Pro14 2017-18 season thread

pickarooney

They seem dead set on adding an American team now, probably Washington.

Blut2

pickarooney wrote: »

They seem dead set on adding an American team now, probably Washington.

Any sources/additional info on that?

Blut2

Blut2 wrote: »

Any sources/additional info on that?

Wales online have an article quoting CEO of Pro14 Rugby or something to that effect.

CatFromHue

It's way too soon to adding another team, it could wreck the comp completely.

I've said it before but the problem with the league is not enough good teams it's too much bad teams. We don't know were the SA teams are on this spectrum but I think it's safe to say the American one will be on the crap to very crap side.

At the moment I've interest in games against Mun, Uls, Conn, Glasgow, Ospreys, Lanelli, and Cardiff. I've little to no real interest in watching games against Edin, Dragons, Treviso, Zebre and any American team.

So that's a 7-5 split with 2 unknowns. That's a bad situation for the league.

Plus if you bring in 1 American team than you have one pool with 7 teams and 1 with 8 and it just gets stupid fixture wise then.

awec

Add too much dross to the league and the poor teams will drag the good teams down rather than the other way around.

No player is going to want to play in a league where less than half the fixtures are in any way decent.

Blut2

If they were a direct replacement for Zebre it wouldn't matter if they weren't great at least, I guess. Replacing like with like at the worst.

It would add a whole load of extra logistical problems though. They'd want to be very certain of a large financial benefit to the league.

aloooof

Isn't it this weekend, the Aviva Premiership is having a Saracens v Newcastle in Philadelphia? So the Pro14 aren't the only ones looking to tap into the American market. Altho, it's a totally different logistical issue having a team in the league, rather than the very occasional one-off game hosted over there.

Blut2

Blut2 wrote: »

If they were a direct replacement for Zebre it wouldn't matter if they weren't great at least, I guess. Replacing like with like at the worst.

It would add a whole load of extra logistical problems though. They'd want to be very certain of a large financial benefit to the league.

World Rugby is obviously very keen to develop the Sport there. It's a massive market and they have a ready made player base waiting to be converted. If they got access to the guys who didn't make the draft and brought them into rugby programmes I could see USA rugby becoming competitive reasonably quickly.

That said, everything I've ready about USA rugby governance suggests it is over run with strife, ego and uncooperative factions. I don't know the specifics but I do know that there has been no shortage of drama.

The logistical issues are no worse than the SA teams though obviously they add to this overall problem (which we are seeing some teething issues with just today). The other problem is the time zone difference which obviously isn't a problem with the SA teams.

I don't otherwise have an issue with it now that we've already expanded the league but I do think it would be worth aggressively developing the game in the USA for 1 or 2 years before bringing them into the pro1*

Erik Shin

Nacewa and Gibson Park denied entry to South Africa.... surely this should have been sorted since kiwis need a visa to enter since last year..a bit of a heads up for the rest of the old Pro12

wp_rathead

Erik Shin wrote: »

Nacewa and Gibson Park denied entry to South Africa.... surely this should have been sorted since kiwis need a visa to enter since last year..a bit of a heads up for the rest of the old Pro12

Pretty embarrassing from a Leinster POV if turns out they simply didn't realise that the NZ players needed a visa to enter SA
Hope for their sake it's something more complicated

Exclamation Marc

Erik Shin wrote: »

Nacewa and Gibson Park denied entry to South Africa.... surely this should have been sorted since kiwis need a visa to enter since last year..a bit of a heads up for the rest of the old Pro12

And they've just confirmed they're returning home.

What an utter shambles.

Tigerandahalf

Exclamation Marc wrote: »

And they've just confirmed they're returning home.

What an utter shambles.

They must be very light on players now. Those 2 guys were probable starters.

phog

Erik Shin wrote: »

Nacewa and Gibson Park denied entry to South Africa.... surely this should have been sorted since kiwis need a visa to enter since last year..a bit of a heads up for the rest of the old Pro12

Early warning to the rest of the teams. While you could argue that Leinster should have known the host teams and/or Pro14 should really have been in contact too, new league, sharing info, late agreement of inclusion of SA teams and all that.

Buer

I refuse to believe Leinster could ever make such a silly administrative error. They're far too professional for such a thing to happen.

OldRio

wp_rathead wrote: »

Pretty embarrassing from a Leinster POV if turns out they simply didn't realise that the NZ players needed a visa to enter SA
Hope for their sake it's something more complicated

Good grief. Whoever was in charge of the logistics needs a word or two. Very amateur.

wp_rathead

Where can Kiwis apply for SA visas?
New Zealand passport holders wanting to apply for a South African visa must do so in person at the South African High Commission in Wellington, New Zealand as per the South African Immigration law and regulations.

Turnaround time for visa issuance is between five and seven working days.

New Zealanders living anywhere else in the world (including Australia) that do not have permanent residency in that country, have to go back and apply from the country of origin.

So Nacewa and Gibbs would have to go to Wellington to get Visa?
Sounds messy but surely Leinster rugby knew this before sending the players off?

Everdene

wp_rathead wrote: »

So Nacewa and Gibbs would have to go to Wellington to get Visa?
Sounds messy but surely Leinster rugby knew this before sending the players off?

"New Zealand passport holders in Australia can apply for visas at the commission in Canberra, while those in other countries must submit their applications at the nearest South African Embassy, High Commission or local VFS VAC."

wp_rathead

Everdene wrote: »

"New Zealand passport holders in Australia can apply for visas at the commission in Canberra, while those in other countries must submit their applications at the nearest South African Embassy, High Commission or local VFS VAC."

That's worse
The SA Embassy is a 12 minute drive from Belfield

Neil3030

Everdene wrote: »

"New Zealand passport holders in Australia can apply for visas at the commission in Canberra, while those in other countries must submit their applications at the nearest South African Embassy, High Commission or local VFS VAC."

At THE nearest, or THEIR nearest? Could they have flown over to Windhoek or something?

Everdene

Neil3030 wrote: »

At THE nearest, or THEIR nearest? Could they have flown over to Windhoek or something?

Hmmmnn that is testing my vague grasp of the situation. But if I were to guess I'd imagine country of residence comes in to it and at any rate the lads probably had none of the relevant documentation on them to do it on the fly

Buer

I'm surprised that this couldn't be sorted via the NZ embassy in SA. Even if they had to leave the country for a couple of days and reapply, it would be preferable to flying home. Or that the SARU didn't try to call in some favours.

Massive and embarrassing screw up from Leinster but, as someone else mentioned, it doesn't reflect all that well on the SA authorities either although I doubt they're overly concerned.

degsie

Can't figure out what time the Leinster game is on, 14:15 SA time so 13:15 here?

Everdene

degsie wrote: »

Can't figure out what time the Leinster game is on, 14:15 SA time so 13:15 here?

Looks like it - coverage on TG4 starts at 13.10

degsie

Everdene wrote: »

Looks like it - coverage on TG4 starts at 13.10

Thanks, sorted this out by downloading fixtures to Google calendar. Start time is confirmed 13:15.

Winters

Any idea if any of the NZ and the select few Kiwis in the Oz and Japanese franchises were impacted by this VISA issue during this years Super Rugby?

connemara man

Winters wrote: »

Any idea if any of the NZ and the select few Kiwis in the Oz and Japanese franchises were impacted by this VISA issue during this years Super Rugby?

Only if they hadn't done their homework

Buer

Winters wrote: »

Any idea if any of the NZ and the select few Kiwis in the Oz and Japanese franchises were impacted by this VISA issue during this years Super Rugby?

They all would have been this season.

But I imagine it would have been flagged and very much common knowledge just as it would be if another country Ireland shares a significant link with changed our visa requirements.

Winters

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/95001907/chiefs-midfielder-alex-nankivell-denied-entry-to-south-africa-after-passport-visa-error

its not quite the same issue but im sure Dave Rennie has his Visa sorted.

thomond2006

GUINNESS PRO14
Toyota Cheetahs vs Zebre
16 September 2017. Kick-off: 19:35 in Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein

15 Sergeal Petersen
14 Luther Obi
13 Francois Venter (Captain)
12 William Small-Smith
11 Makazole Mapimpi
10 Ernst Stapelberg
9 Shaun Venter
1 Ox Nche
2 Torsten van Jaarsveld
3 Tom Botha
4 Justin Basson
5 Reniel Hugo
6 Paul Schoeman
7 Henco Venter
8 Junior Pokomela

16 Jacques du Toit
17 Charles Marais
18 Johan Coetzee
19 Rynier Bernardo
20 Chris Dry
21 Tian Meyer
22 Nico Lee
23 Cecil Afrika

Must win game for the Cheetahs. If they lose then there's going to be serious questions asked. Unsurprisingly they've gone for a different flyhalf. The starter last week was awful.

Toyota are sponsoring free tickets so hopefully a big crowd shows up for Cheetahs' first home game.

aloooof

He was useless, missed touch 3-4 times. And not by a small margin, either!

thomond2006

aloooof wrote: »

He was useless, missed touch 3-4 times. And not by a small margin, either!

One of the worst 10s I've ever seen live at this level. He could not kick at all, not that any of his teammates appeared any better.

molloyjh

It'll be really interesting to see how they go. If they can't win this then it'll be one long season for them. Zebre are probably the worst non-SA team in the league and being at home with the altitude factor this has got to be a gimme for them.

Blut2

The Cheetahs are 27pt favourites with the bookies, so thats a vote of confidence at least. Hopefully they get both a big crowd at it and a win.

thomond2006

Edinburgh 14-20 Treviso so far! There could be a big upset on the cards.

thomond2006

Treviso win 17-20. On two seperate occasions Edinburgh declined kickable penalties to go in the corner. Twice they came away with nothing. On the second occasion the two Treviso props were binned. It looks like Edinburgh haven't revived after all.

Tigerandahalf

thomond2006 wrote: »

Treviso win 17-20. On two seperate occasions Edinburgh declined kickable penalties to go in the corner. Twice they came away with nothing. On the second occasion the two Treviso props were binned. It looks like Edinburgh haven't revived after all.

Great win for Treviso. They are going to cause teams trouble this year. Steered by our own Ian McKinley who kicked some scores for them tonight.

Connacht look in real trouble. Beaten 21-8 away to the Dragons tonight.

PTH2009

So how does this overall table work???

ScrubsfanChris

Connacht stay in 3rd for now.

http://www.pro14rugby.org/championship-table/

thomond2006

PTH2009 wrote: »

So how does this overall table work???

There is no overall table.

PTH2009

thomond2006 wrote: »

There is no overall table.

So why are Munster playing teams from conference B ???

Tigerandahalf

Out of interest is Aly Muldowney still with Grenoble. He has been a massive loss for Connacht.

connemara man

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Out of interest is Aly Muldowney still with Grenoble. He has been a massive loss for Connacht.

Yeah he is

Burkie1203

PTH2009 wrote: »

So why are Munster playing teams from conference B ???

Play your own conference home and away

Play other conference home or away

Then inter pros are also retained

Two conference tables based on your overall results

thomond2006

PTH2009 wrote: »

So why are Munster playing teams from conference B ???

Ah here. It's all explained on the website.

Erik Shin

PTH2009 wrote: »

So why are Munster playing teams from conference B ???

So they can fight the big boss at the end of level 3 in shenobi

CatFromHue

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Great win for Treviso. They are going to cause teams trouble this year. Steered by our own Ian McKinley who kicked some scores for them tonight.

Connacht look in real trouble. Beaten 21-8 away to the Dragons tonight.

I was somewhat impressed by the Dragons in their game against Leinster.

Granted I was only half watching but they did look like they wanted to play, which is more than can be said of them in some previous seasons.

PTH2009

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ah here. It's all explained on the website.

Not your fault but I'm lost and it's going to worse if they bring in American teams

I pity the poor owl lads supporting since old days, how can u explain this wired system to them ??

thomond2006

PTH2009 wrote: »

Not your fault but I'm lost and it's going to worse if they bring in American teams

I pity the poor owl lads supporting since old days, how can u explain this wired system to them ??

You play everyone in your conference twice (12 games).
You play the Irish provinces in the other conference home and away (4 games).
You play the other teams in the other conference once. (5 games).

The conferences change every year based on the previous year's standings.

2 Irish
2 Welsh
1 Scottish
1 Italian
1 South African team in each conference

It's simple enough once you read the above a few times.

PTH2009

thomond2006 wrote: »

You play everyone in your conference twice (12 games).
You play the Irish provinces in the other conference home and away (4 games).
You play the other teams in the other conference once. (5 games).

The conferences change every year based on the previous year's standings.

2 Irish
2 Welsh
1 Scottish
1 Italian
1 South African team in each conference

It's simple enough once you read the above a few times.

So basically the only conference that matters is your own ??

Other games are glorified friendlys/gloating matches???

**** me

thomond2006

PTH2009 wrote: »

So basically the only conference that matters is your own ??

Other games are glorified friendlys/gloating matches???

**** me

They're not. Every match counts.
The conference only matters for points standings.

Watch this: https://youtu.be/j-5FhbB4Kp8