2020–21 Pro14

The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the Guinness PRO14 for sponsorship reasons) is the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It is also the fourth season to be referred to as the PRO14 (the competition was named the Pro12 immediately prior to the addition of two South African teams).

Twelve teams will compete in this season — four Irish teams: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; two Italian teams: Benetton and Zebre; two Scottish teams: Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors; and four Welsh teams: Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets. Neither of the two South African teams will compete this season, with the Cheetahs unable to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Southern Kings having entered into voluntary liquidation due to heavy financial losses.

Due to the delays experienced during the 2019–20 season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 season started later than usual on the 2 October 2020. Leinster are the defending champions, having defeated Ulster 27–5 in the 2019–20 final to defend their title and complete a hat-trick of title wins.

On 23 December 2020 it was announced that the 2020-21 PRO14 season will conclude on 27 March 2021 after 16 rounds, and will be followed by the Rainbow Cup, a competition featuring the four former South African Super Rugby sides, the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers. The Rainbow Cup will consist of a pool stage with two pools of 8 teams, followed by a final between the pool winners, and will run from April 17 to June 19 2021.

Teams

Team	Coach / Director of Rugby	Captain	Stadium/ Stadia	Capacity
Benetton	Kieran Crowley	Template:Country data SAF Dewaldt Duvenage	Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso	6,700
Cardiff Blues	Template:Country data AUS John Mulvihill Dai Young (interim)	Ellis Jenkins	Cardiff Arms Park	12,125
Template:Country data IRE Connacht	Template:Country data AUS Andy Friend	Template:Country data AUS Jarrad Butler	Galway Sportsgrounds	8,129
Dragons	Dean Ryan	Rhodri Williams	Rodney Parade	8,700
Template:Country data SCO Edinburgh	Richard Cockerill	Template:Country data SCO Stuart McInally	Murrayfield Stadium	67,144
Template:Country data SCO Glasgow Warriors	Danny Wilson	Template:Country data SCO Fraser Brown Template:Country data SCO Ryan Wilson	Scotstoun Stadium	7,351
Template:Country data IRE Leinster	Template:Country data IRE Leo Cullen	Template:Country data IRE Jonathan Sexton	RDS Arena Aviva Stadium	18,500 51,700
Template:Country data IRE Munster	Johann van Graan	Template:Country data IRE Peter O'Mahony	Thomond Park Irish Independent Park	25,600 8,008
Ospreys	Toby Booth	Justin Tipuric	Liberty Stadium	20,827
Scarlets	Glenn Delaney	Ken Owens	Parc y Scarlets	14,870
Template:Country data IRE Ulster	Dan McFarland	Template:Country data IRE Iain Henderson	Kingspan Stadium	18,196
Zebre	Template:Country data IRE Michael Bradley	Tommaso Castello	Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi	5,000

Competition format

League Stage

The twelve teams are split into two conferences of six teams, with each conference featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales plus one team from Italy and Scotland. To ensure a competitive balance, the teams are distributed approximately evenly between the conferences based upon their performance in the previous season.

The regular season will consist of only 16 Rounds, a home-and-away double round robin with same conference opponents (10 matches), and a home or away tie against each team in the other conference (6 matches). This represents a reduction from previous years, due to a delayed start and in order to make space for the Pro14 Rainbow Cup to be played following the conclusion of the season, which will introduce former Super Rugby teams into the Pro14 competitions.

Final

The two conference leaders will meet in a final on March 27.

Team changes

See also: List of 2020–21 Pro14 transfers

South Africa

Southern Kings entered liquidation in September 2020 and therefore withdrew from the league, while the Cheetahs will not compete due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

It is expected that the four former South African Super Rugby sides, the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers, will join an expanded tournament beginning in the 2021–22 season, after this was what was voted on by the South African Rugby Union. This leaves the future of the Cheetahs in doubt, but they will likely be withdrawn from the PRO14.

Rounds 1 to 11

Fixtures for the first 11 rounds of matches were announced on 23 September 2020. Several matches are also scheduled to take place on Monday nights to avoid clashes with the extended international calendar.

All times are local.

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Play-offs

Final

Main article: 2021 Pro14 Grand Final

Play-off for the 7th Champions Cup place

The top three teams in each conference automatically qualify for the following year's Champions Cup. The seventh Champions Cup place is allocated to the winners of the playoff match between the fourth ranked eligible teams in each conference played at the home of the team with the most regular league points.

Referees

Pro14 2018–19 14-man referee elite squad: (number of matches refereed):

• Template:Country data SCO Mike Adamson (SRU) – (21)
• Stuart Berry (SARU) – (14)
• Template:Country data IRE Andrew Brace (IRFU) – (35)
• Template:Country data IRE George Clancy (IRFU) – (102)
• Ian Davies (WRU) – (72)
• Template:Country data IRE Sean Gallagher (IRFU) – (9)
• Quinton Immelman (SARU) – (10)
• Dan Jones (WRU) – (14)
• Template:Country data IRE John Lacey (IRFU) – (70)
• Template:Country data SCO Lloyd Linton (SRU) – (21)
• Marius Mitrea (FIR) – (78)
• Template:Country data IRE Frank Murphy (IRFU) – (14)
• Andrea Piardi (FIR) – (1)
• Nigel Owens (WRU) – (166)
• Ben Whitehouse (WRU) – (46)

Note: Additional referees are used throughout the season, selected from a select development squad.

Attendances by club

Club	Home games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Benetton	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Cardiff Blues	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Template:Country data IRE Connacht	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Template:Country data SCO Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Template:Country data SCO Glasgow Warriors	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Template:Country data IRE Leinster	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Template:Country data IRE Munster	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Ospreys	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Scarlets	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Template:Country data IRE Ulster	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Zebre	0	0	0	0	0	0%

End of Season Awards

PRO14 Dream Team

Pos		Player	Team
FB	15
RW	14
OC	13
IC	12
LW	11
FH	10
SH	9
N8	8
OF	7
BF	6
RL	5
LL	4
TP	3
HK	2
LP	1

Award winners

Award	Winner
Players' Player of the Season
Young Player of the Season
Coach of the Season
Chairman's Award
Golden Boot
Top Try Scorer
Fairplay Award
Try of the Season

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Most points

As of 14 January 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Points
1	Template:Country data IRE John Cooney	Template:Country data IRE Ulster	92
2	Stephen Myler	Ospreys	76
3	Template:Country data IRE Jack Carty	Template:Country data IRE Connacht	66
4	Jarrod Evans	Cardiff Blues	61
5	Template:Country data IRE Ben Healy	Template:Country data IRE Munster	60
6	Template:Country data IRE JJ Hanrahan	Template:Country data IRE Munster	53
7	Antonio Rizzi	Zebre	49
8	Sam Davies	Dragons	48
9	Template:Country data IRE Harry Byrne	Template:Country data IRE Leinster	46
10	Marcell Coetzee	Template:Country data IRE Ulster	40

Most tries

As of 30 August 2020

Rank	Player	Club	Tries
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

External links

• Official website

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