**Friday’s [United Rugby Championship fixture announcement](http://www.unitedrugby.com/latest/news/urc-fixtures-202122) ramped up the anticipation ahead of the inaugural season of the competition.** With all teams now knowing how their season will unfold, they can begin plotting a path to the play-offs. Will Leinster carry over their domination of recent seasons into the URC? Will the first champions come from the South African Conference? Or can Benetton follow up their remarkable triumph in the Rainbow Cup? Here, we take a look at some key dates on the URC calendar.