The 2015–16 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth 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, and the sixth with its current four-country format. it was the second season to be referred to as the ''
Guinness Pro12''.
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 ...
,
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 Treviso and
Zebre; 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 and four Welsh teams:
Cardiff Blues,
Newport Gwent Dragons,
Ospreys and
Scarlets. The first stage involved the twelve teams playing home and away in a league format with the top four sides qualifying for the semi-finals. The semi finals were one legged affairs with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd and the higher ranked team gaining home advantage. The winners of the semi-finals proceeded to the Pro12 final, held at
Murrayfield Stadium in
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 ...
, Scotland.
Glasgow were the defending champions having beaten Munster 31–13 in the previous season's
play-off final, taking their first Pro12 title. They were unable to defend their title, after losing 16–11 to Connacht in the play-off semi-final. Connacht – who qualified for the play-offs for the first time – then proceeded to defeat Leinster 20–10 in the final, to become the seventh team to win the league title. Connacht had one of the top try scorers for the season, as
Matt Healy and along with Ulster's
Craig Gilroy, each scored 10 tries during the season.
Rhys Patchell of Cardiff Blues was the competition's top points scorer, with 174.
Changes for the season
All countries
With the
2015 Rugby World Cup
The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...
taking place during the opening months of the season, changes were made to the usual fixture schedule to minimise the effect on teams who released players to take part. The low number of games in the opening weeks of the season led to fixture congestion at the end of the tournament, with team playing a game every weekend for 16 weeks straight from October 2015 to January 2016, including European matches.
As in the previous season, qualification to the
Champions Cup was guaranteed to the top team from each country participating in the league, with the three highest placed team's not already qualified also earning a berth. Unlike in the previous season where the 20th tournament spot was decided by a play-off involving teams from the Pro12, France's
Top 14
The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...
and the
English Premiership, due to fixture congestion from the World Cup, the final spot in the tournament was reserved for the winner of the
2015 Challenge Cup if not already qualified.
Ireland
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 ...
came into the season without their long-serving forwards coach
Dan McFarland, following his move to
Glasgow Warriors. McFarland had been with Connacht as a player and later coach since 2000. It was also the team's first season in the competition without
Michael Swift, their former captain who retired as the record holder for appearances both in the league and for the province.
Following a disappointing 2014–15 season,
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 ...
terminated the contract of head coach
Matt O'Connor. Former captain and previous season's forwards coach
Leo Cullen was initially named as temporary head coach following the dismissal, before being named to the position permanently on a two-year deal. With the previous season's captain
Jamie Heaslip missing the start of the season to play for
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
at the World Cup,
Kevin McLaughlin was named captain of the team. After suffering a concussion in the first game of the season however, McLaughlin was forced to retire from the game, and was replaced in the role by
Isa Nacewa who rejoined Leinster after returning from retirement. The season also saw the departure of
Gordon D'Arcy, record holder for appearances for the province. D'Arcy had announced his intention to retire after the World Cup earlier in the year, but ultimately didn't make the final Irish squad and played with Leinster until the conclusion of the tournament.
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 ...
captain
Peter O'Mahony missed the early season due to the World Cup, and suffered a serious injury in Ireland's game against
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. South Africa-born player
CJ Stander, who became Irish-qualified during the course of the season, served as captain in his place. The close season also saw the departure of long-serving players
Donncha O'Callaghan and
Paul O'Connell, both of whom had played for the province since before the league's foundation. O'Callaghan, the province's record holder for appearances, was released from the final year of his contract to join newly promoted
English Premiership side
Worcester Warriors. Like O'Callaghan, O'Connell was released from the final year of his contract on request. He agreed a deal to join
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department.
The Commune of Toulon h ...
after the World Cup on a two-year deal, but an injury suffered at the tournament ultimately forced him to retire from the game before he could play for them.
Over a year after the departures of
David Humphreys and
Mark Anscombe,
Les Kiss took over as
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 ...
Director of Rugby in October 2015.
Neil Doak, who had served as head coach while Kiss continued in his role as Ireland defence coach, remained on the coaching staff working under him. With
Rory Best away at the World Cup during the start of the season,
Rob Herring was named captain on an interim basis.
Italy
Benetton Treviso's captain
Antonio Pavanello retired from playing at the end of the previous season, taking up a role as Sporting Director.
Alessandro Zanni was named as his replacement, with
Davide Giazzon and
Edoardo Gori
Edoardo Ugo Gori (born 5 March 1990, in Borgo San Lorenzo) was an Italian rugby union player and currently he played as Scrum-half. He represented Italy on 69 occasions with 5 tries.
From 2010 to 2019 he played for Benetton Rugby.
In 2019 ...
as his vice-captains. With all three players away representing
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in the World Cup, the role was taken by
Alberto De Marchi for the early part of the tournament. Umberto Casellato was the team coach at the beginning of the season but was sacked in January 2016, being replaced with Marius Goosen.
At the start of the season
George Biagi replaced
Marco Bortolami as
Zebre's captain. Following the replacement of head coach Andrea Cavinato with Víctor Jiménez during the course of the previous season, Gianluca Guidi entered the tournament as the team's new coach.
Scotland
It was reported during the summer of 2015 that
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 ...
may play some of their home games in
Hibernian F.C.'s
Easter Road during the season with a view to a permanent ground sharing deal. This is due to
Murrayfield Stadium having a capacity of over 67,000 while Edinburgh's home games draw average home crowds of around 4,000. No deal was finalised however, and all of the team's home games were again played at Murrayfield.
Reigning champions
Glasgow Warriors came into the season without an appointed captain, following the retirement of
Alastair Kellock.
Gregor Townsend named
Peter Murchie as captain for the duration of the World Cup, with the intention of naming a permanent successor after his international players had returned. In November 2015, it was announced that
Jonny Gray would take over the captaincy. During the season, Glasgow were forced to play some home matches in the Pro12 and
Champions Cup in
Kilmarnock F.C.'s
Rugby Park
Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...
due to heavy rainfall making
Scotstoun unplayable.
Wales
Following the departure of Director of Rugby
Mark Hammett in February 2015, for personal reasons,
Cardiff Blues appointed
Danny Wilson their head coach ahead of the new season, replacing caretakers Dale McIntosh and Paul John. The new season also saw veteran prop
Gethin Jenkins named captain, replacing
Matthew Rees. With Jenkins away at the World Cup with
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 ...
,
Josh Navidi captained the team in their early games.
Newport Gwent Dragons captain
Lee Byrne was forced to retire in April 2015 after he failed to recover from a shoulder injury. It was announced in July 2015 that Welsh international
T. Rhys Thomas would captain the side for the 2015–16 season.
Ospreys captain
Alun Wyn Jones missed the start of the season while playing for Wales at the World Cup. In his absence, the side was captained by
Lloyd Ashley. Ashley had previously taken on the role at under-age level and in the
Anglo-Welsh Cup
The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...
.
Both
Scarlets captain
Ken Owens and vice-captain
Scott Williams went to the World Cup with Wales, missing the opening rounds of the league. New Zealand born centre
Hadleigh Parkes captained the side until their return.
Teams
Table
Fixtures
All times are local.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
1872 Cup 1st round
Round 11
1872 Cup 2nd round
Round 12
Round 13
Round 12 rescheduled match
This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 12, on 8 January 2016 – was postponed due to a
European Rugby Champions Cup fixture rearrangement that occurred as a result of
the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015.
[
]
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 12 rescheduled match
This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 12, on 8 January 2016 – was postponed due to a European Rugby Champions Cup fixture rearrangement that occurred as a result of the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015.[
]
Round 9 rescheduled match
This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 9, on 5 December 2015 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Round 18
Round 19
Round 12 rescheduled match
This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 12, on 8 January 2016 – was postponed due to a European Rugby Champions Cup fixture rearrangement that occurred as a result of the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015.[
]
Round 20
Round 21
Judgement Day
;Notes:
* The 68,262 crowd for the two matches, was a Judgement Day and Pro12 match record.
Round 22
Play-offs
Semi-finals
----
Final
Attendances
Reference:
By club
*Includes semi-finals but not final at Murrayfield
Highest attendances
End of Season Awards
PRO12 Dream Team
Award winners
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.
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
Notes
References
External links
*
2015–16 Pro12 at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pro12
2015-16
2015–16 in Irish rugby union
2015–16 in Italian rugby union
2015–16 in Scottish rugby union
2015–16 in Welsh rugby union