SCARLETS A long season of hard graft came down to the final two games but it wasn’t to be in the end for Scarlets. The finale to the 2018-19 regular season became a sprint to the finish with Benetton for the final Guinness PRO14 Final Series qualifying spot in Conference B – but ultimately, it was a race the Scarlets couldn’t win. CONNACHT Underestimate Connacht at your peril – it’s a dictum that Andy Friend’s side bolded up, italicised and underlined this season in the Guinness PRO14. After winning it all in 2016, an eighth place and then sixth in Conference A in the intervening years had few backing them to reach the Final Series, but they proceeded to prove all naysayers wrong this time around with a stirring season of plucky performances. BENETTON Benetton Rugby are unlikely to forget their 2018-19 campaign in a hurry after they broke new ground in the Guinness PRO14. They stole the spotlight by becoming the first Italian team to qualify for the Guinness PRO14 Final Series, the men from Treviso also coming close to making the semi-finals as they were edged out 15-13 by Munster on the road in Limerick. DRAGONS The Dragons will be looking to turn the page on a 2018-19 Guinness PRO14 season that did not go to plan. They only won five games in the league, parted ways with their head coach Bernard Jackman before Christmas, and went on an eight-game winless run in the league in 2019. MUNSTER There was a sense of deja vu for Johann van Graan’s side both in Europe and domestically this season. Munster impressively reached the semi-finals of the Guinness PRO14 and European Champions Cup once again in 2019, but couldn’t push on that final step to a major trophy. When all was said and done in the regular season Munster finished second in Conference A with the same win record as the Glasgow Warriors but four points behind due to fewer try bonus points. CHEETAHS The final standings will show Cheetahs as finishing second-bottom of the Conference A table, only above Zebre, but that doesn’t tell the whole story of their 2018⁄19 season. Rory Duncan set the bar high for South African rugby in the Guinness PRO14 when he led the Cheetahs to the knockout stages of the competition in their inaugural campaign in 2017⁄18. LEINSTER Leinster ruled the roost in the Guinness PRO14 once again as they squeezed past Glasgow Warriors to retain their crown in a dramatic finale at Celtic Park. Despite going into the semi-finals without a league win since the start of March, Leo Cullen’s men showed their class with hard-earned victories over Munster and the Warriors on their way to their sixth domestic title. Read more
