Pro 14 - General Thread

[neill_m]

Samu Manoa heading to Cardiff Blues from Toulon.

[neill_m]

Wayne Pivac, the Scarlets coach to replace Warren Gatland as Welsh boss after RWC next year.

[ronk]

Wayne Pivac, the Scarlets coach to replace Warren Gatland as Welsh boss after RWC next year.

Wow

[paddyor]

Wayne Pivac, the Scarlets coach to replace Warren Gatland as Welsh boss after RWC next year.

Wow

Really? That's been on the cards since May last year.

[jimbobjoe]

Yeah, no surprise there. More interesting is whether he takes Stephen Jones with him or not.

[Morf]

Might leave a Simon Easterby sized gap in Scarlets though. . . .

[ronk]

Wayne Pivac, the Scarlets coach to replace Warren Gatland as Welsh boss after RWC next year.

Wow

Really? That's been on the cards since May last year.

It's a good move for him. I suppose doing well with the Lions has helped Gatland get a job further away.

I probably fear Pivac more than Gatland from an international perspective.

[neill_m]

The 3rd 1872 Cup game between Glasgow and Edinburgh will now actually be played at Scotstoun. It is a designated home game for Glasgow, but the SRU had originally scheduled it at Murrayfield to tie in with their "Silver Saturday" concept - a day where a lot of amateur finals are played etc.

[dropkick]

Really? That's been on the cards since May last year.

It's a good move for him. I suppose doing well with the Lions has helped Gatland get a job further away.

I probably fear Pivac more than Gatland from an international perspective.[/quote]


Not sure I'd agree. He is an excellent coach but Gatlands Wales were very consistent and very hard to beat.

Glad to see the back of Sean Edwards, presuming he is leaving.

[neill_m]

Pro 14 aiming to have the fixtures out by the end of the week. Draft ones are done, waiting for the clubs/broadcasters to suggest any final changes etc.

[neiliog93]

Samu Manoa heading to Cardiff Blues from Toulon.

Excellent signing for them. The guy is a beast and versatile. I can the Blues making the play-offs in our conference, especially with Glasgow seemingly on the decline.

[paddyor]

Samu Manoa heading to Cardiff Blues from Toulon.

Excellent signing for them. The guy is a beast and versatile. I can the Blues making the play-offs in our conference, especially with Glasgow seemingly on the decline.

Blues aren’t in our conference , but yes I agree. They’re also getting increased funding.

[cormac]

Sam Warburton has announced his retirement

[Peg Leg]

Sam Warburton has announced his retirement

Ah jesus. That is tough. He's a player I despised because he was so good and not a hint of arrogance about him.

[neill_m]

Samu Manoa heading to Cardiff Blues from Toulon.

Excellent signing for them. The guy is a beast and versatile. I can the Blues making the play-offs in our conference, especially with Glasgow seemingly on the decline.

Blues aren’t in our conference , but yes I agree. They’re also getting increased funding.

Indeed. From 2 weeks ago. No change to the conferences for 18/19.

Q: Will it be the same format as last season or will you re-jig the conferences?
A: It will be the same two conferences, with teams playing the other sides in their section home and away and then teams from the other conference either home or away.
The one change is we will reverse the cross-conference fixtures.

From interview with the Pro 14 boss man.

[Lar]

Sam Warburton has announced his retirement

Ah jesus. That is tough. He's a player I despised because he was so good and not a hint of arrogance about him.

Sorry for Warburton - fantastic player and his retirement only goes to show the attritional nature of the demands on the modern back row player. Some international record to retire with at the age of 29.

Given the thread is about the Pro14 his retirement won't affect Cardiff. He barely played for them in the last five seasons and when he did he never (well very rarely) performed at the top of his game.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Sam Warburton has announced his retirement

Ah jesus. That is tough. He's a player I despised because he was so good and not a hint of arrogance about him.

Yeah, the Elon Musk of rugby.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

That's sad news but at least he had a helluva career. Hopefully the fact that he got back training means that he's not in much pain or debilitated too much by whatever the injury was. A total pain in the arse to play against, seemed like there was more than one of him when at his best.

[ronk]

Suppose it's expected with his injury record. Thought he'd patch himself up for a run at the RWC.

He had some great days

[hugonaut]

Pretty gutted for Warburton. He always comes across as a great guy – open, patient, honest and intelligent. Hell of a player too, and [like Jamie Roberts] reserved his best stuff for the biggest games. Best of luck to him in whatever he does next.