Irish derbies slated for earlier starts in new PRO14 season
Joey Carbery won’t have long to wait until he takes on his former Leinster colleagues with Munster scheduled for a crack at the PRO14 champions the week before the start of the Heineken Champions Cup in October.
Carbery, like most of the Irish squad after their tour to Australia, will miss the opening rounds of the PRO14 in September but is likely to have made his Munster debut by the time they visit the Aviva Stadium on October 6.
In a departure next season, it is proposed there will be two rounds of Irish derbies on the weekends before the start of the European action.
Munster host Ulster and Connacht take on Leinster on the final weekend of September, with Kingspan Stadium in Belfast hosting Ulster hosting Connacht the weekend before they go into Europe.
PRO14 champions Leinster start the defence of their crown with matches in Wales on the two opening weekends, away to Cardiff Blues and Scarlets in a repeat of last season’s final which Leo Cullen’s men won by 40-32.
The new all-weather surface at Musgrave Park in Cork could host Munster’s opening game of the season against the Cheetahs — Johann van Graan’s men will play preseason friendlies against Exeter Chiefs and London Irish there.
Simon Easterby, the Ireland forwards coach who is heading north to help Ulster until new boss Dan McFarland arrives in January from Scotland, will take on a Scarlets side he coached and played for in the opening game of the campaign.
They will be the first of the Irish provinces to head to South Africa, taking on the Southern Kings and the Cheetahs in September before the start of the Irish derbies.
New Connacht coach Andy Friend has a chance to make an immediate impact with three of their first four games at the Sportsground, starting with Glasgow Warriors and Zebre on the opening two weekends, with a trip to Edinburgh followed by the visit of Scarlets. They head to South Africa to take on the have a double date in South Africa, taking on the Kings in Port Elizabeth at the end of November and the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein at the start of December.
Leinster and Munster travel on the same weekend for their single trips to South Africa but both will be without their Irish internationals as their games will take place on November 4, a day after Ireland face Italy in Chicago.
Similar to last season, the final round of games will all be derby clashes, with the final, expected to be confirmed for Glasgow Celtic’s Parkhead, pencilled in for May 25.
