Connacht are transferring to Conference B in a shake up for the 2019/2020 season of the Guinness PRO14 as the rugby tournament enters its third year.
All of the Irish provinces have now swapped conferences in the first redrawing of the Guinness PRO14 since it expanded in 2017.
But Connacht Rugby remain paired with Munster, and Leinster and Ulster are also still together as they move up to Conference A.
These new conferences were drawn up based on this season’s rankings, and will remain the same for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons.
The organisers said that “Using the Conference tables completed after Round 21 of the 2018/19 Guinness PRO14 season, teams were ordered from one to 14 based upon their final points totals and then ranked within their union.”
“The criteria for placing teams in each Conference relies on competitiveness and ensuring an equal spread of teams from each union are present in both Conferences. Full methodology and process is listed further in this text.”
How the Conferences were drawn:
First, all teams were placed into a consolidated table
1 Glasgow Warriors (81 pts)
2 Munster Rugby (77)
3 Leinster Rugby (76)
4 Ulster Rugby (63)
5 Connacht Rugby (61)
6 Ospreys Rugby (58)
7 Benetton Rugby (57)
8 Cardiff Blues (54)
9 Scarlets (52)
10 Edinburgh Rugby (51)
11 Toyota Cheetahs (46)
12 Dragons Rugby (26)
13 Isuzu Southern Kings (22)
14 Zebre Rugby Club (19)
Next each team was slotted into their union ranking
SCO 1: Glasgow Warriors (81)
SCO 2: Edinburgh Rugby (51)
ITA 1: Benetton Rugby (57)
ITA 2: Zebre Rugby Club (19)
SA 1: Toyota Cheetahs (46)
SA 2: Isuzu Southern Kings (22)
IRE 1: Munster Rugby (77)
IRE 2: Leinster Rugby (76)
IRE 3: Ulster Rugby (63)
IRE 4: Connacht Rugby (61)
WAL 1: Ospreys Rugby (58)
WAL 2: Cardiff Blues (54)
WAL 3: Scarlets (52)
WAL 4: Dragons (26)
As the team with the most points Glasgow Warriors were placed into Conference A to allow the population to follow the sequence below:
Conference A
Scotland 1 (Glasgow Warriors)
Ireland 2 (Leinster Rugby)
Ireland 3 (Ulster Rugby)
Wales 1 (Ospreys Rugby)
Wales 4 (Dragons Rugby)
Italy 2 (Zebre Rugby Club)
South Africa 1 (Toyota Cheetahs)
Conference B
Scotland 2 (Edinburgh Rugby)
Ireland 1 (Munster Rugby)
Ireland 4 (Connacht Rugby)
Wales 2 (Cardiff Blues)
Wales 3 (Scarlets)
Italy 1 (Benetton Rugby)
South Africa 2 (Isuzu Southern Kings)
This sequencing is put in place to ensure each union is equally represented in each Conference which is a guiding principal of the format of the Guinness PRO14.
photo credit: Laszlo Geczo
