I wonder as the Pro 14 will be in the Super Rugby off season if there is a risk that the SA teams will be allowed to avail of other players from other Super Rugby squads such as those returning from injury or needing game time?

Not happy with this structure at all. The seedings for the conferences are based purely on your position within you own country and totally ignores overall position. So as long as Connacht finish fourth of the Irish teams, they will always have Glasgow and the better of the two South Africans (and the way people are talking Cheetahs could end up being quite a bit stronger). Conversely as long as Dragons finish last of the Welsh teams, they are guaranteed to get Edinburgh.
Of course that is an incentive to not be last of the 4 provinces and I'm not ruling out winning a few more titles or anything but it looks to me like one conf will be permanently stronger.
And since there is no playoff for the European spot, the teams in the easier conference will have an advantage when it comes to claiming that last spot.
It mightn't be as bad as I think it is at first glance, but from where I'm standing this seems like a poor league structure for Connacht.

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.

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 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!

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

tlocke wrote:

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

Interesting .... Looks to me as the harder of the two pools.

I'd definitely agree tlocke. Great that they have come up with a formula for deciding the conferences each year, very smart touch.

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

Interesting .... Looks to me as the harder of the two pools.

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 [strike]The Burke and Hare[/strike] Edinburgh, I'm happy

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

YEEEEEEEEEEES we have the easiest pool! Makes my day

Invalid consumer key/secret in configuration

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.

And it's finally announced!!

pbs.twimg.com/media/DGIbMVRXkAAgKfY.jpg

We're in with Munster, Ospreys, Cardiff, Glasgow, Zebres and Cheetahs.

I know there is things to be ironed out but next week is August and we still don't have a schedule, I am getting a bit edgy that there is no official statement from the league. I also need to know away fixtures as I would like to book them in time, this silence is not good for anyone.

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

Wasn't this all due to be confirmed this week? You'd have to wonder if they've hit a stumbling block at this stage. I was working on the assumption that it was a done deal and they were just ironing out details but the deafening silence makes me suspect it could all fall through yet ...