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 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 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 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. "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. "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. 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. 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.
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.