Ulster Rugby v Edinburgh

After a terrific opening round of action in the Guinness PRO14, Round 2 certainly has a lot to live up to! Opening round wins for both Italian teams, late drama in Cardiff, Belfast and Galway not to mention George North’s impressive return to regional rugby for Ospreys. After a summer of anticipation, we are delighted to see Premier Sports, eir sport and DAZN get up and running and deliver on their promise to provide supporters with more analysis and live matches than ever before. Round 1 also saw the record for most bonus points equalled – 10 overall which pointed to the try-scoring and competitiveness of the games. The action was also available live in the United States on the ESPN+ platform thanks to a landmark agreement signed last week which will see every game available live to our fans in the US with a number of games showcased on ESPN networks between December and May. In Italy, DAZN made their debut screening Zebre’s win over the Isuzu Southern Kings and we are delighted that they have also acquired rights to screen the Guinness PRO14 in Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We’ve also got fans covered in South East Asia and Australia thanks to Rugby Pass and in New Zealand with Sky Sport NZ. As for this weekend, a welcome back to those of you in Glasgow, Llanelli and Treviso who are getting your first taste of live Guinness PRO14 action after the summer break and there is a mouth-watering list of visiting teams on the cards. In Glasgow, the Warriors host Munster in a game that will already have big consequences in Conference A – both these teams will be eager to reclaim the title and these big head-to-heads count for so much by the end of the season. Benetton Rugby are on a real high, they have come off a season of record wins to kick-off their campaign with a win over Dragons. Now Cardiff Blues face a stern test at Stadio Monigo where Keiran Crowley will have his men eyeing up victory number two. In Llanelli, we will see last year’s Finalists go up against each other at Parc y Scarlets and already Scarlets will be eager to ensure they keep Leinster within their sights as this rivalry continues to grow with each game. Connacht, another former title holder, welcome Zebre and their old coach Michael Bradley to Galway and it should provide plenty of entertainment in a clash between two teams who want to play positive rugby. Elsewhere, Ulster and Ospreys will look to build on their encouraging starts as they aim to rebound from last season but Edinburgh and the Toyota Cheetahs will not make it easy for them. Finally, Bernard Jackman’s Dragons will be eager to claim their first win of the season at Rodney Parade, but the Isuzu Southern Kings made life difficult for Zebre last weekend and will have targeted a first road win in the Guinness PRO14 as an achievement for this season. Of course, your support in the stadium makes a big impact. We know that more and more of you are turning up each season and in the previous campaign our attendances rose by 10%. You saw more tries than ever before – 861 to be exact – and that all stemmed from the speed of our ruck ball which World Rugby statistics have ranked as the quickest of any professional club tournament across the globe. A total of 297 International players appeared in the Guinness PRO14 last season, with 76 making their Test debuts, all of which underlines the incredible work that takes place in all of our clubs to generate top-class talent season after season. For the first time the Championship is now home to the current Champions Cup winners and the Challenge Cup winners – Leinster Rugby and Cardiff Blues. Those are tremendous achievements to boast about and further congratulations to Leinster who not only became the first team do the Guinness PRO14 and European Cup double, but they also claimed their fifth title which is the most of any team in our Championship. Of course, everyone is fighting to reach the Guinness PRO14 Final at Celtic Park, which will mark another historic chapter for our Championship as the showpiece game is played at a non- rugby stadium for the first time. To access the best offers, check out our official accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or visit bit.ly/glasgow2019 to get your tickets. Enjoy the game, Martin Anayi Chief Executive Officer