will certainly be a festive mood in the air for that one.
Two games against 2025 Champions Leinster will take place in the first month of the new year, with an away game on 3rd January quickly followed up by a home game on 24th January. Munster will be welcomed later on in the season as the two sides go head to head on 9th May.
For anyone fancying a trip down to the Southern Hemisphere, Connacht have a double-header in South Africa against the Stormers and Lions in April, taking on the former on 18th April and the latter a week later. The final game of the regular season will see Stuart Lancaster’s side face Edinburgh in Scotland, hoping that their presence in the knockout stages is already secure.
2025/26 EPCR Challenge Cup
Skipper Cian Prendergast and his teammates will also be looking to avenge their heartbreaking quarter-final defeat in the European Challenge Cup this time round as the club once again take their place in the competition, joining the likes of Ulster, Cardiff and Ospreys from the URC in the tournament. There will be some big boys from France and England joining in the shape of the likes of Lyon, Stade Francais, Exeter Chiefs and Newcastle Falcons, as well as invited sides Black Lion from Georgia and South Africa’s Cheetahs. Last campaign’s nemesis, Racing 92, will also take their place in the draw as 18 teams battle it out to get to the final which will be held in the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, famously the home stadium of football side Athletic Bilbao, and the host venue for the 2025 Europa League soccer final which saw Tottenham Hotspur defeat Manchester United. Round one of this particular competition will take place in early December, while the quarter-final and semi-finals stages are slated for April and May respectively.
All in all it’s a pretty hectic schedule for the Galway-based side, but one supporters, players and staff will be looking forward to nonetheless. There will be plenty of rocking evenings at the newly developed Dexcom Stadium, that’s for sure, and support for the province will be as vociferous as ever.
