Clouds hang over Connacht for Rainbow Cup encounter
DURING testing times, any rugby fixtures on the television are a welcome respite from the daily grind and, for that reason, Connacht supporters won’t hesitate to settle down on the couch on Friday evening to watch their side take on Ulster in Kingspan, Ravenhill (8:15) in the new and likely to be fleeting tournament called the Rainbow Cup.
It’s the first of three inter-provincials over the next four weeks before the men in green follow that up with three further yet to be announced games that will take them into early June. The tournament was originally devised late last year as a solution for allowing the return of the South African sides to PRO14 rugby, but things haven’t exactly gone to plan since then and it has ended up being a bit of a calamity.
Here’s what you need to know about the Rainbow Cup in order of importance. Firstly, the South African sides look like they are going to have to pull out altogether, even though they were the whole reason for creating it. The Covid situation and their inability to find a base to play their games when they get to Europe have made it all logistically impossible and so, early this week, news broke that they likely wouldn’t be entering after all.
The hope had been that the four leading South African franchises would mark their arrival on the European rugby scene in this tournament, paving the way for them to join the main competition next year in what will presumably become the ‘PRO16’. That would mean these top sides would usurp the Cheetahs and the Kings who have played three seasons in Europe.
To mark the arrival of the Stormers, Blue Bulls, Lions and Sharks to the competition, PRO14 rugby hastily came up with this Rainbow Cup idea last December to allow for these sides to get some much needed competitive rugby under the belt before the season ends and ahead of the Lions tour. The rush to create the competition had the added and perhaps key motivation of securing some much needed additional TV revenue from South Africa.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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