The Guinness Pro 14 is coming your way. Phil Bennett welcomes the expansion but says the B-listers have it easy compared to Conference A and worries for the South Africans when they head a long way from home.
The Scarlets were envied as Guinness Pro12 champions last season – and the jealousies will only have increased in Wales after the splitting of the new Pro 14.
The two Conferences are meant to be equal, but if you gaze at the lists of Zebras, Cheetahs, Dragons and Kings, you’ll be reminded of George Orwell’s quote that some animals are more equal than others.
Conference B is aptly named, as it’s definitely somewhere behind Conference A.
The Scarlets could not have wished for a more comfortable place to be than Conference B. Whilst the Ospreys and the Cardiff Blues have each other, the Scarlets are paired with the Dragons.
Conference A has Munster, who we know are resurgent after last season. Conference B has Leinster, who have lost their way.
Conference A has Connacht, never an easy place to go for any team. Conference B has Ulster, which can be tougher, except who knows how they will cope this season without their talisman, Ruan Pienaar?
Conference B also has Edinburgh, who you’d take over Glasgow, and although Treviso are slightly stronger than Zebre, and the Southern Kings edge the Cheetahs, there’s not much between them.
I have certain reservations about the expansion, not least because although we have gained two South African teams, we’ve got the worst South African teams.
In effect, they have been relegated from Super Rugby and their best players have already fled.
I think they will struggle away from home, but perhaps make up for that by winning home matches where the European sides will be on unfamiliar territory.
The current Pro12 bunch will find South African venues hot, humid, very fast underfoot on firm, springy turf and they will struggle to adjust quickly to playing at altitude against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
But I agree with the sentiment that something had to be done to shake up the Pro12.
The Italian sides have been a major disappointment, simply because their progress has been negligible.
They were the whipping boys when they came in and they’re still the whipping boys now.
I desperately wanted Treviso and Zebre to get better, but all their mediocrity has done is increased the longing among some fans for more traditional fixtures against English clubs like Leicester, Bath and Gloucester – fixtures that at present are simply unattainable.
The extra TV revenue from South Africa is not to be sniffed at and if some of that helped the Scarlets bring home Leigh Halfpenny then that’s a sign of a positive trend.
I also like to think there has to be potential from attracting a team sponsored by a huge multi-national corporation like Toyota, as the Cheetahs are.
There will be plenty of doubters about the expansion and people who have suggested it is a gamble are quite right to say so.
But, sometimes in sport you have to gamble. It was not that long ago that the Pro12 did not use any kind of play-off system and it was introduced with no guarantees.
But it gave a shot in the arm to the league because it provided mid-table teams with something to aim for – right to the conclusion of the season.
The Pro12 does not have the secure money of the English Premiership or the French Top 14, so it has to take certain risks if it is to develop.
The South African sides are far from the perfect solution, but they will at least bring something a little different.
The challenge now will be for the Welsh regions to get into those top three places in either conference.
The Scarlets and the Ospreys will fancy their chances.
The Dragons and the Cardiff Blues have a lot of work to do to catch up.
Both have had their problems, but it really is time for them to deliver.
Otherwise it won’t just be a huge divide down the middle in terms of the Pro14 structure, but we will have a huge divide within Wales, as well.
