Guinness PRO14 officials have made it clear that the decision to expand into South Africa could just be the start of a drive into new markets.
Encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive mood at the official launch in Dublin of this year’s Championship, Martin Anayi, the chief executive, emphasised that they are still open for further offers. “Any expansion has to fulfil certain criteria,” he added.
“Any expansion has to have player welfare in mind – logistically how do you get there, what time zone is it in? Are teams going to add to the league and commercially is that [expansion] going to add to things. If you answer ‘yes’ to all those things then you will look at it.”
He is reported to be in talks with groups in North America while rival franchises in South Africa are keeping a close eye on what happens to the Cheetahs and Southern Kings as they head into the PRO14.
If it is a success, they may also seek a switch from Super Rugby at the end of the current deal in 2020. Anayi also refused to rule out the possibility of expansion within Europe.
For the South Africans who are joining when this season’s tournament kicks off next week, the overwhelming mood is excitement, says Niell Jordaan, the Cheetahs back row.
“To be ambassadors for South African rugby in the PRO14 is a huge honour, I just hope we can add to the high quality of rugby that is already being played here,” he said.
“The guys are excited to travel to Europe. It is going to be tough. Consider that when we are in summer in South Africa, it is going to be winter here.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here