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Upcoming Pro12 season looks to be a cracker

Roar Guru
2nd September, 2014
5

The 2014/15 rugby season kicks off this weekend with the start of a new Pro12 tournament. It looks set to be one of the best seasons in recent memory.

The focus will be the upcoming World Cup, taking place in England a year from now, kicking off next September.

However, there are also a lot of other things to look forward to. After a prolonged, bitter battle, the European clubs and countries have finally come to an agreement and this season will see the debut of the all-new European Rugby Champions Cup, which replaces the Heineken Cup.

With the competing numbers whittled down to 20, the tournament should prove to be a more exciting prospect.

There are many contenders for the trophy in a much more competitive field, with several of the competition’s pools being considered ‘Pools Of Death’. Toulon will want to repeat their performance last year, after winning the last Heineken Cup tournament, but will have stiff competition from teams such as Leinster, Munster, Toulouse and Leicester.

There are also the regular club and provincial tournaments to look forward to, such as the aforementioned Pro12, the French Top 14 and the Aviva Premiership. Adding spice is a number of players starting with new clubs, like All Blacks legend Mils Muliana debuting for Irish Provincial side Connacht. That should revamp the Rabo12.

For Irish rugby fans, this will be the first season in 15 years that Brian O’Driscoll won’t play a part. O’Driscoll gave us some great memories over those years but now it’s time for Ireland to look for a new star. The battle between the contenders for the number 13 shirt will be another fascinating aspect to the year.

Other players like Gordon D’Arcy and Paul O’Connell may be coming to the end of their illustrious careers. Will they want to end their rugby playing days on a high note? With the great showing by the Irish Ladies in the recent Women’s Rugby World Cup, expect the lads to want to emulate their feats.

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With the protracted civil war between Wales and its clubs coming to an end, look for the Welsh team to be all the stronger for it. Or will it? The Welsh player exodus continues, with Leigh Halfpenny, Jonathan Davies, Adam Jones, Richard Hibbard and Ryan Jones all leaving for pastures new. Will this affect Wales’ form in the upcoming Six Nations and World Cup? Very few of the Welsh national side now ply their trade for Welsh clubs.

France still haven’t sorted out their issue of club versus country, with the national side’s poor showing in the recent Six Nations being blamed on the unrelenting nature of the Top14 tournament. Of course, France have a history of coming good in a World Cup, despite disastrous showings on the domestic front.

In 1999 France managed to reach the final, beating the favoured New Zealand side despite coming last in the Five Nations (Italy were added in 2000) that year. Also, in the last World Cup in 2011 France were suffering on the home front and still managed to reach the final, and could very nearly have won the tournament despite a public schism between coach and players.

England will be the host nation for the World Cup and will want to put on a good show. The last time England hosted the Rugby World Cup was in 1991 and they managed to reach the final, but were beaten by Australia. That was a side packed with some legends, but the current vintage of English players are doing very well, having handed New Zealand a tough test and performing well in recent Six Nations matches.

In terms of the Southern Hemisphere countries, the Rugby Championship is still in its early stages. While New Zealand remain undefeated and look to be favourites, they haven’t looked 100 per cent yet. Australia are going through a turbulent time, while South Africa have struggled to contain an ever-improving Argentina.

The eventual outcome of the Rugby Championship, and the November series of internationals, should go some way towards establishing the world rankings, but the World Cup should flip that on its lid. Time and again, New Zealand have proven to be the dominant team in a year only to fall at the hurdle of the Webb Ellis trophy.

The World Cup will spice up this new season, with all the players given added motivation to do well. Rugby needs this extra spice to enliven the season sometimes.

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