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GUINNESS PRO14 Conferences Confirmed For Next Two Seasons

Leinster back rower Jack Conan wins a lineout ball during last month's GUINNESS PRO14 final at Celtic Park in Glasgow ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

The Conferences for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 GUINNESS PRO14 seasons have been drawn based on finishing positions, resulting in six teams swapping Conferences.

Using the Conference tables completed after round 21 of the 2018/19 GUINNESS PRO14 campaign, teams were ordered from one to 14 based on their final points totals and then ranked within their Union.

The criteria for placing teams in each Conference relies on competitiveness and ensuring an equal spread of teams from each Union are present in both Conferences. Three teams who featured in this year’s semi-finals are in Conference A – back-to-back champions Leinster, beaten semi-finalists Ulster and runners-up Glasgow Warriors.

Munster and Connacht are Conference rivals once again, with Edinburgh and the Scarlets among their new opponents during the regular season. The Conference line-ups for the next two seasons are as follows:

CONFERENCE A:

Glasgow Warriors (SCO 1)
LEINSTER (IRE 2)
ULSTER (IRE 3)
Ospreys (WAL 1)
Dragons (WAL 4)
Zebre (ITA 2)
Toyota Cheetahs (SA 1)

CONFERENCE B:

Edinburgh (SCO 2)
MUNSTER (IRE 1)
CONNACHT (IRE 4)
Cardiff Blues (WAL 2)
Scarlets (WAL 3)
Benetton Rugby (ITA 1)
Isuzu Southern Kings (SA 2)

How the Conferences were drawn

First, all the teams were placed into a consolidated table:

1. Glasgow Warriors (81 points)
2. Munster (77)
3. Leinster (76)
4. Ulster (63)
5. Connacht (61)
6. Ospreys (58)
7. Benetton Rugby (57)
8. Cardiff Blues (54)
9. Scarlets (52)
10. Edinburgh (51)
11. Toyota Cheetahs (46)
12. Dragons (26)
13. Isuzu Southern Kings (22)
14. Zebre (19)

Each team was then slotted into their Union ranking:

SCO 1: Glasgow Warriors (81)
SCO 2: Edinburgh (51)

ITA 1: Benetton Rugby (57)
ITA 2: Zebre (19)

SA 1: Toyota Cheetahs (46)
SA 2: Isuzu Southern Kings (22)

IRE 1: Munster (77)
IRE 2: Leinster (76)
IRE 3: Ulster (63)
IRE 4: Connacht (61)

WAL 1: Ospreys (58)
WAL 2: Cardiff Blues (54)
WAL 3: Scarlets (52)
WAL 4: Dragons (26)

As the team with the most points, Glasgow Warriors were placed into Conference A to allow the population to follow the sequence below:

Conference A –

Scotland 1 (Glasgow Warriors)
Ireland 2 (Leinster)
Ireland 3 (Ulster)
Wales 1 (Ospreys)
Wales 4 (Dragons)
Italy 2 (Zebre)
South Africa 1 (Toyota Cheetahs)

Conference B –

Scotland 2 (Edinburgh)
Ireland 1 (Munster)
Ireland 4 (Connacht)
Wales 2 (Cardiff Blues)
Wales 3 (Scarlets)
Italy 1 (Benetton Rugby)
South Africa 2 (Isuzu Southern Kings)

This sequencing is put in place to ensure each Union is equally represented in each Conference which is a guiding principal of the format of the GUINNESS PRO14.