WELSH DERBIES FACE PRO12 CUT
THE number of guaranteed Welsh derbies in the Guinness PRO12 is set to be cut from six to four as part of the radical competition overhaul due to be announced in the coming week.
PRO12 bosses are expected to announce a two-conference system which will see seven teams in each following the addition of South African sides the Cheetahs and the Kings.
But as each conference cannot have more than two teams from the same country, the Welsh regions are to be separated down the middle, with the Scarlets and Blues in Conference A and the Ospreys and Dragons in Conference B.
Teams in the same conference will play each other on a home-andaway basis, but games against those in the other conference will only be on a one-off basis.
The new system is bound to cause controversy among supporters for whom all-Welsh league clashes are the highlights of the campaign.
It also throws into doubt the future of the Judgement Day event which sees an annual double-header at the Principality Stadium and which has grown in popularity over recent seasons.
The regions will be unhappy to lose two derby encounters and could now be reluctant to cede home advantage by moving games to the Cardiff arena.
However, with speculation that TV and sponsorship money, once the South African teams come on board, will be worth £10m, any loss of revenue because of fewer derbies looks set to be more than offset.
With the PRO12 hierarchy set to finalise plans for next season at a meeting tomorrow, details are emerging of how teams will be split.
It will be based on the standings of the final table last season after 22 matches, but no more than two teams from the same country can be in the same conference.
Working down alternately from top to bottom of the standings from last May sees Munster, Scarlets, Ulster, Blues, Edinburgh, Zebre and either the Cheethas or Kings in Conference A.
In Conference B it will be Leinster, Ospreys, Glasgow, Connacht, Treviso, Dragons and again, either the Cheetahs or the Kings.
The plan is for teams in each conference to play each other home and away, and then to also have one-off games against sides in the other conference.
Play-offs will continue to determine the winner once the final 21-match tables are known.
Presumably, the winner of Conference A will play the runner-up in Conference B at home, and vice versa.
Meanwhile, the South African influence on Welsh rugby could be set to extend beyond the proposed new Guinness PRO14 with reports suggesting four sides from the Rainbow Nation could play in the AngloWelsh Cup.
Reports in South Africa are indicating four of the country’s domestic provincial outfits could feature in Anglo-Welsh competition.
According to Afrikaan Sunday newspaper Rapport, the development was revealed by South African rugby representatives during a presentation to the 14 provincial unions earlier this month.
If the plans come to fruition it will mean four Currie Cup sides joining an expanded cross-border competition, with Northern Cape Province side Griques and Nelspruit-based Pumas said to be two of them.