Pro14 structure

dobby wrote:

connemara man wrote: We'll still play them Dobby we just don't know if it'll be home or away.

The teams listed above we will play home and away

I know the deal Connemara Man. I would rather play the teams I suggest twice rather than the teams Mark/Pinky suggest. That is what I am saying

My big fat guess is the delay is around European qualification. I think the pro14 is nailled on for this coming season but the Euro crowd are slowing things up on whether the S.A. team will qualify or not

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Video explains it all very well. Top 3 in each conference qualify for knockouts. Best 4th team qualifies for Champions cup. South Africans excluded from Champions cup. Conferences change each year.

YEEEEEEEEEEES we have the easiest pool! Makes my day

Conference A
Munster (IRFU)
Ospreys (WRU)
Glasgow Warriors (SRU)
Cardiff Blues (WRU)
Connacht (IRFU)
Zebre Rugby Club (FIR)
Toyota Cheetahs (SA Rugby)

Conference B
Scarlets (WRU)
Leinster (IRFU)
Ulster (IRFU)
Edinburgh (SRU)
Benetton Rugby (FIR)
Dragons (WRU)
Southern Kings (SA Rugby)

Fixtures:
Connacht will play:
Munster (Home and Away)
Ospreys (Home and Away)
Glasgow Warriors (Home and Away)
Cardiff Blues (Home and Away)
Zebre Rugby Club (Home and Away)
Toyota Cheetahs (Home and Away)
Scarlets (Home or Away)
Leinster (Home and Away)
Ulster (Home and Away)
Edinburgh (Home or Away)
Benetton Rugby (Home or Away)
Dragons (Home or Away)
Southern Kings (Home or Away)

Total: 21 games
Either 11 home and 10 away
OR
10 Home and 11 Away

End of Season Playoffs:
Winners of Conference A & B automatically get a home semi final
2nd & 3rd place team from Conference A will play a quarter final (2nd place at home)
2nd & 3rd place team from Conference B will play a quarter final (2nd place at home)

European Qualification:
Top 3 teams from Conference A, and Top 3 teams from Conference B automatically qualify for Champions Cup (excl. South African Teams)
Next best teams from Conference A and Conference B wil be compared. Team with most points qualify for the Champions Cup
All remaining teams will qualify for Challenge Cup (excl. South African teams)

Think that covers everything

My ideal fixtures against Conference B would be:
Scarlets - Home
Edinburgh - Away
Southern Kings - Home
Treviso - Away
Dragons - Home

I wonder if we get one Welsh team at home, do we need to get the other away?

Anyway, as long as we keep an away fixture in The Burke and Hare Edinburgh, I'm happy

connachta wrote: YEEEEEEEEEEES we have the easiest pool! Makes my day

Okay, The conferences are seeded. That's fair at least. It's also good to know the makeup of the conferences for the following season right at the end of the current season.

"Each union will rank their teams based upon their points totals from the previous season’s Championship table."
Read more at www.pro12rugby.com/2017/08/01/guinness-p...#vP6yL8PIoJRPuygX.99

I think they've done a good job of it - the video they tweeted explains it well, and the FAQ goes into more detail. There will be some disgruntled season ticket holders for teams with 10 home games this season (vs 11), so it'll be interesting to see how that is tackled, but I doubt many fans will kick up too much of a stink.

The main question now is, has pinky got enough information to start researching travel options for the trip to South Africa? I only discovered last week that one of the teams is based in Port Elizabeth. That's a decent old spin from here!

Wow , The SA teams are ineligible to qualify for the European competitions (for now ....).

That should make it easier to qualify , that said both teams might struggle in the first season none the less.

I believe the conference System is going to add to the quality because no w to make the top 3 which will be every teams goal ou cannot afford any slip ups so the days of gimmes will be gone - you are less likely to see Leinster Munster Ospreys field weaker teams , I'm all for change and giving things a go and I see this as a positive going forward.