Guinness Pro14 Season 2018-2019

Burkie1203

Would be decent signing if they got him

https://twitter.com/RugbyInsideLine/status/1012259693480370176?s=19

BIGT4464

A bit old at this stage, but worth a shot for the right price.

Buer

Well, well past it. He'll get a couple hundred thousand I imagine and that's money that would be far better invested elsewhere.

Cookiemunster

McAlister announced his retirement today.

umop episdn

Cookiemunster wrote: »

McAlister announced his retirement today.

Isnt signing for the Ospreys the same thing ?

Neil3030

BIGT4464 wrote: »

A bit old at this stage, but worth a shot for the right price.

Buer wrote: »

Well, well past it. He'll get a couple hundred thousand I imagine and that's money that would be far better invested elsewhere.

He's 8 months older than Johnny will be at the RWC.

EDIT: And a year younger than our captain is now!!

Burkie1203

https://twitter.com/simonrug/status/1014491690353201152?s=19

thomond2006

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/pro14-chief-reveals-fixtures-out-14860838

Same conferences as last season.

Eod100

Anyone know when fixtures are due? Later last year because addition of SA teama. Start of August maybe?

wp_rathead

Eod100 wrote: »

Anyone know when fixtures are due? Later last year because addition of SA teama. Start of August maybe?

answered in the article, mid july

Q: Quite a few fans are frustrated that the fixtures for next season aren’t out yet. Can you explain why that’s the case.

A: It’s an incredibly complex process.

It’s completely different to the English or French leagues where all the teams are in the same country and it’s a simple home and away format.
We’ve got 14 different teams from five countries. We’ve got cross border trips and flights to and from South Africa.

We also have to wait for the football fixtures because there are a number of joint venues.

But we are pretty close to getting the fixtures finalised.

As I say, we’ve got a broadcasters meeting this week and then they will go to clubs first.

They should be out the same time as last year, which was the middle of July.

razorblunt

Pyrgos is moving from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

Kennedy, Pyrgos, Fowles and Shiels.
I'd imagine Shiels will jump Fowles in that order. 2 decent SHs there, in Kennedy and Pyrgos for the Internationals to keep momentum going,

Eod100

wp_rathead wrote: »

answered in the article, mid july

Thanks for that. Hadn't read it. Pretty sure it was start of August last year but probably because of late addition of SA teams.

Top 14 out already, Premiership out soon. So would expect Champions Cup fixtures to be out August then.

bilston

Have Premier Sports or Eir Sports announced anything regarding presenters and pundits.

I have a fear we are going to get the old Setanta team from pre 2010!

umop episdn

bilston wrote: »

Have Premier Sports or Eir Sports announced anything regarding presenters and pundits.

I have a fear we are going to get the old Setanta team from pre 2010!

Rumours that George Hook will be doing the old Tom McGurk rte roll.

wp_rathead

Worst case is a panel of Neil Francis, Stephen Jones (of Sunday Times infamy) and Allan Massie

thomond2006

We Want Franno!

Badabing

Matt Williams maybe if he can. Or maybe he's tied to Tv3

Burkie1203

Manu Samoa to cardiff blues

Burkie1203

Massive blow to Scarlets

https://twitter.com/JackoRugby/status/1015966544864702465?s=19

Dog Botherer

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Massive blow to Scarlets

https://twitter.com/JackoRugby/status/1015966544864702465?s=19

Massive boost for Wales though. Pivac and Jones could do great things at the World Cup.

bilston

Have I missed Gatland getting the boot?

Squidgy Black

bilston wrote: »

Have I missed Gatland getting the boot?

Don't think he was sacked but instead said he's going to leave Wales after the RWC.

DGRulz

Why are they announcing it so far ahead of time? If true, Wales won't play a test under him until the 2020 6 Nations.

Riskymove

DGRulz wrote: »

Why are they announcing it so far ahead of time? If true, Wales won't play a test under him until the 2020 6 Nations.

They are calling it succession planning

I can see some advantages in having certainty

Burkie1203

Are we any closer to fixtures, format, number of teams, name of competition etc.

Neil3030

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Are we any closer to fixtures, format, number of teams, name of competition etc.

Format and number of teams same as last year.

Fixtures out toward the end of July. They need to wait for Soccer fixtures as some teams share stadia.

Cookiemunster

Neil3030 wrote: »

Format and number of teams same as last year.

Fixtures out toward the end of July. They need to wait for Soccer fixtures as some teams share stadia.

Football fixtures were released mid June.

Neil3030

Maybe they need to wait for the South African Soccer league or whatever it's called.

CatFromHue

it's going to be strange having someone else coaching Wales, Gatland started in Nov 07.

That was only a couple of months after Bertie said

I don't know how people who engage in that (talking the economy down) don't commit suicide

It's that long ago!!

Neil3030

Eggchasers proposed the terrifyingly logical scenario where Gatland takes over the England job after Jones...

Buer

Neil3030 wrote: »

Eggchasers proposed the terrifyingly logical scenario where Gatland takes over the England job after Jones...

I would have thought he's done with this part of the world. Doesn't his family still live back in NZ? He'll be 56 after the RWC and won't be short of some cash. Unless he has specific ambitions to coach England, I don't see what is left for him in the northern hemisphere; he has won everything there is to win really.

irishbucsfan

I would be very interested to see his England team. Could be extremely difficult to beat.

irishbucsfan

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I would be very interested to see his England team. Could be extremely difficult to beat.

Ben T'eo would be sooooo happy.

He wouldn't be as suckered by a lack of depth as he is at Wales from time to time and he'd have access to more hard carrying forwards but I don't know if he'd be reinventing the wheel all that much.

I think Gatland is getting a lot out of this Welsh team at the moment, they are deserving of their top 4 in the world despite the rotation over the last 12 months.

With a settled England panel he could do damage.

Neil3030

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I would be very interested to see his England team. Could be extremely difficult to beat.

He'd give Jones a run for his money on the mic too. He really would be a perfect fit.

Digifriendly

Wales Online have article saying Premier Sports will cover 2 matches on a Friday with 4 on a Saturday and 1 on another day to be confirmed soon.

icdg

It’ll be fun seeing how they plan on meeting during February and March that commitment when eir Sport have two channels tied up every Saturday evening from 5pm. They could still do it with two lunchtime and two afternoon games I guess, but clashes with Six Nations fixtures are inevitable given that since ITV have taken over part of the coverage of that competition they’ve generally tried to have the late Saturday fixture finish before prime time.

Burkie1203

Sharks rumoured to be interested in pro14. This was the game yesterday v Jaguares. Did the crowd all come dressed as a seat

https://twitter.com/FeedtheScrum/status/1018167931870461952?s=19

irishbucsfan

Sharks are staying in Super Rugby

Digifriendly

icdg wrote: »

It’ll be fun seeing how they plan on meeting during February and March that commitment when eir Sport have two channels tied up every Saturday evening from 5pm. They could still do it with two lunchtime and two afternoon games I guess, but clashes with Six Nations fixtures are inevitable given that since ITV have taken over part of the coverage of that competition they’ve generally tried to have the late Saturday fixture finish before prime time.

Out of interest what KO times would you envisage on Saturday lunchtime that do not clash or overlap?

c.p.w.g.w

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Sharks rumoured to be interested in pro14. This was the game yesterday v Jaguares. Did the crowd all come dressed as a seat

https://twitter.com/FeedtheScrum/status/1018167931870461952?s=19

What was the attendance figure?

icdg

Digifriendly wrote: »

Out of interest what KO times would you envisage on Saturday lunchtime that do not clash or overlap?

Seemingly there were less GAA leagues 5pm throw ins than I thought this season - the only weekend eir broadcast four games (2x5pm and 2x7pm) was the first week. So the 5pm slot is good for the rugby - still needing to finish by 6:30pm though. So you could have three slots during those months - 12:15pm, 2:30pm, and 4:30pm.

But really I don’t see them not airing some Pro14 fixtures on Sunday during the Six Nations. It is literally the only way they’ll (a) finish by 6:30pm on Saturdays and (b) not clash too much with Six Nations games.

thomond2006

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_2018%E2%80%9319_Pro14_transfers

Odds:

Leinster 7/5
Scarlets 4/1
Glasgow, Munster 5/1
Ospreys 18/1
Ulster, Edinburgh 20/1
Cardiff 22/1
Connacht 25/1
Cheetahs 33/1
Benetton, Zebre, Dragons, Kings 500/1

Ospreys stand out as a team that should be further down this pecking order. Scott Williams and North are fantastic signings but losing their starting halfbacks is a body blow.

sydthebeat

Cheetahs look decent value as an outside bet @33s.
With a rest, preseason and their ability to take points at home they look good for a play off place again... And after that who knows

Bazzo

sydthebeat wrote: »

Cheetahs look decent value as an outside bet @33s.
With a rest, preseason and their ability to take points at home they look good for a play off place again... And after that who knows

Haven't they lost a huge amount of their starting team?

Eod100

Any update on when fixtures will be out?

thomond2006

Bazzo wrote: »

Haven't they lost a huge amount of their starting team?

They have signed players to replace them. They added Dries Swanepoel (he was injury cover at Munster but never played) today. I'd expect a drop in quality overall but the full pre-season should boost their performance. I'd back Cardiff to take their playoff place however.

Tigerandahalf

The Welsh really need to move to a fully union setup.

An example, Dan Evans the talented reserve 10 at Scarlets should really be moved onto the Ospreys who have a need for a 10. Instead he will be behind Patchell at 10 especially with the Scarlets having signed the Cheetahs 15 of last season, whose name I can't remember.

The Dragons could do well this year.

thomond2006

http://www.the42.ie/pro14-fixtures-irish-provinces-munster-leinster-4137472-Jul2018/

Two interpro weekends before the start of the HCC.

errlloyd

thomond2006 wrote: »

http://www.the42.ie/pro14-fixtures-irish-provinces-munster-leinster-4137472-Jul2018/

Two interpro weekends before the start of the HCC.

Well "resting players" will mean those interpros are just half team formalities so.

stephen_n

errlloyd wrote: »

Well "resting players" will mean those interpros are just half team formalities so.

Be unlikely Leinster will rest players the week before a European game, when most of the senior players won’t have played throughout September.

Riskymove

stephen_n wrote: »

Be unlikely Leinster will rest players the week before a European game, when most of the senior players won’t have played throughout September.

recent seasons show they don't rest such players. In fact it is usually their first (or second) game back

still between being lacking in match practice and wanting to be ready for the HCC the following week, the games have suffered as a result.

in ways it would be better as a spectacle to have second XV throwing themselves into it