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At least one more South African team could be set for Pro14 switch - reports
As many as three South African sides could be on the verge of making the switch to European Rugby – according to a report in the Irish Times.
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The Natal Sharks are said to be eager to make the move and follow both the Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings to the largely European based PRO14.
The Bulls, Stormers and the Lions could well follow suit.
The Cheetahs have seen some success in the PRO14, making it through to the semi-playoffs, before falling to the Scarlets in Llanelli yesterday.
The news comes as the Pro14 secured a new television deal which is purported to have brought rights revenues from $12 million to nearer to €30 million.
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The South African Super Rugby franchises are widely thought to be growing weary of the current Super Rugby arrangement, which has had a number of troubling years in which both television audiences and match attendances have fallen.
The current Super Rugby deal is set to run to 2020, when it is expected that the tournament could receive yet another major overhaul.
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It is also likely that South Africa’s Super Rugby franchise could use a threatened entrance into the Pro14 and exit from Super Rugby as a bargaining chip in a bid to broker a more favourable Super Rugby deal.
Last week the PRO14 signed a ‘landmark’ partnership with Premier Sports and FreeSports to broadcast every game from the Guinness PRO14 live in High Definition across the UK and Northern Ireland for at least the next three years.
The agreement from the 2018-19 season means supporters in the UK, including Northern Ireland, can experience the Guinness PRO14 like never before with all 152 games broadcast in High Definition on Premier Sports HD, with no less than 21 games (one per round) shown live Free-To-Air on FreeSports.
Martin Anayi, CEO, PRO14 Rugby, said: “The arrival of eir sport alongside Premier Sports in the UK will be a game-changer for the Guinness PRO14. It is another bold step in raising our Championship to new levels and unlocking its vast potential.”
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South Africa and the PRO14 have been solidifying links in recents months.
Last month SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux and Springbok Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus joined the board of the PRO14.
The Pro14’s expansion this season to include the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings to become the only club championship in world rugby to unite the Northern and Southern Hemispheres has been reinforced by the appointments.
Pro14 Rugby Chief Executive Martin Anayi, Commercial & Marketing Director Dermot Rigley and Tournament Director David Jordan joined Roux and Erasmus at the match between the Cheetahs and Munster in Bloemfontein on Friday, following a series of productive meetings with local stakeholders.
“To have the CEO and the Director of Rugby of another Tier One nation join the Board is another important step forward for the Pro14 Rugby and for the relationship with South African rugby,” said Anayi.
“We have made great strides this season in expanding into a new territory in keeping with the DNA of the championship as a pioneering cross-border competition and these appointments only serve to re-inforce that progress.”
Roux said: “Our expansion into the Pro14 in 2017 heralded a new era for South African rugby and was one of the most exciting new ventures in a long time in our game.
“I am looking forward to working even more closely together with our friends from Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy as rugby moves closer to a global calendar and the game becomes even more accessible to new and untapped markets.”
Erasmus, who coached Irish province Munster, said: “I had the privilege of coaching in the Pro14, and it found it to be very competitive and hugely popular. To serve on the Board will be a great honour and I am looking forward to working with the other directors.
“The competition has opened a new door to South African players and coaches, with our two franchise teams playing against some of the best players in Europe on a weekly basis and in very different weather conditions. We can only benefit from our involvement in this competition.”
Additional reporting: Rugby 365
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
1 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
12 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to comments