The remaining four places went then go to the highest ranked teams in the main table (who haven't already qualified).

A similar format was used to determine playoff contenders in the Super Rugby competition.

[3] Location of South African teams: The Regional Shield pools of the regular season are the primary mechanism by which teams qualify for European competition, with the 'Shield winner' of each regional pool guaranteed qualification for the European Rugby Champions Cup, ensuring at least one South African, one Welsh and one Irish side qualify for the premier European competition.

The remaining four places will be awarded to those with the four best overall regular season records, regardless of which pool they take part in.

(S) : winner of the Regional Shield and qualified for the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup; The play-off draw was seeded by final finishing position in the regular season table The first United Rugby Championship Final was an all-South African derby, ensuring the first ever South African winner of the tournament, the Bulls having narrowly missed out on winning the transitional Pro14 Rainbow Cup competition.

[108] The 2021–22 United Rugby Championship Dream team is:[111] The 2021–22 URC award winners were:[112] Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps.