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What to expect from the Rainbow Cup, rugby's latest brand new competition?

By PA
(Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

A brand new rugby union competition kicks off on Friday when the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup gets underway. Intended to pit the PRO14’s Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian sides against the best South Africa has to offer, the competition will culminate in a final on June 19.

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Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what to expect from the Rainbow Cup.

WHAT IS THE RAINBOW CUP?
The Rainbow Cup is an end-of-season tournament that will feature the 12 PRO14 sides alongside four South African former Super Rugby franchises – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers.

AREN’T THERE ALREADY SOUTH AFRICAN TEAMS IN THE PRO14?  
There were. The Cheetahs and the Southern Kings joined the competition in 2017, but the coronavirus pandemic and associated travel restrictions forced them to withdraw from the 2020/21 campaign before the Kings ceased operations altogether in September. The Cheetahs will not be involved in the Rainbow Cup. It is rumoured the competition could pave the way for the four new additions to join an expanded PRO14 on a more permanent basis following their departure from Super Rugby.

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Kurtley Beale guests on the latest RugbyPass Offload with Simon Zebo and Ryan Wilson

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Kurtley Beale guests on the latest RugbyPass Offload with Simon Zebo and Ryan Wilson

WHY THE NEW COMPETITION? 
The PRO14 season – eventually won by Leinster – was curtailed to accommodate the Rainbow Cup, with organisers saying the intention was to support SA Rugby as the franchises faced the prospect of no international club fixtures in the build-up to the scheduled British and Irish Lions tour, while the absence of any South African involvement in the regular campaign will have been another motivating factor. The tournament will also allow Lions hopefuls among the PRO14 sides to test themselves against players who could line up for the Springboks in July and August.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT? 
The teams will each play six rounds of fixtures and be ranked in a single league table, representing a departure from the conference system used in the PRO14. The top two teams at the end of the six rounds will contest a final on June 19. The format is shorter than the one that had initially been planned, avoiding the need for European sides to travel to South Africa.

ANY OTHER CHANGES? 
Three law variations have been announced ahead of the big kick-off. Red-carded players can be replaced after 20 minutes, while the defending team will now take a goal-line drop-out from anywhere on the goal line in situations where the ball is held up over the line, knocked on in goal or grounded by a defending player after a kick through. The final rule change sees the introduction of a captain’s challenge, which can be used for try-scoring and foul-play incidents or to contest any refereeing decision in the last five minutes of a match.

HAVE THE TRAVEL ISSUES FACING SOUTH AFRICAN SIDES BEEN RESOLVED?  
Not quite. Only fixtures for the opening three rounds have been confirmed and the schedule is dominated by derby matches. The Irish, Welsh and South African teams will not leave their own country in the first three rounds of the competition, while Edinburgh’s home clash with Zebre and Glasgow’s trip to Benetton in round one represents the only cross-border fixtures confirmed so far.

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Rounds four to six are set to see the South African franchises play away matches in Europe and, according to a statement from organisers, “those fixtures will be confirmed once all appropriate travel approvals have been confirmed by the relevant authorities and governments”. Prior to confirmation of the opening fixtures, reports had suggested the competition was in danger of being shelved due to logistical obstacles.

WHAT DOES IT START? 
The competition gets underway with a clash between the Stormers and the Sharks on Friday evening before Ulster welcome Connacht and Edinburgh host Zebre later that night. Benetton and Glasgow kick off Saturday’s action, which will also see the Bulls take on the Lions, Cardiff Blues travel to Swansea to face the Ospreys and Leinster host Munster in a repeat of the PRO14 final. A clash between the Dragons and the Scarlets in Newport on Sunday rounds off the opening weekend.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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TRENDING Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss
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