The 2019–20 PRO14 (also known as the '' Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth season of the professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

competition originally known as the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, 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 part ...

. 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 ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

, Munster and

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

; two Italian teams: Benetton and Zebre; two Scottish teams:

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and

Glasgow Warriors 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 became t ...

; two South African teams:

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

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 we ...

; and four Welsh teams: Cardiff Blues,

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

, 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 the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

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

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

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

, their third consecutive Pro14 title.

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 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 and vice-captain

Rhys Ruddock Rhys Ruddock (born 13 November 1990) is a professional rugby union player. He currently plays for St Mary's College RFC and Leinster. He plays in the backrow, at 6 or 8. In the 2009/2010 season, he captained the Irish U20s to winning the Six Nat ...

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 concept i ...

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

Felix Jones Felix Jones Jr. (born May 8, 1987) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at the University of Arkansas and was drafted by t ...

and forwards coach Jerry Flannery 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 Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of head coach for Brumbies. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the pro ...

, 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 Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

at the World Cup. The team's regular captain, Peter O'Mahony, missed the opening rounds of the tournament due to the World Cup, during which time

Billy Holland Billy Holland (born 3 August 1985) is an Irish former rugby union player, who spent his entire career playing for his native province of Munster Rugby, Munster, whilst also earning a single international cap for Ireland national rugby union te ...

captained the side. Long-serving Ulster captain

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

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 match ...

. Iain Henderson 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 as their head coach.

Wales

Then-

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

assistant coach Brad Mooar was confirmed as

Wayne Pivac Wayne Pivac (born 1962) is a New Zealand rugby union coach. In November 2019 he replaced Warren Gatland as the Wales national team coach. A former sworn officer in the New Zealand Police, he was a constable at the Takapuna police station on A ...

'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 rugby union coach and former player who is currently in his second spell as the head coach of the Wales national team. As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won four Six N ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

' head coach after the

. Scarlets also appointed then- Highlanders defence coach and former

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

head coach Glenn Delaney as their new defence coach, replacing the outgoing Byron Hayward. 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 world 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 rug ...

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