Every year, the URC calendar includes a Unity Round whose aim is to promote inclusion in sport, with the mantra that rugby is ‘Everyone’s Game’.
This year’s Unity Round, consisting of eight matches over the weekend of Friday 8th to Sunday 11th October, was a LGBTQ+ pride themed round in support of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces Campaign.
Stonewall, Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ charity, turns 35 in 2024. Over the last 11 years, its Rainbow Laces campaign has seen more than a million sportspeople lacing up in support of LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport, fitness and physical activity.
As well as laces, BKT URC branding for the weekend incorporated the rainbow progress flag and the assistant referees flags were also rebranded. The message was clear: every person, including those in the LGBTQ+ community, should feel welcome at URC games and events.
As always, the weekend delivered in terms of exciting, frequently nail-biting action on the pitch. The pick of the games was probably the north v south clash in Belfast which saw Ulster Rugby triumphing 32-27 over Connacht Rugby. This continued the pattern of the previous four meetings between the two sides being settled by a single score.
Perhaps most gratifying of all though was the astonishing 80,468 crowd that turned out at Dublin’s Croke Park to see Leinster Rugby record a 26-12 victory over arch-rivals Munster Rugby. That attendance, a URC record, was a fitting way to mark this year’s Unity Round, spreading the message far and wide that rugby is, indeed, ‘Everyone’s Game’.
