The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ...

PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

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 par ...

. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''PRO14'' (the competition was named the ''Pro12'' immediately prior to the addition of two South African teams). Twelve teams competed in this season — four Irish teams: Connacht,

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 Ir ...

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 th ...

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 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 b ...

; two Scottish teams:

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

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 ...

; and 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 ...

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 ...

. Neither of the two South African teams competed this season, with the

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 ...

unable to compete 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 identified ...

, 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 wer ...

having entered into voluntary liquidation due to heavy financial losses. Due to the delays experienced during the 2019–20 season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 season started later than usual on the 2 October 2020. Leinster were the defending champions, having defeated Ulster 27–5 in the 2019–20 final to defend their title and complete a hat-trick of title wins. It was won by Leinster who defeated Munster in the final on 27 March, it was their fourth consecutive Pro14 title and 8th overall. On 23 December 2020 it was announced that the 2020-21 PRO14 season would conclude on 27 March 2021 after 16 rounds, and will be followed by the

Pro14 Rainbow Cup The Pro14 Rainbow Cup (also known as the Guinness Pro14 Rainbow Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a professional rugby union end-of-season cup competition played in 2021 that consisted of two separate tournaments: the Rainbow Cup for twelve Europe ...

, a competition featuring the four former South African

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

sides, the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports * Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

and

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

. The Rainbow Cup would consist of two dual tournaments; one for the northern hemisphere teams and one for the four South African teams. The northern hemisphere tournament will run from 23 April to 19 June 2021.

Teams

Competition format

; League Stage The twelve teams were split into two conferences of six teams, with each conference featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales plus one team from Italy and Scotland. To ensure a competitive balance, the teams were distributed approximately evenly between the conferences based upon their performance in the previous season. The regular season consisted of 16 rounds, a home-and-away double round robin with same conference opponents (10 matches), and a home or away tie against each team in the other conference (6 matches). This represented a reduction from previous years, due to a delayed start and in order to make space for the PRO14 Rainbow Cup to be played following the conclusion of the season, which will introduce former Super Rugby teams into the Pro14 competitions. ; Final The top-ranked team in each conference met in the final on 27 March 2021. ; Champions Cup Qualification The organiser of the

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, EPCR, has not yet confirmed the format for the 2021–22 tournament. If the usual qualification rules apply, at least seven PRO14 teams would qualify. The top three teams in each conference would qualify automatically. Previously, the winner of a playoff match between the fourth-ranked eligible teams in each conference became the seventh qualifying team. However, the organiser has confirmed that no play-off game will be used for European qualification this season and that rankings after round 16 will be used to determine which teams will qualify. The seventh qualifying team would be the fourth-ranked team which accumulated the most match points. It is unclear if there will be any further qualifiers as it will influenced by the format of the 2021-22 tournament and, potentially, the final placings in the 2020-21 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. In April 2021 EPCR confirmed a 24 team tournament featuring the top 8 teams.

Team changes

Ireland

Italy

Scotland

South Africa

entered liquidation in September 2020 and withdrew from the league, while the

did not compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a vote by the

South African Rugby Union The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board ...

, the four former South African

sides, the

and

, are likely to join an expanded tournament beginning in the 2021–22 season. The future of the Cheetahs is in doubt and they will likely be withdrawn from the PRO14.

Wales

Table

Match summary

Rounds 1 to 16

Fixtures for the first 11 rounds of matches were announced on 23 September 2020. Several matches were scheduled on Monday nights to avoid clashes with the extended international calendar. The remaining fixtures for rounds 12 to 16 were confirmed on the 25th of January 2021. 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)

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Round 6 (rescheduled match)

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Round 9

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Round 10

1872 Cup 1st round

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Round 9 (rescheduled match)

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Round 11

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Round 9 (rescheduled match)

1872 Cup 2nd round

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Round 14 (rescheduled match)

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Round 11 (rescheduled match)

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Round 9 (rescheduled match)

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Round 8 (rescheduled match)

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Round 5 (rescheduled match)

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Round 8 (rescheduled match)

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Round 5 (rescheduled match)

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Round 12

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Round 13

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Round 14

*Postponed due to the

were awarded four match points. ----

Round 15

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Round 16

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Round 11 (rescheduled match)

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Round 7 (rescheduled match)

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Play-offs

Final

Referees

Pro14 2018–19 14-man referee elite squad: (number of matches refereed): * Mike Adamson (

SRU SRU may refer to: Organizations * Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island, US * Scottish Rugby Union * Shri Rawatpura Sarkar University, Chhattisgarh, India * Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, US * Sri Ramachandra University, Chenna ...

) – (21) *

Stuart Berry Stuart Berry is a rugby union referee on the elite panel of the South African Rugby Union that has been included on the Super Rugby refereeing panel since 2011. He was born in Durban and schooled at Hillcrest High School before he attained a M ...

(

SARU The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board a ...

) – (14) * Andrew Brace (

IRFU The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

) – (35) * George Clancy (

) – (102) * Ian Davies ( WRU) – (72) * Sean Gallagher (

) – (9) * Quinton Immelman (

) – (10) * Dan Jones ( WRU) – (14) * John Lacey (

) – (70) *

Lloyd Linton Lloyd Linton (born 1 July 1988) is a professional rugby union referee who represented the Scottish Rugby Union. He has since moved to Germany to continue his medical career. Rugby union career Playing career Amateur career He played rugby uni ...

(

) – (21) *

Marius Mitrea Marius Mitrea (born 25 February 1982) is a rugby union referee who represents the Italian Rugby Federation. Born in Romania, Mitrea moved to Treviso, Italy in 1999 after he finished high school, where he learnt Italian, Spanish, French and Englis ...

(

FIR Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...

) – (78) *

Frank Murphy William Francis Murphy (April 13, 1890July 19, 1949) was an American politician, lawyer and jurist from Michigan. He was a Democrat who was named to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940 after a political career that included serving ...

(

) – (14) *

Andrea Piardi Andrea Piardi (born 1992 in Brescia) is an Italian rugby referee. Career Piardi was born in Brescia in 1992. Having previously refereed in the Italian Top12, he made his Pro14 refereeing debut in a match between and the on 15 February 201 ...

(

) – (1) *

Nigel Owens Nigel Owens, (born 18 June 1971) is a Welsh former international rugby union referee, who retired in December 2020 after a 17-year career. He currently holds the world record for the most test matches refereed and is one of five international re ...

( WRU) – (166) *

Ben Whitehouse Ben Whitehouse (born 9 August 1990) is a Welsh rugby union referee. He is currently one of five professional referees at the Welsh Rugby Union, alongside Craig Evans and Adam Jones. Career Whitehouse started refereeing at the age of 19, during ...

( WRU) – (46) Note: Additional referees are used throughout the season, selected from a select development squad.

Attendances by club

Highest attendances

End of Season Awards

PRO14 Dream Team

The 2020–21 Pro14 Dream team is:

Award winners

The 2020–21 Pro14 award winners were:

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 2020–21 in European rugby union leagues 2020-21 2020–21 in Irish rugby union 2020–21 in Italian rugby union 2020–21 in Scottish rugby union 2020–21 in Welsh rugby union 2020 in South African rugby union 2021 in South African rugby union