Low key return for PRO 14

While all eyes are on Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan‚ Bloemfontein will have a few interested observers when the 2019/2020 PRO14 kicks off on Friday evening.

Current Currie Cup champions the Cheetahs host the points’ hungry Glasgow Warriors in the season opener at the Free State Stadium.

It’s a match that will give a clearer indication of the Cheetahs’ credentials after they eased their way to the sixth Currie Cup title in a watered down 2019 edition.

Last season the Cheetahs struggled in PRO 14‚ winning just eight of their 21 matches and conceding 606 points.

The Warriors by contrast‚ topped Conference A with 16 wins from their 21 matches‚ scoring a mammoth 621 points at an average of nearly 30 points per match.

But Irish side Leinster beat the Warriors in the final earlier this year to claim their sixth title.

Coach Franco Smith will lead the Cheetahs for the first part of the campaign before he takes up the role as Italy head coach later this year.

After an intense Currie Cup campaign that crammed eight matches into nine weeks‚ the Cheetahs have had little breathing room to prepare for PRO 14‚ and they couldn’t have asked for a tougher opponent.

“There are two very important objectives for us‚” Smith told a Bloemfontein radio station.

“Firstly‚ it will be to perform on Friday evening. Secondly‚ it will be to get the guys who are not playing to be at the best that they can be.

“We will be going on tour straight after the first three games‚ there will be a new coach coming in and he will have new ideas as well.

“It is important to have a squad that are all on par and ready to take on the baton for the next part of the race. This is incredibly important because this is a squad environment and it is impossible to play 21 games with the same team.

“We mustn’t forget that the eight games in the Currie Cup was excellent but we didn’t have a break between those games.

"We were blessed to have just about all the guys available for that period‚ but now we also have guys like Oupa Mohoje‚ Aidon Davis and Luan de Bruin coming back from injury.”

The Cheetahs will also have the experience of scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar to rely on. Pienaar played 141 times for Irish side Ulster‚ which included two appearances in the PRO 14 final.

“For the first time we will be competing against teams that will not be fielding their international players‚” Smith said.

“Having said that‚ these teams have known for a long time that they will be without out their internationals.

“I know what it is like to be in that situation because when I coached at Benetton‚ I also had to make do without 25 internationals. But‚ in this competition‚ you make a plan.

"You make sure that you get a group of good enough players because you will have internationals that will be on national duty.

“This year is a special year for all of these clubs.

"Firstly‚ they had to invest in other international players. Secondly‚ after the World Cup‚ those international players will have to be well managed because they will be going straight into other European competitions‚ and there will be a lot of emphasis on those tournaments.

“Thirdly‚ they will also be competing in the Six Nations next year‚ so all of the above has been taken into account. Not for one second do I believe that Glasgow will be sending a less competitive side to play against us.”

The Southern Kings open their account against the Cardiff Blues in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

SportsLIVE Podcast | More than Rugby - Part 1

For more episodes, click here.

Subscribe: iono.fm | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Player.fm | Pocket Cast