Ulster Rugby v Cardiff Blues

After a fast-paced start to the Guinness PRO14, the first break weekend allowed everyone to focus on the Rugby World Cup where stars from our Championship found themselves experiencing great highs and lows. Commiserations to Ireland, but congratulations are in order to both Wales and South Africa for reaching the Semi-Finals. There is no doubting the quality of both squads, coaching set-ups and no matter who goes through to the Final on November 2. To see Wales with an opportunity to reach their first World Cup Final is really encouraging. All but three players in their squad will turn out in the Guinness PRO14 this season which highlights the quality that will return from Japan – with or without the Webb-Ellis trophy.

In our Championship new stars are born all the time and Aaron Wainwright’s rise from Dragons has been meteoric. It is incredible to see such influence from a 22-year-old and fantastic that his region will add his profile to their growing stable of Welsh internationals. Facing the Springboks is not anyone’s first choice when it comes to Test rugby and with former Munster Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, in the coaching box he will not find any surprises in the Welsh set-up. Former Munster coach, Felix Jones, and ex-Cheetahs winger, Makazole Mampimpi, will also be familiar with their opposition so it promises to be a real chess match. Before that riveting Semi-Final kicks off on Sunday morning, we’ll have a full slate of Guinness PRO14 action to feast upon. After three rounds only three teams remain undefeated and two of them have a chance to set a small piece of history. Leinster and the Toyota Cheetahs have picked up a bonus point in all of their games to date – but no team has ever managed to open the season with four bonus-point wins. Nobody has posted as many tries as the Cheetahs and Leinster either, and that’s leading to a whopping average of seven tries per game in the Championship. Scarlets are also unbeaten but with all three of these sides playing away from home it’s difficult to say who’ll still be flying the undefeated flag ahead of Round 5. Another milestone in the offing is the potential for Benetton’s Ian Keatley to become only the fourth man to play 200 times in the history of the Championship. At the age of 32, I am sure he has aspirations to keep on for a few seasons yet as he is just 140 points away from becoming the all-time leading scoring in the Guinness PRO14. Now third on the list, Keatley has Dan Parks (1582) and Dan Biggar (1585) in his sights. Keatley and Benetton will be eager to recover from their winless start to the season as they have no doubt got their sights set on a return to the Guinness PRO14 Final Series. But it’s an incredibly competitive field and while we have spoken about three unbeaten teams, there are another seven or eight teams who all believe they have a chance to fight for this title. This season’s Guinness PRO14 Final takes place at Cardiff City Stadium on June 20 and while we can’t predict which teams will run out at Cardiff City Stadium, you can book the best seats at the best prices right now. Last year saw yet another record attendance at the Guinness PRO14 Final in Glasgow, but with limited availability in 2020 be sure to visit www.pro14rugby.org/final to take advantage of early bird prices before they’re gone! Enjoy the game, Martin Anayi Chief Executive Officer

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