PRO12 organisers have confirmed that the competition will expand to include two South African sides from the start of the 2017-18 season.

Following weeks of speculation, Celtic Rugby and the South African Rugby Union confirmed on Tuesday that the Cheetahs and Southern Kings would join the new PRO14 competition in time for the upcoming campaign.

In a joint statement the two bodies revealed that a "long-term strategic agreement" had been signed, believed to be for an initial six years.

As part of the new format the competition will be split into two conferences of seven teams, each featuring two sides from Ireland and Wales, with one each from Italy, Scotland and South Africa.

The split has been based on results from last season and will pit Munster and Connacht against Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, Glasgow Warriors, Zebre and the Cheetahs in Conference A.

Conference B consists of reigning champions Scarlets, Leinster, Ulster, Edinburgh, Treviso, Dragons and the Southern Kings. The conferences will be redrawn before the start of each season.

Each team will play 21 regular season games, consisting of home and away ties against the six sides in their conference, plus one game against each club in the other conference as well as two extra derby games.

"The agreement means that the Championship will take place across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and marks the first phase of expansion as the Guinness PRO14 becomes a truly global tournament," the joint statement read.

"This move will contribute to the drive for ever higher standards that we demand across the tournament and provide greater resources to our clubs who will compete in the most testing environment the championship has ever created.

"We can also reassure supporters across the championship that all current home and away derby games have been protected -- these fixtures are sacrosanct to the tournament and those tribal rivalries are just one element of what makes the Guinness PRO14 so special."

Details of fixtures for the upcoming season have not yet been released.

The Cheetahs and Southern Kings join the PRO14 having been dropped by Super Rugby following its decision to slash its competition from 18 clubs to 15. It is expected they will play their away games in blocks to cut down on travel time.</s>Europe's Pro12 has confirmed it will add two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby and expand to a 14-team, two-continent competition from this season.

Celtic Rugby, which runs the Pro12, said the Cheetahs and Southern Kings will join straight away for the 2017-18 season starting later this year. The Pro12 is currently made up of Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian clubs.

The prospect of northern hemisphere clubs taking on rivals from the southern hemisphere has long been wished for by rugby fans on both sides of the equator, but conflicting seasons in the north and south have previously prevented that.

With the addition of the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs and Port Elizabeth-based Kings, Pro12 will be rebranded as the Pro14 and change to a two-conference system, instead of a straight league table, before the knockout stages.

Seven teams from the new Pro14 will qualify for the Champions Cup, Europe's top rugby competition, but Celtic Rugby said "at present" the two South African teams won't be eligible for that competition even if they finish in the qualification places. That will, for the moment, avoid the possibility of a South African team becoming the "European" champion.

Pro14 CEO Martin Anayi said the arrival of the Cheetahs and Kings "marks a bold and exciting new chapter for the Pro14 as a global rugby championship."

Celtic Rugby said the inclusion of the Cheetahs and Kings was part of a "long-term" agreement between it and the South African rugby union.

The South African union was forced to cut two teams from the southern hemisphere's leading club competition after Super Rugby decided to downscale from 18 to 15 teams.

The Cheetahs and Kings were dropped as the two smallest of the six South African teams in Super Rugby.

Joining the European competition brings complications for the Cheetahs and Kings, and for South African rugby.</s>(AP Photo/Joseph Nair, File). FILE - In this March 4, 2017 file photo South Africa's Christopher Anthony Cloete of the Southern Kings holds on to the ball during their Super Rugby match against Japan's Sunwolves, in Singapore. Europe’s Pro12 has confir...

Europe's Pro12 has confirmed it will add two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby and expand to a 14-team, two-continent competition from this season.

Celtic Rugby, which runs the Pro12, said the Cheetahs and Southern Kings will join straight away for the 2017-18 season starting later this year. The Pro12 is currently made up of Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian clubs.

The prospect of northern hemisphere clubs taking on rivals from the southern hemisphere has long been wished for by rugby fans on both sides of the equator, but conflicting seasons in the north and south have previously prevented that.

With the addition of the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs and Port Elizabeth-based Kings, Pro12 will be rebranded as the Pro14 and change to a two-conference system, instead of a straight league table, before the knockout stages.

Seven teams from the new Pro14 will qualify for the Champions Cup, Europe's top rugby competition, but Celtic Rugby said "at present" the two South African teams won't be eligible for that competition even if they finish in the qualification places. That will, for the moment, avoid the possibility of a South African team becoming the "European" champion.

Pro14 CEO Martin Anayi said the arrival of the Cheetahs and Kings "marks a bold and exciting new chapter for the Pro14 as a global rugby championship."

Celtic Rugby said the inclusion of the Cheetahs and Kings was part of a "long-term" agreement between it and the South African rugby union.

The South African union was forced to cut two teams from the southern hemisphere's leading club competition after Super Rugby decided to downscale from 18 to 15 teams.

The Cheetahs and Kings were dropped as the two smallest of the six South African teams in Super Rugby.

Joining the European competition brings complications for the Cheetahs and Kings, and for South African rugby.

South Africa's main club competition, the Currie Cup, runs July-October, overlapping with the Pro14's traditional September to May season. It's unclear how the Cheetahs and Kings will compete in both during the overlap.

Also, the southern hemisphere's international Rugby Championship is in August, September and October, and the South Africa team tours Europe at the end of every year, also possibly clashing with the Pro14 schedule for international players with the Cheetahs and Kings.

Celtic Rugby says it will release its 2017-18 schedule next week.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Europe's Pro12 has confirmed it will add two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby and expand to a 14-team, two-continent competition from this season.

Celtic Rugby, which runs the Pro12, said the Cheetahs and Southern Kings will join straight away for the 2017-18 season starting later this year. The Pro12 is currently made up of Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian clubs.

The prospect of northern hemisphere clubs taking on rivals from the southern hemisphere has long been wished for by rugby fans on both sides of the equator, but conflicting seasons in the north and south have previously prevented that.

With the addition of the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs and Port Elizabeth-based Kings, Pro12 will be rebranded as the Pro14 and change to a two-conference system, instead of a straight league table, before the knockout stages.

Seven teams from the new Pro14 will qualify for the Champions Cup, Europe's top rugby competition, but Celtic Rugby said "at present" the two South African teams won't be eligible for that competition even if they finish in the qualification places. That will, for the moment, avoid the possibility of a South African team becoming the "European" champion.

Pro14 CEO Martin Anayi said the arrival of the Cheetahs and Kings "marks a bold and exciting new chapter for the Pro14 as a global rugby championship."

Celtic Rugby said the inclusion of the Cheetahs and Kings was part of a "long-term" agreement between it and the South African rugby union.

The South African union was forced to cut two teams from the southern hemisphere's leading club competition after Super Rugby decided to downscale from 18 to 15 teams.

The Cheetahs and Kings were dropped as the two smallest of the six South African teams in Super Rugby.

South Africa's main club competition, the Currie Cup, runs July-October, overlapping with the Pro14's traditional September to May season. It's unclear how the Cheetahs and Kings will compete in both during the overlap.

Also, the southern hemisphere's international Rugby Championship is in August, September and October, and the South Africa team tours Europe at the end of every year, also possibly clashing with the Pro14 schedule for international players with the Cheetahs and Kings.</s>IN a landmark announcement axed Super Rugby franchises, the Cheetahs and Kings from South Africa, have been included in an expanded Pro 14 European competition for the upcoming 2017/18 season.

The announcement comes 114 days after Super Rugby’s governing body Sanzaar revealed that the competition would be returning to a 15-team competition.

Consequently, two South African and one Australian franchise would cease to exist at the end of the 2017 competition.

The addition of the two South African franchises is a significant step in the rugby powerhouse breaking away from Sanzaar.

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It’s a logical step with South Africa and European rugby placed in the same time zone.

The addition of the two South African franchises has seen the championship introduce a new two-conference model.

Pro 14 CEO Martin Anayi said the move was historic and would further strengthen the competition.

“The arrival of the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings marks a bold and exciting new chapter for the Pro 14 as a global rugby championship,” Anayi said.

“As a country, South Africa is a rugby powerhouse of over 55 million people.

“These teams already operate to the high standards demanded by Super Rugby and they will add to the quality of our tournament.”

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said the board was unanimous in approving the move.

“Following consideration of Pro 14’s submission, including strategic goals and evaluation of the global rugby benefits, World Rugby was unanimous in approving expansion,” Beaumont said.

“This approval was granted under the proviso that key strategic conditions will be met.

“This includes the implementation of a detailed player welfare plan, which we are delighted Pro 14 are fully committed to.”

Meanwhile, the ARU continues to battle to cull one of their own franchises.

On April 10 the ARU announced that they would be culling either the Western Force or Melbourne Rebels within 48-72 hours.

But the announcement was premature with neither the Force or Rebels prepared to take a backwards step and having grounds to stop the ARU dead in their tracks.

On Monday, RugbyWA and the ARU began arbitration in Sydney to settle the issue.

Despite being owned by the ARU, RugbyWA is believed to be arguing that under the current agreement with the ARU they are legally entitled to a Super Rugby spot until the end of the broadcast deal in 2020.

The national body will argue that the new competition means an entirely new broadcast agreement.

A decision is not expected until next week at the earliest and the issue could continue for months.

Previously New Zealand Rugby has remained coy on the subject, but have not expressed any interest in entering a trans-Tasman competition.</s>South Africa's two clubs that were axed from Super Rugby have been confirmed to participate in an expanded Pro14 competition in Europe.

The Cheetahs and Southern Kings will join the championship, that also includes teams from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy, in time for the 2017-18 season.

The tournament will be split into two conferences of seven.

Each conference will be made up of two Welsh and two Irish teams, with one representative each from Scotland, Italy and South Africa.

The Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs and Port Elizabeth-based Kings will play their home games in South Africa.

It's been speculated that if the Cheetahs and Kings are successful in their transition, South Africa's four remaining Super Rugby teams might seek to play in European competitions when SANZAAR's broadcast deal expires in 2020.</s>South African teams Cheetahs and Southern Kings will join an expanded Pro14 in time for the 2017-18 season, competition organisers confirmed on Tuesday.

The move increases the number of teams in the league, which grew out of the Celtic League and was previously known as the Pro12, from 12 to 14.

The championship will be split into two seven-team conferences, each containing two Welsh teams, two Irish teams and one club from each of Scotland, Italy and South Africa.

"The arrival of the Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings marks a bold and exciting new chapter for the Guinness PRO14 as a global rugby championship," said Pro14 chief executive Martin Anayi.

"South Africa is a rugby powerhouse of over 55 million people. These teams already operate to the high standards demanded by Super Rugby and they will add to the quality of our tournament.

"The appeal of professional club rugby has never been greater and we aim to be at the forefront of the game's growth around the world."

The Cheetahs, from Bloemfontein, and the Port Elizabeth-based Kings will play their home games in South Africa.

They will only play on Saturdays and there will be five travel-free days before matches.

The Cheetahs and Kings will not be able to qualify for European competition.

The pair lost their places in the southern-hemisphere Super Rugby, which is being cut from 18 teams to 15, at the end of the current season, which ends on Saturday with the final between South Africa's Lions and New Zealanders Crusaders.

"This development is as exciting as the launch of Super Rugby itself back in 1996," said South Africa Rugby CEO Jurie Roux in a statement on the Pro14 website.

"It will not be without its challenges in aligning with a competition in a different part of the calendar and in very different playing conditions.

"But it is also a fantastic opportunity for South African rugby to widen our rugby horizons."

Conference A will feature the Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, Munster, Connacht, Glasgow, Zebre and Cheetahs.

Reigning champions Scarlets will line up alongside Dragons, Leinster, Ulster, Edinburgh, Treviso and the Southern Kings in Conference B.

Each team will play every other team in their own group home and away, in addition to one-off matches against all the teams in the other group.

Two additional rounds will guarantee the Welsh and Irish teams retain six derbies each, while the Scottish, Italian and South African teams will play each other three times.

Six teams will qualify for the end of season knock-out phase culminating in the Pro14 final.

The top three non-South African teams in each conference and the team with the next best points tally across both conferences will qualify for the Champions Cup.

The first round of the season is due to be played on the weekend of September 1-3. The fixtures have not yet been announced.</s>Celtic Rugby and the South African Rugby Union have today confirmed that the Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings will join an expanded Guinness Pro14 tournament in time for the upcoming 2017/18 season.

The South African teams have joined the former Celtic League after being cut from the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition.

The Southern Kings are based in the southern coastal city of Port Elizabeth, while the Cheetahs hail from the central city of Bloemfontein.

The 14 teams have been split into two conferences to avoid adding extra rounds of games but all derby fixtures between sides from the same countries have been retained.

Munster and Connacht have been matched with Ospreys, Cardiff, Glasgow, Zebre and Cheetahs in Conference A while Leinster and Ulster are in Conference B along with champions Scarlets, Dragons, Edinburgh, Treviso and the Kings.

Sides will play the teams in their conference twice, the derby teams in the other conference twice and the non- derby teams in the other conference once for a total of 21 games.

The Italian, Scottish and South African teams will play an additional derby fixture to even out the schedule.

Quarter-Finals have been introduced, allowing six clubs to reach the knock-out stages (teams 1-3 from each Conference).

The top three clubs from each conference will qualify for the Champions Cup while the team with the highest points total outside of those six teams across both conferences will claim the final Champions Cup place, replacing the former system where each country was guaranteed at least one place.

South African clubs will not be eligible to qualify for European tournaments.

The conferences have been designed to include an equal number of teams from each union in both conferences and have a competitive balance based upon the previous season's final placings - they will be reset each season to maintain this.

The fixtures for rounds 1-13 will be confirmed next week after the Championship's broadcast partners have made their selections for live television broadcasts and the clubs have been consulted.

Teams travelling to South Africa will be guaranteed seven days between games and when possible will play multiple games per trip.

"The arrival of the Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings marks a bold and exciting new chapter for the Guinness PRO14 as a global rugby championship," Pro14 CEO Martin Anayi said.

"As a country, South Africa is a rugby powerhouse of over 55 million people. These teams already operate to the high standards demanded by Super Rugby and they will add to the quality of our tournament."

"Our Unions and World Rugby are committed to broadening the game and this move is evidence of our ambition to lead the way in growing the club game beyond our own borders, which in turn will unlock the true potential of this tournament.

"Expansion is in the DNA of the championship and ever since the Celtic League kicked off in 2001, cross-border competition has thrived."

"This is a natural evolution for the championship and not only will the calibre of the Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings grow audiences, interest and the commercial base for the tournament and our clubs, it is a move that also lays the foundations for years to come."

Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby, said the decision to accept an invitation to play in the northern hemisphere competition was a ground-breaking move that added a whole new dimension to the South African season.

"This development is as exciting as the launch of Super Rugby itself back in 1996," said Roux. "It marks the start of a new adventure for rugby in South Africa with a number of exciting opportunities.

"It will not be without its challenges in aligning with a competition in a different part of the calendar and in very different playing conditions; but it is also a fantastic opportunity for South African rugby to widen our rugby horizons."</s>The Pro12 will be expanded to include South African side Southern Kings and Cheetahs from September, organisers have confirmed.

The expanded tournament will be called the Pro14 and see the teams split into two conferences of seven made up of two Welsh, two Irish and one team each from Scotland, Italy and South Africa.

The conferences have been decided based on last season's results.

Cheetahs and Kings will play their home games in South Africa.

They will play only Saturdays, and there will be five travel-free days before matches.

The first round of matches is due to be played on the weekend of 1-3 September, with the first fixtures to be announced on 7 August.

It is understood the addition of the two new teams will bring in an extra £6m a year in revenue.

"The arrival of the Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings marks a bold and exciting new chapter for the Guinness PRO14 as a global rugby Championship," said Pro14 chief executive Martin Anayi.

"South Africa is a rugby powerhouse of over 55 million people. These teams already operate to the high standards demanded by Super Rugby and they will add to the quality of our tournament.

"This is a natural evolution for the Championship... and we aim to be at the forefront of the game's growth around the world."
• Who are Cheetahs and Southern Kings?

The South African teams lost their places in the southern hemisphere Super Rugby, which is cutting from 18 teams to 15, at the end of last season.

The Pro12 grew out of the Celtic League, which was formed in 2001 but has seen many changes to participants and format during its existence.

Last season's tournament was won by Scarlets, who beat Munster in the play-off final in Dublin.

Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby, says the decision for South African team to play in a northern hemisphere tournament was groundbreaking.

"This development is as exciting as the launch of Super Rugby itself back in 1996," he said.

"It will not be without its challenges in aligning with a competition in a different part of the calendar and in very different playing conditions; but it is also a fantastic opportunity for South African rugby to widen our rugby horizons.

"We believe the Toyota Cheetahs' and Kings' participation will be good for the competition and good for the teams."</s>The South African expansion of the Pro12 to the newly formed Guinness Pro14 is likely to be just the first step in a radical shake-up of rugby worldwide, if Tuesday’s launch is anything to go by.

The prominent message from the announcement was that the inclusion of the Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings for the 2017/18 campaign is merely a dip in the ocean.

"The agreement means that the championship will take place across the northern and southern hemispheres and marks the first phase of expansion as the Guinness Pro14 becomes a truly global tournament," Celtic Rugby and the South African Rugby Union said in a joint statement.

In other sports, that might mean taking games between the likes of the Scarlets, Munster, Glasgow Warriors and many others and playing them abroad, much like the Aviva Premiership has experimented with their ventures into the United States and the Premier League’s long-term interest in the concept of a ‘39th game’.

But this is not what the two aforementioned rugby unions have in mind. With the Cheetahs and Southern Kings signed up for this season, and the South African Rugby Union evidently delighted at the prospect of tapping into a league that can actually boast credible match attendances unlike Super Rugby, there is a real chance that the rest of the nations’ clubs could follow.

The arrival of the pair could be the end of the hemisphere divide and the introduction of time zone rugby. The flight from Glasgow to Port Elizabeth may take more than 16 hours at best and involve two flight changes, but a squad will arrive on the other side of the world with no jet lag and be good to go within a matter of days – five to be precise with clubs required to complete five travel-free days before matches.

How the Pro14 will work:

There has been concern among the existing Pro12 that their new opponents aren’t really up to scratch, given they finished the Super Rugby season in the bottom half of the South African conference.

But the Cheetahs are not flying the 12,000-mile round trip to make up the numbers.

“There will be a steep learning curve for our coaches and players but we’re in it to win it,” said Harold Verster, chief executive officer of the Bloemfontein outfit.

“This is a whole new ball game for rugby in South Africa and we’re proud to be trail blazers. There is a lot of excitement around the union about the opportunity and we’re already looking forward to kick off.

“We’re excited about taking the Toyota Cheetahs’ famous brand of all-out attacking rugby to Europe and bringing top European clubs to South Africa.

“The Free State is one of the great nurseries of rugby in South Africa and this is an exciting prospect for our young players – to test themselves against top players from the northern hemisphere.”

There are issues here though. If South Africa leave Super Rugby, what becomes of Argentina’s sole representative, the Jaguares, who despite helping to promote rugby in South America could well start to feel isolated away from Australia, New Zealand and Japan? And if all South African sides leave in the near future, there will not be very many happy faces at whichever Australian side is forced to shut down, with Sanzar still requiring one more team to drop out before hitting the revised Super 15 next season.

“This development is as exciting as the launch of Super Rugby itself back in 1996,” Jurie Roux, CEO of South African Rugby Union added. “It marks the start of a new adventure for rugby in South Africa with a number of exciting opportunities. It will not be without its challenges in aligning with a competition in a different part of the calendar and in very different playing conditions; but it is also a fantastic opportunity for South African rugby to widen our rugby horizons.”

If the SARU are already acknowledging that having six teams split between two separate competitions staged over different seasons is a fairly major obstacle, there must be scope to group them all in one division.

And as the Pro14 officials have already stated, this is just the first step to their plans to become a global market. With talk like that already filling the airwaves, don’t be surprised to see plenty more Springboks heading this way.
In rugby union, Celtic Rugby Limited, organiser of the competition formerly known as Pro12, officially announces the addition of two former South African Super Rugby teams, the Cheetahs and Southern Kings, to the now-renamed Pro14 effective with the upcoming 2017–18 season.