Cockerill sees upside of South African exit

RICHARD COCKERILL last night expressed his disappointment that the two South African franchises are pulling out of the Pro14 — but admitted it could be a blessing in disguise for his Edinburgh team.

The Southern Kings of Port Elizabeth have suspended playing activities for the rest of the year due to serious financial difficulties and look odds-on to be wound up.

And the Cheetahs from Bloemfontein won’t be able to travel due to the coronavirus pandemic until the turn of the year at the earliest, with league sources not expecting them to be back either.

The competition will now become the Pro12 when it resumes on October 3, including the two teams from Scotland, four from Ireland, four from Wales and two from Italy.

That will mean two Conference tables of six and a reduction in the number of fixtures.

Those lost would have been held during international periods, with the new arrangement probably benefitting both Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.

The Scottish clubs — more than any others in the league — lose most of their top players at that stage and have to field reserve sides.

Acknowledging this knock-on benefit, Edinburgh head coach Cockerill (below) said: ‘This season we are effectively starting earlier than ever and we are playing all the way through with two batches of eight weeks when we have players away playing Test matches.

‘If we are two teams short going into the next league season then, in some ways, it doesn’t do us any harm to play less games.

‘There may be a bit of an upside in that, but you want all sides to be viable and there are 50 people at these two South African clubs who won’t be in employment any more and that is very disappointing.

‘It’s been a success up to a point having the South African teams involved.

‘Cheetahs have a great history as a franchise and have brought some fantastic players through their system. Kings are a bit different and they have worked to a point. ‘Moving forward, it has been suggested we may have the other four Super Rugby franchises in South Africa joining to make it the Pro16 or Pro18 in the future. ‘If that does happen, you can see South Africa joining the Six or Seven Nations and how good would that be if we had the Springboks playing in that tournament and we had their provincial teams playing against us in the league?’ A Pro14 statement confirmed the changes in format for next season. It read: ‘Pro14 Rugby is aware of the Southern Kings’ voluntary decision to withdraw from any domestic competitions in South Africa for the rest of 2020. ‘Due to ongoing travel restrictions enforced by the South African government against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is not foreseen that any cross-border Pro14 games involving South Africa teams will take place until 2021. ‘Pro14 Rugby remains in discussion with SA Rugby on when South African participation in the league can resume in the new year. Work is under way to concentrate the opening 2020/21 fixtures among the 12 European-based clubs.’ Cockerill, who is open for his team to play in a British and Irish league if it ever happens in future years, said his first priority is to ensure his side beat Glasgow in the derby at Murrayfield for the second week in a row. And he revealed he will make ten changes to the team which won last week’s fixture 30-15 to give some of his key players a rest. ‘We’ll pick a good team but one that’s right for us,’ he said. ‘You don’t want to risk too many frontline guys in certain positions as it would be a disaster if they were injured for the semi-final against Ulster the following weekend. ‘I think we’ve made ten changes for Friday. Some of the younger guys will get a chance.’

12 The Pro14 becomes the Pro12 when it starts back in October as a result of the Southern Kings and Cheetahs pulling out of the competition