1
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
Continue reading below…
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.”
ADVERTISEMENT
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
Crowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
203 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
1 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
1 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
9 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
9 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
5 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
6 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
6 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
6 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
203 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
9 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
9 Go to comments