Pro 14 - General Thread

[LeRouxIsPHat]

benefits of being a pilot?

Very good

[cormac]

Just watched the full 80 minutes of the Edinburgh v Glasgow match. The only interesting thing about the game was that there was a small crowd of 700 allowed in. Edinburgh were awful, Glasgow marginally better, winning 15-3.

Commentator said that Edinburgh v Ulster is next Saturday.

[Theleinsterlad]

So the 4 super rugby SA teams are looking to now join the PRO14. That should make it a tougher competition and carry more weight

[blockhead]

So the 4 super rugby SA teams are looking to now join the PRO14. That should make it a tougher competition and carry more weight

Great if it does happen. You'd imagine that all 4 would have near to perfect home records each season.
The pressure would be on also to include them in the Heino.

[Ruckedtobits]

So the 4 super rugby SA teams are looking to now join the PRO14. That should make it a tougher competition and carry more weight

Great if it does happen. You'd imagine that all 4 would have near to perfect home records each season.
The pressure would be on also to include them in the Heino.

Heinekan Cup is their real target, from both economic and rugby perspectives. The prospect of a regular flow of highly attractive fixtures against top European teams annually in the four strongest SA franchises will drive TV contract values and provide a rugby competitive environment which will secure SA rugby at much lower cost that the Super Rugby cost base. Ultimately, the propect of tapping into European Rugby coffers is the potential "pot of gold" for SA rugby bosses.

[Laighin Break]

Maith sibh Pro14:
https://www.pro14.rugby/latest/match-pr ... r-deireadh

[Dave Cahill]

Interesting watching a South African show previewing the Leinster Munster game from a betting perspective (which I know next to nothing about) - the hosts commented how nice it was to be able to watch a top class rugby game on a friday without having to get up at 5am.

[blockhead]

Scarlets Chairman Simon Muderack says that CVC are looking to bundle together the TV rights for Prem, Pro14 and Heino/challenge cup

[FLIP]

Scarlets Chairman Simon Muderack says that CVC are looking to bundle together the TV rights for Prem, Pro14 and Heino/challenge cup

A surprisingly sensible move... As long as there is some FTA access, be it a highlights show at the very least.

[ronk]

Scarlets Chairman Simon Muderack says that CVC are looking to bundle together the TV rights for Prem, Pro14 and Heino/challenge cup

A surprisingly sensible move... As long as there is some FTA access, be it a highlights show at the very least.

Because bundling Prem and HC was such a success....

[FLIP]

Scarlets Chairman Simon Muderack says that CVC are looking to bundle together the TV rights for Prem, Pro14 and Heino/challenge cup

A surprisingly sensible move... As long as there is some FTA access, be it a highlights show at the very least.

Because bundling Prem and HC was such a success....

They aren't bundled currently in the UK. They used to both be on Sky and helped fund the English glory years Internationally and in Europe. Now it's the same as in Ireland. Some here, some there, different subscriptions required.

[FLIP]

A surprisingly sensible move... As long as there is some FTA access, be it a highlights show at the very least.

Because bundling Prem and HC was such a success....

They aren't bundled currently in the UK. They used to both be on Sky and helped fund the English glory years Internationally and in Europe. Now it's the same as in Ireland. Some here, some there, different subscriptions required.

Actually just checked this and it is now bt and FTA for prem and HC. But the failure this time is more to do with BT not having to pay as much this time to convince the English sides to abandon the ERC

[blockhead]

PRO14 DREAM TEAM
15 Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby)
14 Monty Ioane (Benetton Rugby)
13 Rey Lee-Lo (Cardiff Blues)
12 Stuart McCloskey (Ulster)
11 Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh)
10 Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh)
9 John Cooney (Ulster)
1 Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh)
2 Joseph Dweba (Toyota Cheetahs)
3 Leon Brown (Dragons)
4 Scott Fardy (Leinster)
5 Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh)
6 Max Deegan (Leinster)
7 Will Connors (Leinster)
8 Bill Mata (Edinburgh)

3 of ours, thats more than usual.

Exciting team

[OTT]

Understandable that Edinburgh had 6 players on the team, not easy to go through the entire season unbeaten

Dooley, Keenan, Josh Murphy, JGP or Benty clearly are not big enough names to make the team but they have anchored our Pro 14 season to a unique place so far. Cheers lads.

[ronk]

Only 2 Welsh players. None from Connacht or Munster.

Can’t really argue as between RWC and everything else we rotated a lot in the back line and elsewhere and there were some decent candidates elsewhere.

[blockhead]

Caelan Doris has scooped the Next-Gen Star of the Pro14 Season

[Ruckedtobits]

Some extraordinary selections in that lot. Even for headlines, that selection is candy-floss.

[Morf]

There's generally an appearance minimum for the dream team which precludes many Leinster players who are rotated more heavily.

That and it's designed to not be dominated by an Irish team top of the league.

[blockhead]

There's generally an appearance minimum for the dream team which precludes many Leinster players who are rotated more heavily.

That and it's designed to not be dominated by an Irish team top of the league.

That's the thing. It's not, "Who is the best 15 in the League?" its, "Who were the best performers in the League this season?"

[dropkick]

One good thing about the SA potentially coming on board is it will make the Welsh less relevant. Just the other day I heard some welsh commentators talking about how the Aviva premiership is "miles better" and others asking if Nick Tomkins will be as good now that he's playing in a lower standard league. At this stage they're just making things up as they go along. Even if the standard is lower, at least get behind your own league or at least stop knocking it.


At the end of the day they're doing most harm to themselves but they're a loose cannon in some ways. Thats a good reason for the IRFU/pro14 to have closer ties with more countries like Italy and SA.


The irony about the Welsh talking about the standard of the pro14 is their players get harder matches coming up against Irish sides than vice versa. Tomkins played the other week against Leinster. I'm not sure exactly how good the 4 big SA teams are but they should definitely raise the overall standard which will be good for Irish rugby.