The 2019–20 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 nineteenth 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 The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

. It was the third season to be referred to as the ''PRO14'' (the competition was named the ''Pro12'' immediately prior to the addition of two South African teams). Fourteen 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 Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

; 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 ...

; two South African teams:

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 ...

and the

Southern Kings The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They w ...

; 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 ...

. On 12 March 2020, the season was suspended 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 ...

. It restarted on 22 August in a truncated format. It was won by

, their third consecutive Pro14 title, and the second occasion on which they had achieved a

Perfect season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, but has occurred more commonly at th ...

by winning every match - a feat achieved by no other team in the competition's history.

Teams

Competition format

; League Stage The fourteen teams are split into two conferences of seven teams, with each conference featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales plus one team from Italy, Scotland and South Africa. To ensure a competitive balance, the teams are distributed approximately evenly between the conferences based upon their performance in the previous season. The regular season was due to be made up of 21 rounds. The original schedule was planned as follows –
6 home and 6 away games against each team in their own conference
7 games, either home or away, against the teams in the other conference
2 additional regional derbies *Each Irish team plays the two Irish teams in the other conference, one at home and one away *Each Welsh team plays the two Welsh teams in the other conference, one at home and one away *The two Italian teams play each other twice, home and away *The two Scottish teams play each other twice, home and away *The two South African teams play each other twice, home and away

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

All teams played their normal schedule until round 13 after which an additional two rounds of derby matches were played by the 12 European teams. The Southern Kings announced in August 2020 that they had voluntarily withdrawn from the league for the remainder of 2020 and therefore there will not be South African derbies. League Play-Offs The first and second placed teams in each conferences will meet in the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals will then meet in the grand final. Champions Cup Qualification The top four eligible European teams in both conferences automatically qualify for the

2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby ...

. (The South African teams do not compete in the Champions Cup.) Qualification is based on league position after round 13.

Team changes

Ireland

Connacht underwent a rebranding during the off-season, updating their team crest in the process. During the course of the season, the planned redevelopment of the Sportsground was boosted by the commitment of €20 million from the Irish government. Leinster's highest profile departure in the off-season was Seán O'Brien, who made over 100 appearances and was the side's former vice-captain. With captain

Johnny Sexton Jonathan Jeremiah Sexton (born 11 July 1985) is an Irish former professional rugby union player who played as a Fly-half (rugby union), fly-half and Captain (sports), captained the Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland national team from ...

and vice-captain

Rhys Ruddock Rhys Ruddock (born 13 November 1990) is a professional rugby union player. He played for Leinster Rugby, Leinster and Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland. He plays in the backrow, at 6 or 8. In the 2009/2010 season, he captained the Irish ...

missing the start of the season due to the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, Scott Fardy served as team captain in the opening rounds. Munster's backs coach

Felix Jones Felix Jones Jr. (born May 8, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for the Arkansas Razo ...

and forwards coach

Jerry Flannery Jeremiah Paul Flannery (born 17 October 1978) is an Irish rugby union former player and current coach. During his playing career, Flannery, a hooker, played for Munster and Ireland, before being forced to retire in March 2012 due to injury pro ...

left the province when their contracts expired in June 2019. Former attack coach for the Australian national team,

Stephen Larkham Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australians, Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of head coach for Brumbies. He spent his career with the Brumbies (rugby), Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he playe ...

, was signed by the province as a senior coach ahead of the season, while Graham Rowntree joined as their new forwards coach after the completion of his duties with

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

at the World Cup. The team's regular captain,

Peter O'Mahony Peter James O'Mahony (born 17 September 1989) is an Irish former rugby union player who played as a flanker. O'Mahony played as a flanker. During his career, O'Mahony has captained Presentation Brothers College, Ireland U18, Ireland U20, ...

, missed the opening rounds of the tournament due to the World Cup, during which time Billy Holland captained the side. Long-serving Ulster captain

Rory Best Rory David Best (born 15 August 1982) is an Irish former rugby union player who was the captain of the Ireland national team from 2016 to 2019. He played hooker for Ulster and was registered for Banbridge RFC. Best earned 124 caps for Irelan ...

announced in April 2019 that he would retire from rugby after the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

Iain Henderson William Iain Henderson (born 21 February 1992) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for United Rugby Championship club Ulster and the Ireland national team, and has been selected for two tours with the British & Irish Lions ...

replaced Best as captain. With Henderson unavailable in the opening rounds due to the World Cup, the side was captained by Rob Herring. Herring was later called up to the World Cup as an injury replacement, and the captaincy went to Billy Burns.

Italy

Scotland

South Africa

Cheetahs announced in June 2019 that Hawies Fourie had replaced

Franco Smith Petrus Francois Smith (born 29 July 1972 in Lichtenburg, South Africa) is a former South African international rugby union player. He is now the head coach for Glasgow Warriors. His regular playing position was fly-half or centre. Playing c ...

as their head coach.

Wales

Then-

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

assistant coach Brad Mooar was confirmed as

Wayne Pivac Wayne Pivac (born 1962) is a New Zealand rugby union coach who is the head coach of the Green Rockets Tokatsu, NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu who play in the Japan Rugby League One. In November 2019 he replaced Warren Gatland as the Wales national ru ...

's replacement as Scarlets head coach in December 2018, with Pivac leaving the region to take over from

Warren Gatland Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand former rugby union player and the former head coach of the Wales national rugby union team, Wales national team. As a player, he was a Hooker (rugby union), hooker and was one of ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

' head coach after the

. Scarlets also appointed then- Highlanders defence coach and former

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

head coach Glenn Delaney as their new defence coach, replacing the outgoing

Byron Hayward Byron Idris Hayward (born 22 May 1969) is a former international rugby union full back who played for Wales and Wales A. He had an impressive debut for Wales scoring three tries in his first international match against Zimbabwe. Hayward caused ...

. Dragons announced the departure of head coach Bernard Jackman in December 2018, with Ceri Jones replacing Jackman on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, before the region confirmed in May 2019 that Dean Ryan would join in the newly created director of rugby position.

Table

Match summary

Conference Rounds 1 to 13

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

1872 Cup 1st round

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Round 9

1872 Cup 2nd round

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Round 10

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Round 8 (South Africa)

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Round 9 (South Africa)

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Round 11

*Postponed due to bad weather. Game to be rescheduled for 6 March 2020. ----

Round 12

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Round 13

*Postponed due to coronavirus fears. Awarded as a 0–0 draw *Postponed due to coronavirus fears. Awarded as a 0–0 draw ----

Round 11 (rescheduled game)

*Rescheduled from 15 February 2020.

Additional Derby Rounds

Round 14

1872 Cup 3rd round

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Round 15

Judgement Day

Play-offs

In a change to the normal format, the top two sides from each of the two conferences met in the two semi-finals to determine the finalists. The quarter-finals featuring the second and third teams in each conference were scrapped for the 2019–20 season.

Semi-finals

Final

Referees

Attendances by club

* Includes quarter-finals and semi-finals – the final is not included as it is held at a neutral venue. Due to the Conference A & B structure of 21 rounds in the Pro14, some teams played 10 league home games during the league stage, while others played 11. Does not include European Champions Cup play-off game.

Highest attendances

End of Season Awards

PRO14 Dream Team

The 2019–20 Pro14 Dream Team is:

Award winners

The 2019–20 Pro14 season award winners are:

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 2019–20 in European rugby union leagues 2019-20 2019–20 in Irish rugby union 2019–20 in Italian rugby union 2019–20 in Scottish rugby union 2019–20 in Welsh rugby union 2019 in South African rugby union 2020 in South African rugby union