2020–21 Pro14

The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the Guinness PRO14 for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the PRO14 (the competition was named the Pro12 immediately prior to the addition of two South African teams).

Twelve teams competed in this season — four Irish teams: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; two Italian teams: Benetton and Zebre; two Scottish teams: Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors; and four Welsh teams: Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets. Neither of the two South African teams competed this season, with the Cheetahs unable to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Southern Kings having entered into voluntary liquidation due to heavy financial losses.

Due to the delays experienced during the 2019–20 season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 season started later than usual on 2 October 2020. Leinster were the defending champions, having defeated Ulster 27–5 in the 2019–20 final to defend their title and complete a hat-trick of title wins.

It was won by Leinster who defeated Munster in the final on 27 March, it was their fourth consecutive Pro14 title and 8th overall.

On 23 December 2020 it was announced that the 2020-21 PRO14 season would conclude on 27 March 2021 after 16 rounds, and will be followed by the Pro14 Rainbow Cup, a competition featuring the four former South African Super Rugby sides, the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers. The Rainbow Cup would consist of two dual tournaments; one for the northern hemisphere teams and one for the four South African teams. The northern hemisphere tournament will run from 23 April to 19 June 2021.

Teams Location of Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams:Location of Italian teams: Conference A; Conference B

Team Coach /Director of Rugby Captain Stadium/ Stadia Capacity Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso Cardiff Arms Park 12,125 Galway Sportsgrounds Rodney Parade Murrayfield Stadium 67,144 Scotstoun Stadium RDS ArenaAviva Stadium 18,50051,700 Thomond ParkIrish Independent Park 25,6008,008 Liberty Stadium 20,827 Parc y Scarlets 14,870 Kingspan Stadium 18,196 Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi 5,000

Competition format

League Stage

The twelve teams were split into two conferences of six teams, with each conference featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales plus one team from Italy and Scotland. To ensure a competitive balance, the teams were distributed approximately evenly between the conferences based upon their performance in the previous season.

The regular season consisted of 16 rounds, a home-and-away double round robin with same conference opponents (10 matches), and a home or away tie against each team in the other conference (6 matches). This represented a reduction from previous years, due to a delayed start and in order to make space for the PRO14 Rainbow Cup to be played following the conclusion of the season, which will introduce former Super Rugby teams into the Pro14 competitions.

Final

The top-ranked team in each conference met in the final on 27 March 2021.

Champions Cup Qualification

The organiser of the European Rugby Champions Cup, EPCR, has not yet confirmed the format for the 2021–22 tournament. If the usual qualification rules apply, at least seven PRO14 teams would qualify. The top three teams in each conference would qualify automatically. Previously, the winner of a playoff match between the fourth-ranked eligible teams in each conference became the seventh qualifying team. However, the organiser has confirmed that no play-off game will be used for European qualification this season and that rankings after round 16 will be used to determine which teams will qualify. The seventh qualifying team would be the fourth-ranked team which accumulated the most match points.

It is unclear if there will be any further qualifiers as it will influenced by the format of the 2021-22 tournament and, potentially, the final placings in the 2020-21 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. In April 2021 EPCR confirmed a 24 team tournament featuring the top 8 teams.

Team changes

Ireland

Italy

Scotland

South Africa Southern Kings entered liquidation in September 2020 and withdrew from the league, while the Cheetahs did not compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a vote by the South African Rugby Union, the four former South African Super Rugby sides, the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers, are likely to join an expanded tournament beginning in the 2021–22 season. The future of the Cheetahs is in doubt and they will likely be withdrawn from the PRO14.

Wales

Table

Match summary

Rounds 1 to 16 Fixtures for the first 11 rounds of matches were announced on 23 September 2020. Several matches were scheduled on Monday nights to avoid clashes with the extended international calendar. The remaining fixtures for rounds 12 to 16 were confirmed on 25 January 2021.

All times are local.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 4 (rescheduled match)

Round 6 (rescheduled match)

Round 9

Round 10

1872 Cup 1st round

Round 9 (rescheduled match)

Round 11

Round 9 (rescheduled match) 1872 Cup 2nd round

Round 14 (rescheduled match)

Round 11 (rescheduled match)

Round 9 (rescheduled match)

Round 8 (rescheduled match)

Round 5 (rescheduled match)

Round 8 (rescheduled match)

Round 5 (rescheduled match)

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Edinburgh were awarded four match points.

Round 15

Round 16

Round 11 (rescheduled match)

Round 7 (rescheduled match)

Play-offs Final

Referees Pro14 2018–19 14-man referee elite squad: (number of matches refereed):

Mike Adamson (SRU) – (21) Stuart Berry (SARU) – (14) Andrew Brace (IRFU) – (35) George Clancy (IRFU) – (102) Ian Davies (WRU) – (72) Sean Gallagher (IRFU) – (9) Quinton Immelman (SARU) – (10) Dan Jones (WRU) – (14) John Lacey (IRFU) – (70) Lloyd Linton (SRU) – (21) Marius Mitrea (FIR) – (78) Frank Murphy (IRFU) – (14) Andrea Piardi (FIR) – (1) Nigel Owens (WRU) – (166) Ben Whitehouse (WRU) – (46)

Note: Additional referees are used throughout the season, selected from a select development squad.

Attendances by club ClubHomegamesTotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity Benetton 0 0 0 0 0 0% Cardiff Blues 0 0 0 0 0 0% Connacht 0 0 0 0 0 0% Dragons 0 0 0 0 0 0% Edinburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0% Glasgow Warriors 0 0 0 0 0 0% Leinster 0 0 0 0 0 0% Munster 0 0 0 0 0 0% Ospreys 0 0 0 0 0 0% Scarlets 0 0 0 0 0 0% Ulster 0 0 0 0 0 0% Zebre 0 0 0 0 0 0%

Highest attendances

End of Season Awards

PRO14 Dream Team The 2020–21 Pro14 Dream team is:

Pos Player TeamFB 15 Michael Lowry UlsterRW 14 Alex Wootton ConnachtOC 13 Huw Jones Glasgow WarriorsIC 12 Damian de Allende MunsterLW 11 Dave Kearney LeinsterFH 10 Jack Carty ConnachtSH 9 John Cooney UlsterN8 8 Marcell Coetzee UlsterOF 7 Scott Penny LeinsterBF 6 Josh Turnbull Cardiff BluesRL 5 Gavin Thornbury ConnachtLL 4 Billy Holland MunsterTP 3 Michael Bent LeinsterHK 2 Kevin O'Byrne MunsterLP 1 Eric O'Sullivan Ulster

Award winners The 2020–21 Pro14 award winners were: AwardWinner Players' Player of the Season Marcell Coetzee (Ulster) Next-Gen Star of the Season Scott Penny (Leinster) Chairman's Award Dr. Vincenzo Ieracitano (FIR) Dr. Rod McLoughlin (IRFU) Dr. Michael Dunlop (Edinburgh) Dr. James Robson (SRU) Clint Readhead (SARU) Prav Mathema (WRU) Golden Boot Stephen Myler (Ospreys) Top Try Scorer Marcell Coetzee (Ulster) Scott Penny (Leinster Rugby) Alex Wootton (Conancht) Tackle Machine Brok Harris (Dragons) Turnover King Chris Cloete (Munster) Ironman Award Ashton Hewitt (Dragons)

Leading scorers Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Most points

Rank Player Club Points 1 John Cooney Ulster 115 2 Sam Davies Dragons 113 3 Jack Carty Connacht 102 4 Jarrod Evans Cardiff Blues 94 Stephen Myler Ospreys 6 Harry Byrne Leinster 91 7 JJ Hanrahan Munster 85 8 Ben Healy Munster 77 9 Antonio Rizzi Zebre 68 10 Jaco van der Walt Edinburgh 66

Most tries

Rank Player Club Tries1 Marcell Coetzee Ulster 9 Scott Penny Leinster Alex Wootton Connacht4 Gavin Coombes Munster 8 Dave Kearney Leinster6 John Andrew Ulster 7 Luke McGrath Leinster 8 Dane Blacker Scarlets 6 Jonah Holmes Dragons Cian Kelleher Leinster Stewart Moore Ulster Dan Sheehan Leinster

Notes

References

External links Official website

2020–21 Pro14

Bron en licentie