The 2013–14 Pro12 (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Pro12

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 fourth with its current 12-team format, and the third with RaboDirect as title sponsor.

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 ...

were the defending champions, having beaten

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 ...

in the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

playoff final. The twelve competing teams were the 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 ...

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

; 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 ...

; 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 ...

, Newport Gwent Dragons, 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 ...

; and two Italian teams, Benetton Treviso 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 ...

Changes for the season

Ireland

New Zealand native Pat Lam replaced

Eric Elwood Eric Elwood is a former Irish rugby union player from Galway. He played as a fly-half. He played for Ireland internationally, and provincially for Connacht. He was on the Coláiste Iognáid team that won the Connacht Schools Rugby Senior Cup ...

as head coach of

, following Elwood's decision to step down, while out-half Dan Parks took on a coaching role with Connacht U18 Schools and Clubs while continuing to play with the senior team. Following changes between captains in previous seasons the start of the season saw three players, Gavin Duffy, John Muldoon and Michael Swift, captain the side jointly. After a poor run of form culminating in a 43–10 defeat against

, former Chiefs captain Craig Clarke was made team captain. Following the departure of head coach Joe Schmidt, who left to take over the Irish national team,

were coached by Matt O'Connor. O'Connor joined Leinster from 2012–13 Aviva Premiership winners

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

. Back row player, Peter O'Mahony was appointed as

captain following the retirement of previous captain Doug Howlett. Munster entered their first league season without long-serving out-half

Ronan O'Gara Ronan John Ross O'Gara (born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach. O'Gara played as a fly-half and is Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland's third most-capped player and second highest points scorer. He i ...

, as he moved to a coaching role with Racing Métro following his retirement from playing. He left as the team's all-time leading scorer, as well as the record holder for number of appearances for the province.

Italy

Scotland

With the departure of Michael Bradley, who left the team after two seasons as coach,

were coached by South Africa native Alan Solomons. Solomons joined the team after coming from a Director of Rugby role with South African side, the Southern Kings.

Wales

replaced the grass playing surface at their home grounds with a new artificial pitch. On 16 August 2013, hooker Matthew Rees was named as captain for the season in place of

Andries Pretorius Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius (27 November 179823 July 1853) was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa ...

. However, Rees was later diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

, and was forced to take a leave of absence from the game to receive treatment. Former Ospreys and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

coach

Lyn Jones Richard Lyn Jones (born 5 June 1964) is a Wales international rugby union former player. Originally playing as a flanker, Jones subsequently became a coach. He played most of his playing career for Neath RFC and started his coaching career at t ...

was appointed Director of Rugby for Newport Gwent Dragons, with former Wales captain Kingsley Jones as his assistant. Previous season's head coach Darren Edwards stays on with the club, working under Lyn Jones in the new structure. Also, after serving as skipper for the side in the 2012–13 season, Lewis Evans was replaced by Andrew Coombs as Dragons captain.

Teams

Table

Fixtures

The weekend dates for the 2013–14 season were announced on 19 July 2013. 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 9

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Round 10

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Round 11

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1872 Cup 1st round

Round 12

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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 14 rescheduled match

This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 14, on 14 February 2014 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Round 17

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Round 18

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Round 13 rescheduled match

This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 13, on 9 February 2014 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Round 10 rescheduled match

This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 10, on 20 December 2013 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Round 19

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Round 20

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Judgement Day

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Round 12 rescheduled match

1872 Cup 2nd round

This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 12, on 1 January 2014 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Round 21

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Round 22

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Play-offs

Semi-finals

The semi-finals will follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system with the games being played at the home ground of the higher placed teams. ----

Final

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

2013/2014 Dream Team

References

External links

*
2013–14 Pro12 at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pro12 2013-14 2013–14 in Irish rugby union 2013–14 in Welsh rugby union 2013–14 in Scottish rugby union 2013–14 in Italian rugby union