Ulster Rugby v Leinster

After three weekends of fiercely contested action in the Guinness PRO14 and Europe, the intensity shows no sign of stopping with more Irish and Welsh derbies headlining Round 7. The derby games are a real highlight for our fans and it will be great to see Welsh and Irish teams take their storylines from Europe back into the Guinness PRO14 alongside the Scots and Italians. Congratulations to Cardiff Blues for scoring a famous win away at Toulouse in the Challenge Cup and now they’ll have to bring that momentum to Llanelli to face Scarlets. Ospreys showed serious quality in the narrowest of losses to Saracens and after Dragons successful trip to Russia in the Challenge Cup it should be a red-hot affair in Swansea. In Ireland, Munster will be buoyed by their win over Racing 92 but facing Connacht in Galway after their win over Worcester will be no easy task while in Belfast we’ll see Ulster and Leinster aiming to pull away from each other in Conference B. At Scotstoun, Glasgow Warriors host Southern Kings while in Italy, Zebre welcome the Toyota Cheetahs and an in-form Benetton team take on Edinburgh just a month after their win in the Scottish capital. The improvement from Benetton and Zebre this year has made everyone across the Championship sit up and take notice and I’d encourage you to check out www. pro14rugby.org for an exclusive column by Italian head coach Conor O’Shea, who provides the inside track on the Italians’ form. We’ve also had some welcome news from the IRFU recently with their announcement that they have appointed a number of full-time referees. It means that nine of our Elite Referee Squad are now fully professional and that allows us to keep raising the standards of officiating. In the background there’s a lot of hard work going on to ensure that we’re continually pushing the Championship forward and it’s rewarding to see our clubs take the lead on that front. It’s been an exciting and unpredictable season so far and in every round there is so much to play for thanks to the Conference system and our newly introduced Champions Cup Play-Off game. This ensures that every team has a greater opportunity of reaching the Guinness PRO14 Final Series with the Top 3 from each conference qualifying for the knock-out rounds. We’ve also worked closely with our unions to schedule those derbies away from international windows, so that you can see the best players going toe-to-toe for national selection. We are hugely proud of the 295 Internationals who played in the Championship last season, not to mention the 26 called up for the British & Irish Lions tour. Those players are certainly keeping true to that quality with our Positive Play stats – among the best in Europe – looking good again this season. Already our teams, their coaches and players are producing almost six tries a game as they continue to play ambitious and attractive rugby each week. You only have to look at our recent champions in Scarlets, Connacht, Glasgow Warriors and Leinster to see the attacking rugby it takes to win our title. Last season we saw a record for tries scored (711) while crowds were up and nowhere was that more evident than at the Final at Aviva Stadium. A new record attendance saw Scarlets’ scintillating play prove too much for Munster in a game that showcased the attacking calibre of our Championship. That’s one of the reasons that makes it so exciting to bring the first ever Guinness PRO14 Final to Dublin on May 26, 2018. Right now, we have an Early Bird offer for fans who decide to back their teams and buy tickets well in advance of the Final on www.ticketmaster.ie where prices start at €5 for children and €30 for adults. Enjoy the game. Martin Anayi Chief Executive Officer