Pro14 set-up is a bit of a dog’s dinner

THE globalisation of the rugby calendar is likely to take a huge step further forward this coming season as the Pro12 expands to the Pro14 with the addition of two new teams from South Africa joining – the Southern Kings and the Cheetahs.

Both have just lost their Super Rugby status, so are looking for alternative competitions.

The financial benefit is estimated to be worth an additional £6million per annum, alongside further TV revenue.

It is going to mean fairly radical surgery for the new expanded competition, which hasn’t quite been finalised, but the expectation is that it will consist of two ‘conferences’ with seven teams each.

Each conference is likely to have one Scottish, Italian and South African team, as well as two teams from each of Wales and Ireland.

These sides will play each other home and away, as well as playing each team in the other conference once as well as playing ‘local’ derby matches.

The sides finishing top of each conference would automatically qualify for the semi-finals, with the second and third-placed sides playing off for the other two places.

Quite frankly, it all sounds like a bit of a dog’s dinner.

There can be no doubt that this is being driven by financial considerations rather than the betterment of rugby.

The original Pro12 teams are likely to receive a further £500,000 each, which will go some way to bridging the gap between their finances and those of English and French sides.

I have doubts as to whether this will really increase gate revenues.

The conferences will add a further level of complexity to the fixture list, with inter-continental travel becoming the norm.

There may be no significant jet-lag issues given the relatively insignificant time differences, but one cannot discount the impact of 12-14 hour flights on players.

It would appear that this is the new norm. The playing season seems to be elongating in length and, at the same time, becoming truly global – in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Given the recent form of the Southern Kings and the Cheetahs, it is questionable whether they will add anything to the Pro14 – even with the instruction that they need to strengthen their squads.

It’s all a bit messy, but if the administrators focus on financial matters rather than the overall good of the game, then this move is not surprising at all.

The real question is whether the fans will get behind their teams in the new expanded guise, when the previous format seemed to struggle at times.

We shall see.