2018–19 Pro14

2018–19 Pro14
Countries	Ireland Italy Scotland South Africa Wales
Date	31 August 2018 – 25 May 2019
Champions	Leinster (6th title)
Runners-up	Glasgow Warriors
Matches played	152
Attendance	1,252,435 (average 8,240 per match)
Highest attendance	51,297 Dragons v Scarlets, Cardiff v Ospreys (27 April 2019)
Lowest attendance	1,142 Kings v Leinster (4 November 2018)
Tries scored	881 (average 5.8 per match)
Top point scorer	Jack Carty (Connacht) (157 points)
Top try scorer	Rabz Maxwane (Cheetahs) (14 tries)
Official website
www.pro14rugby.org
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the Guinness Pro14 for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the Pro14 (the competition was named the Pro12 immediately prior to the addition of two South African teams).^[1][2]

Fourteen teams competed in 2018-19 — four Irish teams: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; two Italian teams: Benetton and Zebre; two Scottish teams: Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors; two South African teams: Cheetahs and the Southern Kings; and four Welsh teams: Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets.

Leinster were the defending champions, having won the 2017–18 final at the Aviva Stadium to take their fifth title in the competition's various iterations and seal a domestic league and European Cup double, becoming only the sixth team to do so and the first from the Pro14.^[3]

Location of Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams: Ulster Connacht Leinster Munster Glasgow Warriors Edinburgh Scarlets Ospreys Dragons Cardiff	Location of Italian teams: Benetton Zebre Parma Location of South African teams: Southern Kings Cheetahs
Conference A; Conference B.

Team	Coach / Director of Rugby	Captain	Stadium/s	Capacity
Benetton	Kieran Crowley	Dean Budd	Stadio Comunale di Monigo	6,700
Cardiff Blues	John Mulvihill	Ellis Jenkins	Cardiff Arms Park	12,125
Cheetahs	Franco Smith	Oupa Mohojé	Free State Stadium	48,000
Connacht	Andy Friend	Jarrad Butler	Galway Sportsgrounds	8,129
Dragons	Ceri Jones[a]	Cory Hill	Rodney Parade	8,700
Edinburgh	Richard Cockerill	Stuart McInally	Murrayfield Stadium	67,144[b]
Glasgow Warriors	Dave Rennie	Callum Gibbins Ryan Wilson	Scotstoun Stadium	7,351[c]
Leinster	Leo Cullen	Johnny Sexton	RDS Arena Aviva Stadium	18,500 51,700
Munster	Johann van Graan	Peter O'Mahony	Thomond Park Irish Independent Park	25,600[d] 8,008
Ospreys	Allen Clarke	Justin Tipuric	Liberty Stadium Brewery Field	20,827 8,000[e]
Scarlets	Wayne Pivac	Ken Owens	Parc y Scarlets	14,870
Southern Kings	Deon Davids	Mike Willemse	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium NMU Stadium	48,459 15,000
Ulster	Dan McFarland	Rory Best	Kingspan Stadium	18,196
Zebre	Michael Bradley	Tommaso Castello	Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi Stadio Luigi Zaffanella[6]	5,000 6,000

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.^[7] To ensure a competitive balance, the teams are distributed approximately evenly between the conferences based upon their performance in the previous season.^[8]

The regular season is made up of 21 rounds –
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^[9][10]

• 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

League Play-Offs

The first-placed teams in each conference are given a bye to the semi-finals with the second and third placed teams in each conference meeting in two quarter-finals for the two remaining semi-final places.^[11]

Qualification For Champions Cup

The South African teams cannot compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top three eligible European teams in each conference automatically qualify for following year's Champions Cup. The fourth ranked eligible team in each conference meet in a play-off match with the winner taking the seventh Champions Cup place.

Connacht came into the new season with a new head coach, after removing Kieran Keane from his position one year into a three-year deal.^[12][13] Former Australia sevens coach Andy Friend was named as his replacement in May 2018, joining on a three-year contract.^[14] The team also had a new captain for the season, following the retirement of John Muldoon, record-holder for appearances both for Connacht and in the league.^[15] In August 2018, Jarrad Butler was named as his replacement.^[16]

Like Connacht, Leinster had a new captain for the season. Isa Nacewa retired at the end of the 2017–18 season, after leading the province to an unprecedented Pro14-Champions Cup double.^[17][18] The team's all-time leading scorer Johnny Sexton was named as captain in August 2018, with Rhys Ruddock as his vice-captain.^[19] The team also had a new backs coach following the departure of Girvan Dempsey, who signed with English Premiership side Bath in May 2018.^[20] Former player Felipe Contepomi was announced as his replacement in June 2018. He joined from the Argentine Rugby Union where he had been serving both as part of the coaching staff of Super Rugby side, the Jaguares, and as head coach of Argentina XV, the country's second tier international side.^[21]

Munster came into the league without their all-time leading try scorer Simon Zebo. It was announced in October 2017 that he would leave the province at the end of the 2017–18 season,^[22] with French Top 14 side Racing 92 later being confirmed as his next club.^[23]

Following the departure of Les Kiss as the province's director of rugby in January 2018,^[24] Ulster confirmed in March 2018 that then-head coach Jono Gibbes would leave the province at the end of the season.^[25] In April 2018, the province announced that Scotland forwards coach Dan McFarland would be their new head coach, with the former Connacht and Glasgow assistant signing a three-year contract.^[26] However the Scottish Rugby Union insisted that McFarland must serve the nine-month notice period in his contract before joining Ulster, which would have left the province without a head coach until January 2019.^[27] In July 2018, it was announced that Ireland forwards coach Simon Easterby would work with the Ulster coaches on an interim basis ahead of McFarland's arrival.^[28] After a four-month standoff, an agreement was reached in August 2018 to allow McFarland to take up his position with Ulster with immediate effect.^[29] Another addition to the coaching staff was long-serving squad member and Ireland international Jared Payne, who was forced to retire in May 2018 due to a head injury suffered on the 2017 Lions tour. The province announced that he would serve as their new defence coach.^[30] Banbridge head coach Daniel Soper was confirmed as Ulster's skills coach in June 2018.^[31]

Having served as one of the team's co-captain's, Italy centre Tommaso Castello was named as the Zebre skipper for the season.^[32] He had previously shared the captaincy with George Biagi.^[33]

After spending much of the previous two seasons playing in the 5,500-capacity Myreside Stadium, Edinburgh announced in February 2018 that they would be returning permanently to Murrayfield, their previous home.^[34] Due to the stadium's larger size making it inappropriate for permanent use, the Scottish Rugby Union also announced plans to develop another, smaller ground with a capacity of 7,800 in the grounds of Murrayfield, on what were previously training pitches.^[35] It was estimated that the development would cost the Union in the region of £5 million.^[36]

The Cheetahs had a new captain for the 2018–19 season. It was announced in March 2018 that incumbent captain Francois Venter would leave the team at the end of the season, joining English side Worcester Warriors.^[37]

Cardiff Blues confirmed in September 2017 that then-head coach Danny Wilson would leave the club at the end of the 2017–18 season,^[38] with John Mulvihill being announced as their new head coach on a three-year contract in March 2018.^[39] Also departing the club was the team's most-capped player, Taufaʻao Filise. The Tongan international prop made his last appearance for the region in the final of the 2017–18 Challenge Cup, before retiring.^[40] In July 2018, Ellis Jenkins was named as the new team captain, replacing previous season's skipper Gethin Jenkins. Both players were also named as part of a 10-man "leadership group" within the squad.^[41]

In December 2018, Dragons parted company with head coach Bernard Jackman 18 months into a three-year deal.^[42] The team's forwards coach Ceri Jones was named as caretaker following Jackman's departure.^[43] In January 2019, it was announced that Jones would remain in the role until the end of the season.^[44]

The Ospreys were coached by Allen Clarke. He had started the previous season as the team's forwards coach, before being promoted to head coach on an interim basis in January 2018 following the sacking of Steve Tandy. In April 2018, it was announced that Clarke would take the job on a permanent basis and had signed a three-year contract.^[45] For the first time in eight seasons, the side came into the campaign with a new captain, with Justin Tipuric replacing Alun Wyn Jones in the role.^[46]

This was Wayne Pivac's final season in charge of the Scarlets, as it was announced in July 2018 that he would succeed Warren Gatland as Wales head coach. The agreement meant Pivac would take up the role following the 2019 World Cup.^[47]

2018–19 Pro14 table view · watch · edit · discuss
Conference A
	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TBP	LBP	PTS
1	Glasgow Warriors (RU)	21	16	0	5	621	380	+241	83	48	15	2	81
2	Munster (SF)	21	16	0	5	612	348	+264	82	44	11	2	77
3	Connacht (QF)	21	12	0	9	475	394	+81	60	55	7	6	61
4	Ospreys (PO)	21	12	0	9	445	404	+41	53	47	6	4	58
5	Cardiff Blues	21	10	0	11	497	451	+46	60	58	7	7	54
6	Cheetahs	21	8	1	12	541	606	−65	80	80	9	3	46
7	Zebre	21	3	0	18	260	640	−380	35	85	5	2	19
Conference B
	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TBP	LBP	PTS
1	Leinster (CH)	21	15	1	5	672	385	+287	95	49	12	2	76
2	Ulster (SF)	21	13	2	6	441	424	+17	58	54	6	1	63
3	Benetton (QF)	21	11	2	8	474	431	+43	62	55	6	3	57
4	Scarlets	21	10	0	11	510	470	+40	68	54	7	5	52
5	Edinburgh	21	10	0	11	431	436	−5	52	59	6	5	51
6	Dragons	21	5	1	15	339	599	−260	37	84	1	3	26
7	Southern Kings	21	2	1	18	385	735	−350	54	107	5	7	22
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order -[48] number of matches won the difference between points for and points against the number of tries scored the most points scored the difference between tries for and tries against the fewest red cards received the fewest yellow cards received
Green background indicates teams that compete in the Pro14 play-offs, and also earn a place in the 2019–20 European Champions Cup (excluding South African teams who are ineligible) Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places that earn a place in the 2019–20 European Champions Cup Yellow background indicates the loser of the play-off between the two fourth-ranked European teams in each conference, that earned a place in the 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup. Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup. (CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. (QF) Losing quarter-finalists. (PO) Champions Cup play-off winners.

2018–19 Pro14 match summary watch · edit · discuss
Home / Away		Conference A							Conference B
		BLU	CHE	CON	GLA	MUN	OSP	ZEB	BEN	DRA	EDI	KIN	LEI	SCA	ULS
Conference A	BLU	—	24–21	8–7	34–38	37–13	23–26	37–0		19–16		26–19	32–33	41–17
	CHE	21–10	—	17–21	24–52	26–30	14–31	61–28	31–25	38–13		40–36			39–39
												61–25
	CON	29–22	25–17	—	26–27	24–31	46–5	32–13	29–14	33–12			3–20	33–20	21–12
	GLA	40–15	35–17	43–17	—	25–10	9–3	36–8		29–13	8–16			29–20	30–7
											34–10
	MUN	45–21	38–0	27–14	25–24	—	49–13	31–12			44–14	43–0	26–17		64–7
	OSP	20–11	46–14	22–17	20–29	13–19	—	43–0	27–10	29–20	17–13			19–12	0–8
	ZEB	26–24	12–27	5–6	10–42	7–32	8–22	—	8–10		34–16	32–16	24–40
									11–25
Conference B	BEN	27–25			20–17	28–37		28–10	—	57–7	18–10	28–5	3–31	25–19	10–15
	DRA	15–23				7–8	23–22	16–5	17–21	—	18–12	27–22	10–59	34–32	15–28
	EDI	17–19	37–21	17–10	23–7				31–30	34–17	—	38–0	28–11	31–21	7–29
	KIN		17–24	14–31	38–28		7–43		19–22	18–18	25–21	—	31–38	34–41	7–28
	LEI		19–7	33–29	24–39	30–22	52–7		27–27	52–10	31–7	59–19	—	22–17	40–7
	SCA	5–34	43–21			10–6	20–17	42–0	38–29	22–13	12–20	54–14	23–21	—	29–12
	ULS	16–12		15–22		19–12		54–7	15–15	36–18	30–29	33–19	14–13	15–13	—

All times are local.