The Future for the PRO14 - Part 4 - A Global Club Championship

First topic message reminder :

Following the Union Balldance of the last 12 months, another union has finally joined the party - SARU. The PRO12 league is gone with Martin Anayi's announcement of a global club championship involving conferences of teams from five unions with the potential for more to be included.

At first glance, it looks like a smart play - albeit somewhat fortuitous with SARU having to shed two teams from the Super Rugby competition. It brings together a lot more viewers that are attractive to media companies and business sponsors. Celtic Rugby Ltd still owns the competition with just its three founding shareholders - IRFU, SRU and WRU. No club or franchise owners involved. FIR failed to meet the required performance that would have made them shareholders at the beginning of July. And SARU weren't persuasive enough to get their seat at the table just yet. Rumours of a new company being set up failed to materialise. But they still signed up to a six-year agreement with £6m in funding each year.

It's not clear if this money is coming from SARU or directly from SuperSport, their broadcast partner. It is SARU who have signed the agreement to provide two teams so presumably the financial buck stops with them. It's more likely the £6m is a participation fee paid by SARU, similar to what FIR was charged when it joined in 2010. Media reports have said that the monies will be split equally amongst the 12 teams with travel and logistics costs for SA trips met centrally by Celtic Rugby Ltd since these will vary for clubs depending on whether they play one or both teams in SA.

Next on Anayi's agenda is the negotiation of a new media deal involving PPV and terrestrial TV, and online platforms. SuperSport may have already got their slice - all 20-22 home games involving Cheetahs and Kings plus some/all of the finals stages. Or perhaps not. Sky and possibly other PPV broadcasters such as Eir Sport may be willing to bid more to be the primary broadcaster for a higher profile, expanded Championship. But Anayi will want to keep a slice for terrestrial TV since they have a much better viewership reach. The current deal is for four years. Would a six-year deal be a better strategic move to guarantee increased revenues for a longer period? It would link in with the duration of the SARU agreement. And it would outlast the current participation agreement for the European Cup run by EPCR.

Further expansion is obviously the other key consideration with possibly other teams from SA, US and Europe coming on board. The danger is that Celtic Rugby goes too far and repeats the mistakes of Super Rugby. Better to build slowly to see if they will still come.

The coming season will be a fascinating one to see how the new structure and Championship beds in. Will attendances increase? Will there be more surprise results and potentially another new team to lift the cup next May?

Roll on 1 September.



Further info on PRO14 can be found here:
http://www.pro14rugby.org/2017/08/01/guinness-pro14-championship-qa/

Interesting. World Rugby must have out of date information.

What's your source for the two lists, LD?

Rugby clubs in Scotland

Aberdeen GSFP RFC
Aberdeen University RFC
Aberdeen Wanderers RFC
Annan RFC
Ardrossan Academicals RFC
Ayr RFC
Bannockburn RFC
Berwick RFC
Biggar RFC
Border Reivers (rugby union)
Boroughmuir RFC
Caledonia Reds
Caledonian Thebans RFC
Cambuslang RFC
Cartha Queens Park RFC
Clarkston RFC
Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow
Clydesdale RFC, South Lanarkshire
Cumbernauld RFC
Cumnock RFC
Currie RFC
Dalkeith RFC
Dalziel RFC
Dumfries Rugby Club
Dunbar RFC
Dundee HSFP
Dunfermline RFC
Duns RFC
Earlston RFC
East Kilbride RFC
Edinburgh Academical Football Club
Edinburgh District (rugby union)
Edinburgh Northern RFC
Edinburgh Rugby
Edinburgh Wanderers
Ellon RFC
Falkirk RFC
Fettesian-Lorettonian Club
Forrester RFC
Gael Force
Gala RFC
Gala Wanderers RFC
Garnock RFC
Glasgow Academicals RFC
Glasgow District (rugby union)
Glasgow Hawks RFC
Glasgow High Kelvinside
Glasgow HSFP
Glasgow Southern RFC
Glasgow University RFC
Glasgow Warriors
Glenrothes RFC
Gordonians RFC
Greenock Wanderers RFC
Haddington RFC
Hamilton RFC
Harris Academicals RFC
Hawick Harlequins RFC
Hawick Linden RFC
Hawick RFC
Heriot's Rugby Club
Highland RFC
Hillhead Jordanhill RFC
Hillhead RFC
Howe of Fife RFC
Hutchesons Aloysians
Hutchesons' GSFP
Inverleith RFC
Irvine RFC
Jed-Forest RFC
Jordanhill RFC
Kelso RFC
Kelvinside Academicals RFC
Kelvinside-West
Kilmarnock RFC
Kirkcaldy RFC
Langholm RFC
Lasswade RFC
Leith RFC
Linlithgow RFC
Lismore RFC
Livingston RFC
Loch Lomond RFC
London Scottish F.C.
Madras College FP RFC
Marr RFC
Melrose RFC
Midlands District (rugby union)
Moffat RFC
Moray RFC
Morgan Academy RFC
Murrayfield Wanderers RFC
Musselburgh RFC
North and Midlands
North of Scotland District (rugby union)
Old Aloysians RFC
Old Spierians
Paisley RFC
Panmure RFC
Peebles RFC
Penicuik RFC
Perthshire RFC
Peterhead RFC
Portobello RFC
Preston Lodge RFC
Ross Sutherland RFC
Royal High Corstorphine RFC
Scottish Exiles (rugby union)
Glasgow Hutchesons Aloysians RFC
Selkirk RFC
Shawlands FP RFC
South of Scotland rugby union team
St. Andrew's Rovers FC
Stewart's College FP
Stewart's Melville RFC
Stirling County RFC
Stirling University RFC
Strathaven RFC
Strathendrick RFC
Trinity Academicals RFC
Uddingston RFC
Waid Academy FPRFC
Walkerburn RFC
Watsonian RFC
Watsonians Ladies Rugby
West of Scotland F.C.
Whitecraigs RFC

There you go. Here is Scotland's teams. 127 of them.

I suggest Pot Hale checks when that census was undertaken.

Pot Hale wrote:Interesting.  World Rugby must have out of date information.

What's your source for the two lists, LD?

I just checked the rugby clubs by country, and put them into an excel spreadsheet whenever I found them, it was a little harder to do with Ireland due to it being two countries and all under branches. It was a bit like pulling teeth but I got there in the end, also, my lists may not be 100% as some clubs could have folded or new ones might have cropped up during the off season and the interweb might not have been updated.

But at least I have named them all for you.

Pete330v2 wrote:"There you go 110 rugby clubs in Ireland, so I was right, Wales has three times the clubs as Ireland has with half the population."

What percentage of that population are followers of the oval ball though?

I would say about 50/60%

I would imagine that World Rugby has the more accurate information.

LordDowlais wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:Interesting.  World Rugby must have out of date information.

What's your source for the two lists, LD?

I just checked the rugby clubs by country, and put them into an excel spreadsheet whenever I found them, it was a little harder to do with Ireland due to it being two countries and all under branches. It was a bit like pulling teeth but I got there in the end, also, my lists may not be 100% as some clubs could have folded or new ones might have cropped up during the off season and the interweb might not have been updated.

But at least I have named them all for you.

Riiiight. And what websites did you visit to get this information on the Irish clubs?

mikey_dragon wrote:I would imagine that World Rugby has the more accurate information.

Indeed or even the IRFU might know how many clubs it has registered with it....http://www.irishrugby.ie/mobile/club/club_map.php

Feel free, go through my lists and tell me any I might have missed out.

mikey_dragon wrote:I would imagine that World Rugby has the more accurate information.

I have named all the clubs mikey.

LordDowlais wrote:Feel free, go through my lists and tell me any I might have missed out.

Where did you get the lists from? What websites?

LordDowlais wrote:Rugby clubs in Ireland


There you go 110 rugby clubs in Ireland, so I was right, Wales has three times the clubs as Ireland has with half the population.

I wish people would stop trying to be overly too clever on here just to win the internet.

Remember Pot, it's rugby clubs, not sports clubs or GAA clubs.

Yes - I know it's Rugby clubs which is why I referenced World Rugby as the source for the info.  
They don't compile info on sports clubs or GAA clubs. The IRFU lists 224 Irish clubs so I think they'd be more reliable than your cut and pasting efforts.

If you had bothered to read what I actually posted you would have seen that I said there were 2,500 GAA clubs and over 1,000 soccer clubs.

Well, if you like, and you want to prove me inaccurate, check my lists for Ireland and Scotland and tell what clubs I have left out.

I am all for being educated on here.

LordDowlais wrote:Well, if you like, and you want to prove me inaccurate, check my lists for Ireland and Scotland and tell what clubs I have left out.

I am all for being educated on here.

Where did you get your list from? I already posted the link to the IRFU one with 224.

I don't know why they all needed to be named, Dowlais.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:I don't know why they all needed to be named, Dowlais.

Why not ?

The way this place is, you have to be thorough.

But no one was asking for a list of all the clubs.

[

Dowlais couldn't read the above image and said there were lots of duplicates in it.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

Pot Hale wrote:Dowlais couldn't read the above image and said there were lots of duplicates in it.    

You couldn't make this stuff up.

Pot Hale.

First you tell me this according to world rugby

[b]Ireland has 221 registered clubs.[/b] A population of 6.3m and a density of 73/km2 wrote:

Then you tell me this

Indeed or even the IRFU might know how many clubs it has registered with it....http://www.irishrugby.ie/mobile/club/club_map.php wrote:

There is a discrepancy with the figures quoted here, so who is right, the IRFU or World rugby ?

Your two quotes do not tie in with each other.

Just list the websites you used jeez.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:But no one was asking for a list of all the clubs.

So ?

LordDowlais wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:Dowlais couldn't read the above image and said there were lots of duplicates in it.    

You couldn't make this stuff up.

Headscratch away. You deleted the post.

Anyway - I presume you can read the list from IRFU rather than the partial one that you copied directly from Wikipedia Commons.

So 224 in Ireland and 251 in Scotland, 290 in Wales. Certainly not three times the amount as you stated.

You didn't respond to the query about Wales being a rugby hotbed because all rugby fans support the national team. Are you claiming that rugby fans in other countries don't support their national team?

You guys are nit picking

Biltong wrote:You guys are nit picking

Nah massive lists of clubs are exactly the things this board needs....

Oh, and if you want to see the +220 clubs in ireland, this LINK gives it to you...

http://www.irishrugby.ie/club/club_map.php

wolfball wrote:

Biltong wrote:You guys are nit picking

Nah massive lists of clubs are exactly the things this board needs....

Oh, and if you want to see the +220 clubs in ireland, this LINK gives it to you...

http://www.irishrugby.ie/club/club_map.php

That's what I already posted, you cheeky Connacht git!

Dowlais is on a massive backtrack as he tries to justify why Ireland has only 110 ruby clubs. Apparently, it's because I included GAA clubs (all 2,500 of them) and sports clubs in my figure of 220 odd.....

Now he's saying there's a major discrepancy between 221 and 224.

300 odd clubs in Wales - and counting down.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/worrying-state-welsh-rugby-right-12842580

Pot Hale wrote:Now he's saying there's a major discrepancy between 221 and 224.

quote me saying "major".

You really are getting yourself into a tiz here aren't you ?

I was only stating that the information provided did not add up, and one of them must be wrong as you were using the world rugby info as a tool to prove me wrong with.

Look I do not care, I just checked the league systems in each country and got the teams from there, I told you it might not be accurate, but you are one of these obsessive, compulsive people on here who always needs to be right otherwise you cannot sleep at night.

Look if it troubles you that much, you are right, I am wrong. Now breathe, this place is not worth that much hassle to your well being.

LordDowlais wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:Now he's saying there's a major discrepancy between 221 and 224.

you are right, I am wrong. .

Ok - I'll let you off this once, LD.   Just bring facts and sources the next time please.

Edit
The club sides that form part of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union are:[2]

Atteridgeville
Brits
Bronkhorstspruit
Centurion
Correctional Services
Cullinan
Dragons
Eersterust
Hartbeespoort
Mabopane
Mamelodi
Nellmapius
Medunsa Campus
Naka Bulls
Noordelikes
Oostelike Eagles
Pretoria
Pretoria Military
QBR
Silver Valke
Soshanguve
Transwerk Parke
Tswaing
Tuine
TUT Vikings
UP Tuks
Westelikes
Blue Bulls Limpopo Sub-Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the Blue Bulls Limpopo Sub-Union are:[3]

Atok
Bosveld
Kwagga
Letaba
Levubu
Loskop
Louis Trichardt
Mac Musina
Mankweng
Mogol
Naboomspruit
Noordelikes
Northam Platinum
Nylstroom
Phagameng
Phalaborwa
Pietersburg
Police
Potgietersrus
Seshego
Thabazimbi
Union
University of Limpopo
University of Venda
Vaalwater
Winterveldt
Updated 8 May 2014.

Boland Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the Boland Rugby Union are:[4]

Abbotsdale
Adelaars
All Stars
Ashton United
Atlantics
Attackers
Aurora
Bella Vista
Black Leaves
Blue Swallows
Bonnievale United
Botrivier
Broodkraal
Caledon
Cederberg Leopards
Ceres
Cheetahs
Citrusdal
Coronations
CPUT
Darling
De Doorns
Delicious
Delicious
Dennegeur
Die Dorings
Doringbaai Young Spurs
Eagles
Elandsbaai
Elandskloof
Elim
Evergreens Paarl
Evergreens Wellington
Excelcior
Flying Eagles
Flying Eagles
Genadendal
Goedverwacht
Gold Stars
Golden Eagles
Golden Swallows
Good Hopes
Grabouw
Green Lillies
Greyton
Growing Stars
Hamlet
Hawston
Hillcrest United
Hopefield
Invincibles
Kleinmond
Klipdrift
Koringberg
Laingsburg
Langebaan
Malmesbury
Mamre
Marines
Mbekweni United
McGregor
Miracles
Montagu
Môrester
Mountain Stars
Napier
Never Despair
Newtons
Oak Valley
Op-die-Berg
Orchard
Overhex
Paardekloof
Paternoster
Piketberg
Porseleinberg
Porterville
Protea De Doorns
Protea Worcester
Rangers Bredasdorp
Rangers De Hoop
Rangers Robertson
Rawsonville United
Red Roses
Red Roses
Red Stars
Riebeeck United
Riviersonderend
Robertson RFC
Rooi Tiere
Rooiberg United
Rosendal
Roses United
Safcol
Saldanha
Saldanha Tigers
Samoa Moorreesburg
Saron
Sea Hawks
Spring Roses
St Helenabaai
Standards
Struisbaai
Temperance
Thistles
Titans
Touwpark
Tulbagh
United Stars
United Stones
Universals
Universals
Velddrif
Verenigde Ceres
Villagers Breërivier
Villagers Citrusdal
Villagers Montagu
Villagers Newton
Villagers Wittewater
Villagers Worcester
Villiersdorp
Voorberg
Vredenburg
Wamakers
Wellington
Wesbank
Wolseley
Worcester Perseverance
Young Black Arrows
Young Blues
Young Blues
Young Diggers
Young Eagles
Young Eagles
Young Eagles Robertson
Young Good Hopes
Young Hamiltons
Young Hearts
Young Proteas
Young Proteas
Young Stars
Young Tigers
Young Tigers
Young Turbos
Young Westlyans
Zebras
Updated 8 May 2014.

Border Rugby Football Union Edit
The club sides that recently played in the top-level domestic competition organised by the Border Rugby Football Union are:[5][6]

Africans
Berlin Tigers
Buffalo
Breakers
Cambridge
East London Police
Evergreen
King Brumbies
Ngculu Zebras
Ntlaza Lions
Ocean Sweepers
Old Collegians
Old Selbornians
Ready Blues
Swallows
UFH Blues
Wallabies
Winter Rose
WSU All Blacks
Young Leopards
Updated 12 May 2014.

Eastern Province Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the Eastern Province Rugby Union are:[7]

Aberdeen
Adelaide Rangers
African Bombers
Alderonians
All Blacks
Auckland Tigers
Black Lions
Born Fighters
Central
Coldstream Crusaders
Colesburg Wanderers
Cookhouse United
DB Blues
Despatch
Despatch Oostelikes
Easterns
Evergreens (Cradock)
Evergreens (Krakeel)
Excelsior
Gardens
Gelvan Wallabies
Gladiators
Glen Roses
Grahamstown Brumbies
Grootfontein
Hamilton
Hampshire
Hankey Villagers
Harlequins
Hilltop Eagles
Humansdorp RC
Humansdorp United
Jansenville
Karoo Springbokke
Khyelitsha United
Kirkwood
Klipfontein UT
Kliplaat
Kowie
Kruisfontein
Kuya
Kuyga
Kwaru
Lily White
Loerie Blues
Middleberg Eagles
Mighty Blues
Mission
Motherwell
Murraysburg
NMMU Madibaz
Noupoort Diamonds
Old Grey
Orlando Eagles
Park
Paterson Lions
Pearston Villagers
Pirates
Port Elizabeth College
Port Elizabeth Crusaders
Port Elizabeth Harlequins
Port Elizabeth Police
Port Elizabeth Villagers
Progress
Red Lions
Rhodes
Rosebuds
Scorpions
Siyakhula
Spring Rose
St Cyprian's
St Francis Sharks
St Mark's
Star of Hope
Steytlerville Dolphins
Steytlerville United
Suburban
Sunday Stars
Thistles
Trying Stars
Union
United Barbarians
Visitors
Walmer Wales
Walmer Wallabies
Wanders
Windvogel United
Winter Rose
Winter Rose (UIT)
Updated 8 May 2014.

Free State Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the Free State Rugby Union are:[8][9][10]

Bloemfontein Collegians
Bloemfontein Crusaders
Bloemfontein Defence Force
Bloemfontein Police
CUT Ixias
Mangaung
Old Greys
Steyners
UFS Shimlas
Warriors
Reserve teams also play in the league, as well as youth sides of CUT and UFS.

Updated 6 May 2015.

Golden Lions Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the Golden Lions Rugby Union are:[11]

Alberton
Alexandra
Diggers
Eldoronians
Germiston Simmer
Harlequins
Jabulani
Johannesburg Police
Khosa
Pirates
Raiders
Randfontein
Roodepoort
Soweto
Titans
UJ
Union
Wanderers
Wasps
Wes Wits
Wits
Updated 8 May 2014.

Griffons Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that recently played in the top two domestic competitions organised by the Griffons Rugby Union are:[12][13]

Beatrix
Bethlehem Collegians
Bethlehem Oud Skoliere
Bobbies
Bothaville
Bultfontein
Ficksburg
Frankfort
Harmony
Harmony Tigers
Henneman
Kroonstad
Harrismith
Hoopstad
Kestell
Koppies
Klutwanong
Ladybrand
Lindley
Parys
Welkom
Welkom Rovers
Updated 12 May 2014.

Griqualand West Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the Griqualand West Rugby Union are:[14]

Aggeneys RFC
Desert Daisies Rugby Club
Douglas RFC
Elevations
Gladiators RFC
Hartswater Rugby Club
Hope Town
Hurricanes
Jacobsdal
Kakamas, Rugby Klub
Kenhard
Kenhardt, Rugby Klub
Kimberley Polisie Rugby Club
Klipfontein United Rugby Club
Kuruman Rugby Club
Marrigolds
Nababeep Rugby Club
Ocean Collegians Rugby Club
Okiep Thistles R.F.C
Orania Rugby Club
Oranjemund RFC
Phantoms Rugby Club
Pofadder Rugby Klub
Postmasburg
Prieska Rugby Club
Protea United
Protea United Rugby Club
Rangers RFC
Riverton's
Rosh-Pinah Rugby Club
Sishen Rugby Club
Springbok Rugby Klub
Steinkopf United RFC
Sutherland Rugby Club
Tigers RFC
United Rugby Football Club
Universals
Warrenton Rugby Club
Warriors Rugby Football Club
Young Blues Rugby Club
Young Blues/Williston
Young Lions
Young Removers Rugby Club
Young Stars Rugby Club
Updated 8 May 2014.

KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union are:

Amabhubesi
Amangcesha
Amanzimtoti
Ballito Dolphins
Bergville Zebras
Black Knights RFC
Bulls
Cedara
Clermont
College Rovers
Drakensberg
Durban Collegians
Durban Crusaders
Durban Mets
Eshowe
Esikhawini
Flying Eagles
Gamalakhe
Harding
Harlequins
Hillcrest Villagers
Hluhluwe
Howick Eagles
Ixopo
Izinyathi
Jaguars
Kapaailand
Kokstad
Kwantu
Ladysmith
Ladysmith United
Mandini
Mangosuto University of Technology
Matatiele
Melmoth
Mtubatuba
Nagle Dam Rhinos
Newcastle Highlanders
Newlands East Brumbies
Noodsberg
Obhejane
Ogwini Bafana
Pietermaritzburg Collegians
Pietermaritzburg Waratahs
Piet Retief
Pinetown Raiders
Pongola
Queensburgh
Rhinos
Richards Bay
Scottburgh
Sentraal
South Coast Warriors
University of KwaZulu-Natal Howard College
UKZN Impi
University of KwaZulu-Natal Westville
University of Zululand
Ushaka Warriors
Utrecht
Varsity College
Volksrust
Voortrekker Old Boys
Vryheid
Young Lions
Westville Old Boys
Zululand Rhinos
Updated 8 May 2014.

Leopards Rugby Football Union Edit
The club sides that recently played in the top-level domestic competition organised by the Leopards Rugby Football Union (or teams from the region playing in other competitions) are:[15]

Hartbeesfontein
Klerksdorp2
Leeudoringstad
Lichtenburg
Matlosana Rugby Club
NWU Pukke1
Potch Dorp
Rustenburg Impala3
Vaal Reefs2
Vryburg
1 NWU Pukke play club rugby in the Golden Lions Pirates Grand Challenge.
2 Klerksdorp and Vaal Reefs play club rugby in the Valke Peregrine League.
3 Rustenburg Impala play club rugby in the Blue Bulls Carlton League.

Mpumalanga Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that recently played in the top-level domestic competition organised by the Mpumalanga Rugby Union are:[16]

Barberton
Bethal
Carolina
Ermelo
Groblersdal
Hurricanes
Kriel
Lydenburg Rooikatte
Malelane
Matla
Middelburg
Nelspruit
Ratels
Sasol
Standerton
Tigers
White River
Witbank Ferros
Updated 12 May 2014.

South Western Districts Rugby Football Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the South Western Districts Rugby Football Union are:[17]

Adias
Albertinia
All Blacks
Arrows
Barrydale
Beaufort
Bitou
Black Lions
Black Warriors
Blanco
Bonnievale Blue Birds
Bridgton
Buffaloes
Calitzdorp
Collegians
Crusaders
DKD Mosselbaai
DKD Oudtshoorn
Dysselsdorp
Eagle Stars
Evergreens
Excelciors
Gamka United
Garden Route
George
Glen Roses
Greater Knysna
Grootbrak
Happy Hearts
Harlequins
Heidelberg
Hungry Lions
Jaguars
Kango United
Knysna United
Ladismith
Maoris
Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay Barbarians
Mountain Stars
NMMU George
Oudtshoorn
Perseverance
Plett United
Prince Albert
Progress George
Progress Suurbraak
Proteas
PSP Timbers
Rheenendal
Riversdal Barbarians
Riversdal Dorp
Riversdale Blues
Seagulls
Shamrocks
Silverstars
Spring Roses
Super Stars
Swellendam
Swings
Thistles
Uniondale
United Stars
Van Wyksdorp
Vleesbaai
Willowmore
Winter Roses
Young Leaves
Young Roses
Zoar
Updated 6 May 2014.

Valke Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the Valke Rugby Union are:[18]

Benoni
Boksburg
Brakpan
Buffels
Delmas
East Rand Police
East Rand United
Edenpark
Edenvale
Elsburg
Heidelberg
Kempton Wolwe
Meyerton
Nigel
NWU Vaal Triangle
Sasolburg
Springs
Vaal
VUT
Vereeniging
Updated 8 May 2014.

Western Province Rugby Union Edit
The club sides that form part of the Western Province Rugby Union are:[19]

Albions
All Saints
Allandale
Atlantis
Belhar
Bellville
Bishop Lavis
Blakes
Blue Downs
Blue Jets
Blue Stars United
Brackenfell
Busy Bees
Caledonian Roses
Cities
Cloetesville
Collegians
Durbanville-Bellville
Eersterivier
Elsies River United
False Bay
False Bay Cobras
Franschhoek United
Goodwood
Goodwood Gazelles
Hamediehs
Hamiltons
Hamlets
Hands & Heart
Helderberg
Imiqhayi
Khaya Rose
Khayelitsha
Koshuis
Kraaifontein
Kuilsrivier
Kylemore
Lagunya
Langa
Lower Paarl
Macassar
Manenberg Rangers
Masiphumelele
Maties
Mitchells Plain Utd
Mountain Rocks
NNK
Noordelikes
Paarl
Paarl Rangers
Peninsula
Perel United
Perseverance
Pniel Villagers
Polisie
Primrose
Progress
Raithby Universals
Rangers
Retreat
Richmond Rangers
Riverstones
Rocklands
Scottsdene Central
Silverleaf
Silvertree
Simondium
Sir Lowrians
SK Walmers
St George's
Stellenbosch Coronations
Strand
Strand Pioneers
Strand United
Technikon-tuine
Temperance
Thistles
Titans
Tygerberg
UCT Ikey Tigers
Unimilrfc
United brothers
UWC
Van der Stel
Vikings Police
Villager
Vineyards
Violets
Violets (Paarl)
Watsonia
Whistling Wheels
Windmeul United
Young Brothers
Young Gardens
Young Ideas
Young Peoples
Young Standards
Young Stars
Young Wesleys
Updated 8 May 2014.

Feck me, that's a list and a half that is.

Don't let luckless see that, he wont be happy.

There you go Pot Hale. We have both been blown out of the water.

Now you're just showing off, Biltong!

Yours looks withered and meaningless now LD

Pete330v2 wrote:Yours looks withered and meaningless now LD

That's what she said!

LordDowlais wrote:

Feck me, that's a list and a half that is.

Don't let luckless see that, he wont be happy.

There you go Pot Hale. We have both been blown out of the water.

You're on your own there LD. I didn't start putting out lists of teams.

Mind you, I'm intrigued by a SA rugby club that simply calls itself Delicious. I like it.

It's so good it appears twice. Popular club name in SA, Bilt?

No idea mate, was bored and wondered if I could get a list somewhere

PRO14 could go exclusively to satellite TV next season and matches could be shown live on social media in future

Guinness PRO14 chief executive Martin Anayi admits he ‘would never rule out’ a deal that would see games exclusively aired on satellite television when the current contract expires at the end of this season.

Amid what is being viewed as a new dawn for the league, with South African teams Cheetahs and Southern Kings joining the newly-expanded PRO14, Anayi revealed there will be changes to the current TV status quo.


As things stand, games are currently shared across Sky Sports, regional BBC channels, S4C and TG4 in a deal that brought in around £11.6 million last season.

The South African teams coming on board have boosted that to the tune of £6 million but the league still lags significantly behind the Aviva Premiership that has a deal worth in the region of £42 million, and the French Top 14, whose contract with Canal + is worth around £75 million.

But that is set to change, with Anayi suggesting there may be some mileage in the theory that crowd figures would grow if games were not so readily available on TV.

“I already know there is (going to be a radical change to the TV deal),” Anayi said.

“It’s working. What we’ve created is a tournament that has a renewed vigour, has teams from five tier one nations in it to ensure that more international players come through.

“The broadcasters and the sponsors and so on have reacted well to that.

“All options are on the table because the most important thing is that we allow our clubs to be competitive on the pitch and that means you have to generate as much revenue as possible off it.

“That’s both from fans coming through the gate and also from television or sponsorship and all other revenue streams that we are producing centrally for them.

“There’s an argument either way. If you put more games exclusively on paid TV, you might see more fans coming through the gate, arguably.”

Any changes to the current deal would be born out of the never-ending quest to increase the revenue coming into the league and its teams.

More money is always welcome as the PRO14 looks to bridge the financial gap between the cross-border competition and the English – that will broadcast some live games on terrestrial TV for the first time this season – and French leagues.

Anayi added: “There is a tipping point where that makes it easier to watch on TV than to actually go to the game itself.

“There might be a re-balancing of that.

“I would never rule out exclusively going to pay (satellite TV) because it has worked for other sports that are at the point we are in our life cycle.”

As a competition that now encompasses five nations, Anayi also admitted that the approach to a new deal may vary in different territories, pointing out that a blanket approach may not be the best way to go about things.

He used Ulster as an example of the current TV deal working in harmony with other digital output to increase interest in the province, with more people than ever consuming games.

“When I first came in, I thought there has to be something in fully free-to-air and crowds that aren’t growing as fast as I want them to grow.

“But actually, it’s market by market. If you go to Belfast on a Friday night and, you see it from our statistics, there are more people than ever watching on linear TV.

“There are bigger crowds than ever coming through the gate and there’s 39,000 people watching on the iPlayer. It’s growing every week.

“That would suggest it’s got to be market by market, you can’t take one approach for all. That is a situation where the broadcaster, the radio station, the online platform is helping to grow the number of actual people through the turnstiles.

“So you wouldn’t want to do anything centrally, a blanket approach that cuts them off and they suddenly can’t make as much money and revenue as they could have before.

“But it might be different in Wales, so we might have to look at it in a different fashion.

“I think one blanket approach for us, because we’re so varied, we’d have to be really careful about what we do next.”

When pressed on the risk of alienating fans by going exclusively to satellite television, Anayi also revealed plans to invest further in the league’s digital and social media platforms.

The NFL was used as an example of a sport breaking new ground on social media.

As well as a huge TV deal, there was also a multi-million dollar deal in place with Twitter last season, where they broadcast Thursday night games on the social media site for the very first time.

The PGA Tour has also broadcast on the site and Anayi insisted that the league must try something similar in order to reach new fans and continue to engage with existing ones.

“The NFL is a good example,” he said, “they’ve got a multi-billion dollar TV contract but they’ve also done a $10 million deal with Twitter.

“So you’ve got the ability and if the NFL can do it then we can do it. Perhaps not the 10 million but the same principle applies.

“We’re investing more in our digital.

“We’re bringing hawkeye in on medical and judicial but it has a social media aspect to it as well.

“The more we understand what our fans want to see, but also people that aren’t currently fans want to see, there is a multiple of things that somebody who is below 20 can go and do.

“And it just happens that rugby has a much higher demographic age band than, let’s say, Netball or other sports out there that are targeting purely a younger audience and are growing.

“We’re growing but it’s at a single-digit rate, we should be growing at a double-digit rate.

“The best way to do that is to go after a new fan who isn’t currently engaged with your product.

“I very rarely watch a full game from start to finish live on terrestrial TV. I watch it on the iPlayer, I watch the highlights, I watch it on social media.

“I do that for every sport I’m interested in. It’s how I consume Super Rugby. As soon as it comes out, it’s on Facebook. It’s a great way to interact with any audience but also a new audience.

“I read that most people below the age of 20 aren’t even on Facebook and you’ve got to go to Instagram and Snapchat – then that’s where we need to be.”

Looks like the Pro 14 administrators are just as excited over the potential growth of revenue with SA participating in it

I think the Pro 14 is establishing itself as the league to watch in the Northern Hemisphere, the last 3 editions were absolutely terrific with Glasgow, Connacht and Scarlets winning it in epic fashion, playing high tempo exciting rugby. A winning brand rugby that we saw at the RWC 2015.
With Cheetahs and Kings, they have possibly added the 2 most exciting teams from SA and i'm glad to see Kings have put together a decent and exciting squad.

Arguably, the Italian sides are holding the competition back but that could change next season and surely a new TV deal has to be in order.

VinceWLB wrote:I think the Pro 14 is establishing itself as the league to watch in the Northern Hemisphere, the last 3 editions were absolutely terrific with Glasgow, Connacht and Scarlets winning it in epic fashion, playing high tempo exciting rugby. A winning brand rugby that we saw at the RWC 2015.
With Cheetahs and Kings, they have possibly added the 2 most exciting teams from SA and i'm glad to see Kings have put together a decent and exciting squad.

Arguably, the Italian sides are holding the competition back but that could change next season and surely a new TV deal has to be in order.

I am hoping the Kings gel quickly enough to make an impact this season, unfortunately for them it is going to be tough with virtually a brnd new squad.

What is a real shame is the fact that they lost their star player of Super Rugby , Lionel Cronje. He was one of the leading fly halves in the comp this year, very adept at controlling territory and getting his back line away.

Also very accurate of the tee.

Sadly he has gone to Japan.

Looks like Dowlais went on a copy and paste spree this morning

Biltong wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:I think the Pro 14 is establishing itself as the league to watch in the Northern Hemisphere, the last 3 editions were absolutely terrific with Glasgow, Connacht and Scarlets winning it in epic fashion, playing high tempo exciting rugby. A winning brand rugby that we saw at the RWC 2015.
With Cheetahs and Kings, they have possibly added the 2 most exciting teams from SA and i'm glad to see Kings have put together a decent and exciting squad.

Arguably, the Italian sides are holding the competition back but that could change next season and surely a new TV deal has to be in order.

I am hoping the Kings gel quickly enough to make an impact this season, unfortunately for them it is going to be tough with virtually a brnd new squad.

What is a real shame is the fact that they lost their star player of Super Rugby , Lionel Cronje. He was one of the leading fly halves in the comp this year, very adept at controlling territory and getting his back line away.

Also very accurate of the tee.

Sadly he has gone to Japan.

The Japanese season finishes at the end of January, is Cronje just signed up in Japan for their season to return to SA to play after like some players or has he gone long term?

marty2086 wrote:

Biltong wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:I think the Pro 14 is establishing itself as the league to watch in the Northern Hemisphere, the last 3 editions were absolutely terrific with Glasgow, Connacht and Scarlets winning it in epic fashion, playing high tempo exciting rugby. A winning brand rugby that we saw at the RWC 2015.
With Cheetahs and Kings, they have possibly added the 2 most exciting teams from SA and i'm glad to see Kings have put together a decent and exciting squad.

Arguably, the Italian sides are holding the competition back but that could change next season and surely a new TV deal has to be in order.

I am hoping the Kings gel quickly enough to make an impact this season, unfortunately for them it is going to be tough with virtually a brnd new squad.

What is a real shame is the fact that they lost their star player of Super Rugby , Lionel Cronje. He was one of the leading fly halves in the comp this year, very adept at controlling territory and getting his back line away.

Also very accurate of the tee.

Sadly he has gone to Japan.

The Japanese season finishes at the end of January, is Cronje just signed up in Japan for their season to return to SA to play after like some players or has he gone long term?

It is not clear whether he will join the Kings, he said he would like to join the Kings again but there is no clarification about it yet.

A nice little promo vid here for the Pro14, to whet the appetite. Nice!

Nice

Great promo, got me a little more excited

Interesting that it's on RugbyPass, after Anayis comments about streaming and social media I wonder if RugbyPass will be part of the leagues future

The Guinness PRO14 Fantasy Rugby game returns for 2017/18 season after its successful introduction in 2016 attracted thousands of fans from across the Championship.

Fantasy coaches will now have even more players to choose from after the introduction of the Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings from South Africa ahead of an historic season for the Guinness PRO14.

The game is now open so that Fantasy Coaches can register their teams, and in order to provide fans from across the world the best opportunity to win, scoring will not begin until Round 2.

Round 1 provides the perfect chance to scout out which players are set to be the biggest fantasy points scorers, which teams could pack the biggest punch, and who could prove be the bargain of the season.

Round 2 will see the game scoring begin with the aim of allowing everyone interested to register their team in time, after the 2017/18 season game was launched on September 1.

Thousands of fans entered last year’s game with prizes in a bid to win big across the overall and club specific leagues, and you can register today by visiting: fantasy.pro14rugby.org

http://fantasy.pro14rugby.org/pro14/en/2/clienthome.do

Just set up my team - I bet they all score now as the points don't count yet!

As a neutral to this discussion, I am not sure to understand why the number of rugby clubs is relevant... surely it should be more about quality than quantity even for strictly amateur rugby.
Otherwise we would be multiple world champs with our 1889 clubs in France ...

Whilst the Force appear to have lost their legal case to stay in Super Rugby, two more SA teams have indicated interest in joining the PRO14 Championship at the first opportunity.

Whilst SARU is tied into the current SANZAAR TV deal until 2020, it makes for some longer-range planning to be done now in terms of playing contracts, potential TV deals, marketing, corporate interest, etc.  And, if the PRO14 has an optimum size cap of say 16 teams for the next few years, then better that the remaining two slots go to SA teams rather than experimental ones from USA, Canada or Europe.

Jurie Roux has indicated a split of potentially 8 SA teams being developed if they believe they have the depth available. SARU want to remain in Super Rugby for the time being and in the four nations rugby championship.

In a recent SA radio interview, Harold Verster, Cheetahs CEO said:
"During discussions, some of the other unions said they’d want to look at joining the Pro14 rather than stay where they are.  There are lots of positives; we’re in it for three years and then we’ll see from there. The upside is, if we are able to enter into the European Cup, for example, which is still up for negotiation – not for this year, but for the year after – there is the potential for some substantial increases in the financial gains for us.’

The rumour mill has it that both the Lions in Jo'burg and the Durban-based Sharks are the ones showing the most interest.  And if the European Cup opens up as an option next year, greater urgency may be required.