Emirates Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen expressed delight over the latest rescheduling of fixtures announced by the United Rugby Championship (URC).

New changes will see postponed fixtures from Round 6 and Round 7 due to take place in South Africa be moved to the weekends of March 11/12 and March 18/19. This means the Johannesburg-based side will face Cardiff Rugby and Munster respectively on the above-mentioned dates.

In addition, the team will travel away to face Irish outfit Leinster on 25 February as part of the rescheduling of fixtures.

“We obviously quite pleased with the latest announcement by the URC as it gives us an opportunity to get stuck in and play rugby again,” said van Rooyen.

“Having played five away games in the tournament thus far, we look forward to finally fronting up against local and European opposition with the majority of those games at Emirates Airline Park,” he added.

Van Rooyen says he looks forward to the excitement factor ahead of the series of local derbies commencing on 22 January 2022.

“I believe there’ll be an urge to play attacking rugby come local derbies time,” predicts van Rooyen.

“The emphasis on set piece play and physicality are some of the key features of our local derbies. These fixtures always seem to carry a bit of spice, coupled with bragging rights as all four home franchises are keen to make an impression in this tournament”.

Van Rooyen believes his side won’t be short of motivation upon their return and will be raring to go with their preparations.

“I reckon the guys will be motivated by the revised schedule. It’s an opportunity to build on our last performance in the competition before the break which we were pretty pleased about.”

“We will have a little over three weeks to prepare upon our return to training,” he concluded.

The Emirates Lions take on the Cell C Sharks in Round 8 of the VURC at Emirates Airline Park on 22 January.

RSA DERBIES ????#URC | #URCFixtures pic.twitter.com/d6FgthD6k8

— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) December 20, 2021

Revised Vodacom United Rugby Fixtures: 

R8 (SA Derbies) – Saturday, January 22

Emirates Lions v Cell C Sharks | 13:00 UK / 14:00 ITA / 15:00 SA | Super Sport, Premier Sports

Saturday, January 29

Emirates Lions v Vodacom Bulls | 13.00 UK / 14.00 ITA / 15.00 SA | Super Sport, Premier Sports

R12 (SA Derbies) – Saturday, February 12

Emirates Lions v DHL Stormers | 13.00 UK / 14.00 ITA / 15.00 SA | Super Sport, Premier Sports

R10 (Rescheduled) – Friday, February 25

Leinster v Emirates Lions | 19:35 UK / 20:35 ITA / 21 :35 SA | TG4, Super Sport, Premier Sports

R6 (Rescheduled) – Weekend of March 11/12/13

Emirates Lions v Cardiff | TBC | Super Sport, S4C, Premier Sports

R7 (Rescheduled) – Weekend of March 18/19/20

Emirates Lions v Munster | TBC | Super Sport, RTE, Premier Sports

R14 – Friday, March 25

Emirates Lions v Ospreys | 17.00 UK / 18.00 ITA / 19.00 SA | Super Sport, BBC Wales, Premier Sports

Saturday, April 2

Emirates Lions v Edinburgh | 15.05 UK / 16.05 ITA & SA | Super Sport, Premier Sports

R13 (SA Derbies) – Saturday, April 9

Cell C Sharks v Emirates Lions | 15 :05 UK / 16 :05 ITA & SA | Super Sport, Premier Sport

Saturday, April 23

Emirates Lions v Connacht | 15.05 UK / 16.05 ITA & SA | SuperSport, RTÉ 2, Premier Sports

Saturday, April 30

Emirates Lions v Benetton | 13.00 UK / 14.00 ITA & SA | Super Sport, Mediaset, Premier Sports

R18 – Weekend of May 20/21/22 (To Be Confirmed in January 2022)

Dragons v Emirates Lions | TBC