Pro14 exclusive: South Africa's Super Rugby sides on verge of joining expanded league next year

South Africa’s four Super Rugby sides: the Bulls, Stormers, Lions and Sharks, are poised to join an extended Pro14 competition in early 2021, The Daily Telegraph can ­reveal.

The proposal was discussed extensively at Friday's South African Rugby Union’s General Council meeting of its constituent members, with chief executive Jurie Roux said to be an enthusiastic proponent. Informal discussions on the subject between Roux and his Pro14 counterpart, Martin Anayi, have been ongoing for some time.

The news, which is dependent on the easing of restrictions ­imposed by the Covid pandemic, offers a timely lift to the Pro14, following last week’s news that the financially-troubled Southern Kings franchise may be unable to continue playing in the competition.

The prospect of four of club rugby’s biggest beasts joining Pro14 – a competition that, commercially and in terms of profile, has long been in the shadow of the Premiership and Top 14 could prove transformational.

The Pro14, which currently features four Irish provinces, two Scottish teams, four Welsh sides and two Italian sides, plus South Africa’s Cheetahs and Southern Kings from 2017-18, has made no secret of its desire to expand, and has toyed with moving into North America.

The arrival of the top South African sides in Europe has long been mooted, with revenue and player welfare concerns about the long-term effects of regularly crossing 11 time zones – as their four sides currently do – key concerns.

However, with the South African teams no longer able to travel to New Zealand or Australia, and no immediate prospect of that changing, there is huge impetus for change.

“The four Super Rugby sides are effectively looking for a tournament to play in,” said one insider with knowledge of the negotiations.  “In terms of time zones, availability and the quality of competition, the Pro14 is the only realistic option.”

The SARU has already signed a contract with broadcasters for its four teams to play in Super Rugby, but believes those broadcasters would jump at a switch to a Pro14 coverage, which would allow games to be broadcast live (unlike most away Super Rugby games). Otherwise, South Africa’s cash-strapped game would lose a huge chunk of revenue.

The experiment of South African sides travelling to and from Europe in the Pro14 has already worked well. Although the performance of the Southern Kings in particular was disappointing, with just four wins in 55 games, the South Africans have not suffered from jet lag on trips which typically see them play three sides.

Travel has also turned out to be far cheaper between South Africa and Britain than it is when visiting Australasia and Argentina.

The plan is not without its problems, not least the unpredictability of a world with Covid. However, a loose plan has emerged. The South Africans would reshape their season so that domestic competitions such as the Currie Cup would be condensed into the window before the end of the year, with the four current Super Rugby teams’ results against each other counting towards their Pro14 standing.

The European teams would carry on playing each other and getting derbies out of their way, with a view to playing the South Africans in 2021. It has not yet been decided whether to continue playing in two conferences or one league.

It could be the game-changer the Pro14 needs, and would be well received by CVC, the venture capitalists who bought 28 per cent of the competition for £120 million in June.

Not only would it put more bums on seats and raise the profile of the competition, but it could transform television revenues, which stand at £20 million a year for the Pro14 compared to the Premiership’s £34 million and the Top 14’s £87 million.

From here, events could move quickly. The South Africans have another general council meeting next month, but rumblings from Dublin suggest that there could be an announcement from the Pro14 even sooner.