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BREAKING: Pro12 release first official statement on 'Pro14' talks

Pro12

The Pro12 have released their first official statement regarding the entry of two new sides into the competition.

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On the website, a statement read: “Celtic Rugby can confirm that advanced & positive discussions are taking place with the South African Rugby Union regarding the introduction of 2 teams into an expanded Guinness PRO12 Championship.

“Given the proximity of the 2017/18 season start, a final decision on this potential expansion will be confirmed as soon as practical.”

Yesterday BBC Scotland are reported that the Pro12 will be confirmed as a new Pro14 competition with the entry of the two culled South African Super Rugby franchises.

The BBC report that the deal will be worth in the region of £6 million per year to the league through both TV revenue and through the South African Rugby Union.

Both the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings were officially discarded from the Super Rugby tournament early this month.

While it is yet to be confirmed, it is expected that the new layout will see two conferences of 7 teams, who will play each other both home and away. Each team will play all teams from the other conference at least once, bringing the total number of regular season games to 19.

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The top teams from each conference will then play-off against each other to be crowned Pro14 champions.

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Nickers 18 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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