The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''
Guinness
Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...
PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
competition originally known as the
Celtic League. It was 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 competed in this season — four Irish teams:
Connacht
Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...
,
Leinster
Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland.
The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...
,
Munster
Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
and
Ulster
Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
; two Italian teams:
Benetton and
Zebre; two Scottish teams:
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
and
Glasgow Warriors
The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...
; and four Welsh teams:
Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams.
Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...
,
Dragons
A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...
,
Ospreys and
Scarlets
The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby c ...
. Neither of the two South African teams competed this season, with the
Cheetahs
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...
unable to compete due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, 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 2 October 2020. Leinster were 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.
It was won by Leinster who defeated Munster in the final on 27 March, it was their fourth consecutive Pro14 title and 8th overall.
On 23 December 2020 it was announced that the 2020-21 PRO14 season would conclude on 27 March 2021 after 16 rounds, and will be followed by the
Pro14 Rainbow Cup, a competition featuring the four former South African
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...
sides, the
Bulls,
Lions,
Sharks
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
and
Stormers
The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...
. The Rainbow Cup would consist of two dual tournaments; one for the northern hemisphere teams and one for the four South African teams. The northern hemisphere tournament will run from 23 April to 19 June 2021.
Teams
Competition format
; League Stage
The twelve teams were 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 were distributed approximately evenly between the conferences based upon their performance in the previous season.
The regular season consisted of 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 represented 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 top-ranked team in each conference met in the final on 27 March 2021.
; Champions Cup Qualification
The organiser of the
European Rugby Champions Cup, EPCR, has not yet confirmed the format for the 2021–22 tournament. If the usual qualification rules apply, at least seven PRO14 teams would qualify. The top three teams in each conference would qualify automatically. Previously, the winner of a playoff match between the fourth-ranked eligible teams in each conference became the seventh qualifying team. However, the organiser has confirmed that no play-off game will be used for European qualification this season and that rankings after round 16 will be used to determine which teams will qualify.
The seventh qualifying team would be
the fourth-ranked team which accumulated the most match points.
It is unclear if there will be any further qualifiers as it will influenced by the format of the 2021-22 tournament and, potentially, the final placings in the 2020-21 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. In April 2021 EPCR confirmed a 24 team tournament featuring the top 8 teams.
Team changes
Ireland
Italy
Scotland
South Africa
Southern Kings entered liquidation in September 2020 and withdrew from the league, while the
Cheetahs
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...
did not compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a vote by the
South African Rugby Union
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board ...
, the four former South African
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...
sides, the
Bulls,
Lions,
Sharks
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
and
Stormers
The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...
, are likely to join an expanded tournament beginning in the
2021–22 season. The future of the Cheetahs is in doubt and they will likely be withdrawn from the PRO14.
Wales
Table
Match summary
Rounds 1 to 16
Fixtures for the first 11 rounds of matches were announced on 23 September 2020. Several matches were scheduled on Monday nights to avoid clashes with the extended international calendar. The remaining fixtures for rounds 12 to 16 were confirmed on 25 January 2021.
All times are local.
Round 1
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Round 2
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Round 3
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Round 4
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Round 5
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Round 6
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Round 7
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Round 8
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Round 4 (rescheduled match)
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Round 6 (rescheduled match)
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Round 9
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Round 10
1872 Cup 1st round
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Round 9 (rescheduled match)
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Round 11
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Round 9 (rescheduled match)
1872 Cup 2nd round
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Round 14 (rescheduled match)
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Round 11 (rescheduled match)
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Round 9 (rescheduled match)
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Round 8 (rescheduled match)
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Round 5 (rescheduled match)
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Round 8 (rescheduled match)
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Round 5 (rescheduled match)
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Round 12
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Round 13
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Round 14
*Postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
were awarded four match points.
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Round 15
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Round 16
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Round 11 (rescheduled match)
----
Round 7 (rescheduled match)
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Play-offs
Final
Referees
Pro14 2018–19 14-man referee elite squad:
(number of matches refereed):
*
Mike Adamson ( SRU) – (21)
*
Stuart Berry ( SARU) – (14)
*
Andrew Brace ( IRFU) – (35)
*
George Clancy ( IRFU) – (102)
*
Ian Davies ( WRU) – (72)
*
Sean Gallagher ( IRFU) – (9)
*
Quinton Immelman ( SARU) – (10)
*
Dan Jones ( WRU) – (14)
*
John Lacey ( IRFU) – (70)
*
Lloyd Linton ( SRU) – (21)
*
Marius Mitrea (FIR
Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
) – (78)
*
Frank Murphy ( IRFU) – (14)
*
Andrea Piardi (FIR
Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
) – (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
Highest attendances
End of Season Awards
PRO14 Dream Team
The 2020–21 Pro14 Dream team is:
Award winners
The 2020–21 Pro14 award winners were:
Leading scorers
Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under
World Rugby
World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...
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
Most tries
Notes
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pro12
2020–21 in European rugby union leagues
2020-21
2020–21 in Irish rugby union
2020–21 in Italian rugby union
2020–21 in Scottish rugby union
2020–21 in Welsh rugby union
2020 in South African rugby union
2021 in South African rugby union