The top level of competition in the Welsh rugby union system is the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

(formerly the Celtic League, PRO12 and PRO14) which is a league of professional teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa. Wales currently has four entries in the URC:

Cardiff Rugby Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arm ...

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

and

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

United Rugby Championship

This is a closed league with no promotion or relegation; teams are effectively franchises. The teams also compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) and the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

United Rugby Championship

2021-22 league system

2013-14 league system

See also