All to play for in complicated world of qualification for Champions Cup

THE Guinness PRO14 is reaching its climax – with just one full round of fixtures left to play.

There is still plenty to play for in terms of the play-offs and Champions Cup qualification – but things are not as simple as they once were in the old PRO12.

So, as the maiden season of the cross-continent adventure comes to an end, here is exactly how things stand for the regions...

Who can qualify for the play-offs?

THE PRO14 is split into two conferences – inventively named Conference A and Conference B.

Whereas in the past, the top four placed teams in the PRO12 would qualify for a semi-final and subsequent final, there is now room for six teams in this season’s play-offs.

The top three teams from each conference qualify – with the secondplaced teams hosting the third-placed teams from the opposite conference in a quarter-final match.

The winners of these quarter-finals then face a semi-final away to one of the conference winners. Nice and easy.

The Scarlets currently sit in second place in Conference B. Providing they stay where they are by beating the Dragons at Judgement Day, they will host the third-placed team from Conference A at Parc y Scarlets.

Their opponents, barring a miracle from the Cardiff Blues, will be the Cheetahs.

Win that and a trip to Glasgow is on the cards – with Dave Rennie’s side clinching their home semi-final last weekend.

About that Blues miracle. They would need to beat the Ospreys at Judgement Day with a bonus point and hope that the Cheetahs lose to the Southern Kings – who have only won once all season– without picking up a losing bonus point.

Then the two sides would be level and it would come down to points difference. To call their hopes slim is an understatement.

When are the play-offs?

THE quarter-finals take place on the weekend of May 4/5/6, with the semi-finals on May 18/19/20.

The first final of the new-look PRO14 will be held on Saturday, May 26, at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

What about Champions Cup qualification?

THIS is where things get tricky. Seven teams qualify for the Champions Cup from the PRO14. That’s the three highest from each conference and then the winner of a play-off between the fourth-placed sides.

The remaining sides go into the Challenge Cup.

Except things are not as simple as that. Because, unsurprisingly, the two South African sides cannot qualify for Europe.

Given that the Cheetahs are sat in third place in Conference A, that elevates the Cardiff Blues to the third and final automatic qualifying spot in that conference.

And their emphatic win over the Southern Kings on the weekend confirmed their place back in the top tier of European rugby for the first time since the 2013/14 season.

The position of the Cheetahs means that fifth-placed Ospreys will contest the qualification play-off. Who they will face is still up in the air.

With Southern Kings sitting bottom of that conference, we can safely rule out the complication of a South African team – therefore, the fourthplaced side in Conference B will face the Ospreys in the play-off.

As things stand, that will be Ulster. The Belfast province sit a point ahead of Benetton and nine behind Edinburgh, with a game in hand on both of them. The Ospreys will play one of them – and the likeliest is Ulster.

Home advantage goes to the fourthplaced team with the highest points total. No matter who finishes fifth in Conference B –whether that is Ulster, Edinburgh or Benetton – they will have more points than the Ospreys.

So, that means a trip to either Belfast, Edinburgh or Treviso for Allen Clarke’s side.

When is the Champions Cup play-off?

THE play-off is likely to take place on the weekend of May 18/19/20.

That’s three weeks after their last game of the regular season.

Would the Blues winning the Challenge Cup affect the play-off?

POTENTIALLY. The play-off determines

the seventh Champions Cup qualifier from the PRO14 – which along with six clubs from the Aviva Premiership and six more from the TOP 14 makes up the 19 automatic qualifers.

The 20th place is determined by a different set of criteria. That criteria is as follows:

1. Champions Cup winner, already qualified

2. Challenge Cup winner, if not already qualified

3. Challenge Cup losing finalist, if not already qualified

4. Play-off match between the losing Challenge Cup semi-finalists, if not already qualified

5. Highest-ranked non-qualified club by virtue of league position from the if not

same league as the Champions Cup winner.

We can take the first criteria out of contention as all the Champions Cup semi-finalists have already qualified.

So, it then falls to the Challenge Cup winner. However, if they have already qualified, then that place falls to the losing finalist of the Challenge Cup.

If the losing finalist has qualified, then it goes to a play-off between the losing semi-finalists – providing neither of them has qualified.

If they have, then the place goes to the highest-ranked non-qualified club by virtue of league position from the same league as the Champions Cup winner.

The Blues have already qualified for the Champions Cup, with Newcastle