The 2012–13 Pro12 League (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the third with its current 12-team format, and the second with

RaboDirect Rabobank (; full name: ''Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.'') is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation (Raboba ...

as title sponsor.

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

were the defending champions, but they failed to qualify for the end-of-season playoffs. The twelve teams that competed were the four Irish teams,

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

, Leinster, Connacht and Ulster; two Scottish teams, Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors; four Welsh teams,

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

, Newport Gwent Dragons,

and Scarlets; and two Italian teams, Benetton Treviso and newly created Zebre. The title was won by Leinster, defeating Ulster 24–18 in the final.

Changes for the season

Italy

Zebre replaced Aironi Rugby after they had their licence revoked by the

Italian Rugby Federation The Italian Rugby Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Rugby) or FIR is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Italy. The FIR has one seat on the 28-member World Rugby Council, the governing body of World Rugby. (All other members of ...

for financial reasons. Roberto Manghi will become their Head coach for their début season.

Scotland

Ahead of this season Glasgow Warriors moved home, leaving their previous home of

Firhill Firhill Stadium is a football and former rugby union, rugby league and greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland which has been the home of Partick Thistle since 1909. The stadium is commonly referred to as simp ...

in the Maryhill area of the city for the smaller Scotstoun Stadium. They also came into the season with a new head coach, with former Scotland stand-off Gregor Townsend replacing

Sean Lineen Sean Lineen (born 25 December 1961) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He was a former Head Coach of Glasgow Warriors from 2006 to 2012. He was a Director for the Scottish Rugby Union until December 2021. Rugby Union ca ...

Ireland

New Zealander Rob Penney replaced

Tony McGahan Tony McGahan is an Australian rugby union coach who is currently an assistant coach at the Queensland Reds. Early career Born in Queensland, Australia, a teacher by profession, a BE in Physical Education from Queensland University of Technology ...

as director of rugby at

, and fellow New Zealander

Mark Anscombe Mark Anscombe (born 1957) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, having played rugby spanning across 15 years. Anscombe (father of Welsh international Gareth Anscombe) has been a rugby union coach since 1994, coaching various ages and styles in both ...

replaced

Brian McLaughlin Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meani ...

as head coach of Ulster. In Munster, Paul O'Connell stood down as captain, with Doug Howlett announced as his replacement.

Wales

The Welsh regions saw a number of changes in coaching personnel, as Phil Davies took over the reins at

Steve Tandy Steve Tandy (born 16 January 1980) is a Welsh rugby union former player and coach. He played for Welsh region Ospreys for the majority of his career and went on to become head coach of the region after his retirement. He is now defence coach at S ...

replaced

Sean Holley Sean Holley (born 6 November 1970) is a Broadcaster and Rugby Union Coach Rugby career After a year in Australia playing sport Holley played for Maesteg RFC at centre and full back. He studied for a degree in Physical Education & Sports Science ...

head coach and former Ireland international Simon Easterby succeeding Nigel Davies at the Scarlets, after he departed to take over at English Premiership side Gloucester. Scarlets also announced that

Rob McCusker Robert McCusker (born 10 December 1985) is a Welsh former rugby union player, who played across the back row. McCusker began his career with the Scarlets, and also played for London Irish and the Ospreys (rugby union), Ospreys before retiring. Mc ...

would replace Matthew Rees as captain. On 28 August 2012, the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running ...

announced a new annual event which will feature all four regions playing in a doubleheader at

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

(similar to the long-established London Double Header in the English Premiership). The first of these events took place on 30 March 2013, with an initial contract set to run for four years.

Teams

Table

Fixtures

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

This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 4, on 21 September 2012 – was postponed due to the death of Ulster player Nevin Spence in a farming accident on 15 September.

Round 9

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Round 10

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Round 11

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1872 Cup 1st round

Welsh Round

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Round 12

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1872 Cup 2nd round

Round 13

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Round 14

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Round 15

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Round 16

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Round 17

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Round 18

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Round 19

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Judgement Day

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Round 20

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Round 21

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Round 19 rescheduled match

This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 19, on 30 March 2013 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Round 22

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Play-offs

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on the weekend of 10/11 May 2013; these followed a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system with the games being played at the home ground of the higher placed teams. ----

Final

The final was contested on Saturday, 25 May 2013, between the winners of the two semi-finals.

Leading scorers

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

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

End-of-season awards

2012/2013 Dream Team

Notes

References

External links

*
2012–13 Pro12 at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pro12 2012-13 2012–13 in Irish rugby union 2012–13 in Welsh rugby union 2012–13 in Scottish rugby union 2012–13 in Italian rugby union