We can only plan based on the circumstances as they are at any given moment and PRO14 Rugby will hope that the latest surge in Covid-19 cases will not interrupt their plans for a 16 team Rainbow Cup acting as a transition from the current season to a new dawn including the four major South African teams.
The current Guinness PRO14 campaign will end in late March after 16 rounds with the two conference winners facing each other in a one-off finale to the 2020/21 season.
Qualification for the Heineken European Champions Cup will be determined by the finishing positions after the 16-week regular season.
The final will be played on March 27th. Then on April 17th, the Rainbow Cup will get underway as 57 matches across two pools of eight teams and a final between the two pool winners.
Each team will play once against each pool opponent and the final will be played on June 19th.
The Vodacom Bulls, Emirates Lions, Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers from South Africa will join the existing twelve teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy as a ‘bridge’ to what the full season will look like from later in 2021.
Players aiming to make the British & Irish Lions squad for the tour to South Africa will find no better trial environment than by taking on many of the
“At a time where our sport has faced its greatest challenge, we have promising news about an innovative solution to partner with South African rugby ahead of the British & Irish Lions tour,” said PRO14 Rugby CEO Martin Anayi.
“It was vital that we worked with all parties to ensure our 12 teams had a clear road towards European qualification. With a Lions tour in South Africa to come it is hard to think of anything better to whet the appetite than the best players from the Celtic regions competing against World Cup-winning Springboks in the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup.”
