Rugby fan feast in store as Bulls, Lions combine for first-ever URC same venue double-headers

Cross-Jukskei River rivals the Bulls and Lions have combined for the first-ever United Rugby Championship (URC) same-day double-headers for their final two round-robin fixtures of the season.

In round 17, the Bulls face Zebre Parma (13:00) in a curtain-raiser for the Lions hosting Leinster (16:00). Both games will take place at Ellis Park on 15 April.

A week later for round 18, the fixtures transpose to see the Bulls match up with Leinster (16:00) at Loftus Versveld, but not before the Lions tackle Zebre (13:00) in the earlier game at the same venue.

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The initiative is part of the teams' and the competition's plan to capitalise on the growing fan attendance momentum that saw Loftus welcome more than 41 000 people for their clash with the Stormers last month. That was the record attendance for a URC game.

"The double-header events in South Africa are the first to be held in the URC outside of Wales," according to the URC, "where Judgement Day has set the standard since 2013".

Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone commended his contemporary, URC CEO Martin Anayi, for allowing the Gauteng extravaganza to take place despite it necessitating fixture changes.

"I commend Martin and the entire URC team, our sponsors and the broadcaster(s) for their unwavering support as we are always exploring ways in which we can better our offering to all of our patrons," said Rathbone.

"The spirit of the competition is one that fosters unity amongst the franchises and we are duty-bound to collaborate for the growth and betterment of our sport.

"We are buoyant that this double-header will add value for the money South Africans spend around gamedays and,