PRO14 fixtures set to be announced

THE starting gun for the new PRO14 season will be fired on Tuesday when the league’s chief executive, Martin Anayi, announces fixtures for the marathon 21-round contest.

Last season, the Southern Kings endured a fiery baptism to life in the European competition when they started with an away match against champions the Scarlets.

The title holders comfortably saw off South Africa’s new boys 57-10.

This season, all 152 PRO14 matches will be shown live on television as the competition looks to strengthen its footprint in world rugby.

Because of sponsorship talks, which are being held in conjunction with SA Rugby, the contracting of new players at the Kings has ground to a halt.

In Europe there has been frustration among supporters about the delay in the fixture announcement, after the English Premiership fixtures were released on July 6.

Anayi said it was an incredibly complex process to draw up the PRO14 fixtures.

“We’ve got 14 different teams from five countries. We’ve got cross-border trips and flights to and from SA.

“We also have to wait for the football fixtures because there are a number of joint venues.

Once the fixtures for all three of Europe’s leagues are made public, the dates and kickoff times for the opening four rounds of the Heineken Champions Cup pool stages will be finalised.