Ospreys didn't even get a point from Treviso, great result for us.

Delighted for them, you could see in the Ulster game they were dangerous with the ball, but they lacked discipline and looked like strangers when defending. This has tightened and they will be a great addition. Unfortunately they are in our conference.

First South-African win in style, BP for Cheetahs against Leinster, 38-19

Cheethas got about 15000 against Zebre in the meantime.

GuinnessPro13 next season!

Dismal turnout for the Kings v Leinster game. Tickets could be got for as little as €3 apparently...

Good choice staying at Cardiff Lee-Lo! Obviously i'd say its 80-90% down to non rugby reasons (family, friends + already being settled) but it must be depressing for a player of his ability to play in that team every week.

I was wondering if you were going to pull me up on that comment Conntachta . I was surprised and gladdened to see Edinburgh win tonight. The dobby demise of this fine Scottish team would seem to be unfounded.

dobby wrote:

connachta wrote: Gap between Glasgow and Edinburgh is smaller than some may imagine.

I would have to imagine very hard

I was inclined to hope it wasn't that unbalanced to have Cardiff/Glasgow instead of Dragons/Edinburgh
Well first indication : Cardiff 10 Embra 20 at Arms Parks

pinky wrote: Given that South African TV money was the main driver of league expansion, is it a bit odd that four days before kick-off, there is no South African broadcaster confirmed?

Didn't see an announcement from Pro14 but SuperSport have added this weekend's games to their schedule. They have at least 4 of the games on.
Might be a useful source of live streams though I presume most of the games they have will be on NH tv too.

www.supersport.com/tv-guide

Steady on lads. There has always been a squad for the league, 38 men in previous years but you can sub in and out of it st will til the last couple of rounds (end March usually).

Secondly the non-European players refer to players who are neither European nor considered European under EU visa law (most of the rugby world). Obviously this could lead to our UK based rivals being severely limited signings wise after Brexit, but serves them right.

How the hell has this flown under the radar? Was there ever any limit on the size of the squad in the pro12? What's the story with registering/deregistering players? Is 6.2 really suggesting what I'm thinking in that only 2/23 players in the matchday squad can be NIQ or projects? That's madness if it's the case.

Non-European player rule has always been there. Under the Bosman and Kolpak judgements it is interpreted to mean any player from the EU or any country with which the EU has an association agreement, which is most countries. AFAIK there are other ways around it too which means it's not hugely relevant.
For South African teams, the restriction on foreign players could be an issue though, but I think most of their squad members are from SA.

It's madness.

"Team" is not defined as "European Team". So clause 6.2 suggests that the South African teams would need to have a maximum of two non-European players.

The definition of South African stops mid sentence. Non-south african is very helpfully described as a non-south african.

There's no definition of "European player" so it might be something as tight as "qualified to play in the national sides of the home nations plus Italy" or as loose as "if they can point to europe, or close to europe, on a map".

I wouldn't be surprised if that was a draft published on the website, or maybe even a heads of agreement as opposed to an actual agreement.

Can anyone explain Rule 6.2 and 6.3 and what the implications are for Connacht- no definitions of 'South African' or 'European' given, and straight reading says SA also only allowed 2 non European players..

www.pro14rugby.org/competition-rules/

Playing squads

6. No player may represent a Team in the Guinness PRO14 unless he is a registered playing member of that Team, or a permit has been granted for him to play for that Team in the Guinness PRO14.

6.1 Teams will be limited to registering up to 38 players at any one time (a minimum of ten must be suitably trained and experienced front row players (“Front Row Players”)) who may be eligible to play for the Team in the Guinness PRO14.

6.2. A maximum of two non-European players are permitted in a Team’s match squad.

6.3 Each South African Club is permitted a maximum of two Non-South African Players in any one Match squad. A “Non-South African Player” is a Player who is not a South African Player. A “South African Player” is defined as a Player who, at the point that he is included in a Match squad

6.4. A Team may play permit players from the lower divisions within the same Union. No non-European player may play on permit for the teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland or Wales and a permit player may only play on permit for one Team in the Guinness PRO14 in any one season. South African clubs can draw upon permit players from lower championship teams in South Africa, and specifically not players who are registered to Super Rugby clubs/

6.5 No player is eligible to play for a Team in the Guinness PRO14 if he transfers or is registered after the 19 March 2018 during the relevant season (although there is an exception for under 18 players in certain circumstances).


Read more at www.pro14rugby.org/competition-rules/#tVZmvpzxcXY1L8G2.99

Given that South African TV money was the main driver of league expansion, is it a bit odd that four days before kick-off, there is no South African broadcaster confirmed?

You're right, I thought it was almost done and they were real pictures! Duh! Cork it is then.