Monday night matches are to become a new feature of the 2020-21 Guinness Pro14 and, as with Friday night games, they will kick-off at the later time of 8.15pm.
The dates and kick-off times for the first eight rounds of new campaign, which begins the weekend after next, and will take the competition up to the end of November have been published by the tournament organisers.
The first Monday night game will occur in round three when Munster host Cardiff Blues at Thomond Park on October 26th. It will be the first of 14 Monday night fixtures between rounds three and eight, with scheduling aimed at preventing direct clashes with the extended international calendar. It is also to facilitate television broadcasters and double headers on Monday nights, beginning at 6pm.
The only rest weekend will be after the first two rounds, so as to avoid clashing with the Champions Cup final on October 17th, which ironically is now guaranteed to have no Pro14 representation.
Thereafter, five of the next six rounds in succession will clash with the weekends which have been set aside for the re-arranged 2020 Six Nations fixtures and the Autumn Nations Cup. To avoid clashing with these Tests and to ensure sufficient turnarounds between games, the majority of Pro14 fixtures during this time will take place on Sundays and Mondays.
The Pro14 takes a break for the first three weekends in December to facilitate the final weekend of the Autumn Nations Cup and the first two weekends of the 2020-21 Champions Cup until the festive period which, after the recent glut of derbies post-lockdown, has again been reserved for three rounds of derbies in the New Year, with the dates and times still to be confirmed. As reported, there will be no South African teams taking part until some juncture in 2021.
The 2020-21 Pro14 will begin on Friday week, when Leinster begin the defence of their title with a game against the Dragons at the RDS. Ulster will kick-off simultaneously, at 8.15pm, at home to Benetton. The following day Munster begin their campaign away to the Scarlets while Connacht will host Glasgow at the Sportsground.
In round two, all four Irish provinces will be in action on Saturday, October 5th. Leinster are away to Benetton (4.15pm Irish time) and Ulster play the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium (5.15pm), while Munster host Edinburgh at Thomond Park and Connacht are away to Cardiff at a venue to be confirmed.
With the Principality Stadium still in use as a field hospital and the Cardiff Arms Park pitch unlikely to be ready as it has also been a logistical space, the expectation is that their first home game may be moved to Rodney Parade in Newport.
As all of these first eight rounds will feature cross-border games, the participating provinces ore regions will be obliged to hire private charters at an estimated cost of ¤15-20,000. Oddly, the private jet market, with sports to the fore, is one of the few scraps of the aviation sector which is holding up.
Round 1
Friday, October 2nd
Zebre v Cardiff, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 6pm Leinster v Dragons, RDS, 8.15pm Ulster v Benetton, Kingspan Stadium, 8.15pm
Saturday, October 3rd
Scarlets v Munster, Parc Y Scarlets, 3pm Connacht v Glasgow, The Sportsground, 5.15pm Edinburgh v Ospreys, Murrayfield, 7.35pm
Round 2
Friday, October 9th
Dragons v Zebre, Rodney Parade, 8.15pm
Saturday, October 10th
Ospreys v Ulster, Liberty Stadium, 5.15pm Benetton v Leinster, Stadio Comunale di Monigo, 5.15pm Munster v Edinburgh, Thomond Park, 7.35pm Cardiff v Connacht, TBC, 7.35pm
Sunday, October 11th
Glasgow v Scarlets, Scotstoun, 5.15pm
Round 3
Friday, October 23rd
Leinster v Zebre, RDS, 7.35pm Benetton v Scarlets, Stadio Comunale di Monigo, 8.15pm
Saturday, October 24th
Ospreys v Glasgow, Liberty Stadium, 5.30pm
Sunday, October 25th
Ulster v Dragons, Kingspan Stadium, 3pm Edinburgh v Connacht, Murrayfield, 7.35pm
Monday, October 26th
Munster v Cardiff, Thomond Park, 8.15pm
Round 4
Sunday, November 1st
Dragons v Munster, Rodney Parade, 2pm Connacht v Benetton, The Sportsground, 4.30pm Scarlets v Edinburgh, Parc Y Scarlets, 6.45pm
Monday, November 2nd
Cardiff v Ulster, TBC, 6pm Zebre v Ospreys, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 7.15pm Glasgow v Leinster, Scotstoun, 8.15pm
Round 5
Saturday, November 7th
Benetton v Munster, Stadio Comunale Di Monigo, 2pm Dragons v Connacht, Rodney Parade, 5.15pm
Sunday, November 8th
Ospreys v Leinster, Liberty Stadium, 3pm Scarlets v Zebre, Parc Y Scarlets, 5.15pm
Monday, November 9th
Ulster v Glasgow, Kingspan Stadium, 8.15pm Edinburgh v Cardiff, Murrayfield, 8.15pm
Round 6
Saturday, November 14th
Connacht v Scarlets, The Sportsground, 7.35pm
Sunday, November 15th
Munster v Ospreys, Thomond Park, 2.45pm Glasgow v Dragons, Scotstoun, 6.30pm
Monday, November 16th
Zebre v Ulster, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 6pm Leinster v Edinburgh, RDS, 8.15pm Cardiff v Benetton, TBC, 8.15pm
Round 7
Sunday, November 22nd
Zebre v Connacht, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 2.30pm Ospreys v Benetton, Liberty Stadium, 3pm Leinster v Cardiff, RDS, 5.15pm Ulster v Scarlets, Kingspan Stadium, 7.35pm
Monday, November 23rd
Dragons v Edinburgh, Rodney Parade, 6pm Glasgow v Munster, Scotstoun, 8pm
Round 8
Saturday, November 28th
Connacht v Ospreys, The Sportsground, 7.35pm
Sunday, November 29th
Scarlets v Leinster, Parc Y Scarlets, 5.15pm Cardiff v Glasgow, TBC, 7.35pm
Monday, November 30th
Benetton v Dragons, Stadio Comunale Di Monigo, 6pm Munster v Zebre, Thomond Park, 8.15pm Edinburgh v Ulster, Murrayfield, 8.15pm
Round 9
Saturday, December 26th *
Connacht v Ulster Ospreys v Scarlets Munster v Leinster Glasgow v Edinburgh Dragons v Cardiff Zebre v Benetton
Round 10
Saturday, January 2nd *
Benetton v Zebre Scarlets v Dragons Cardiff v Ospreys Ulster v Munster Edinburgh v Glasgow Leinster v Connacht
Round 11
Saturday, January 9th *
Dragons v Ospreys Leinster v Ulster Cardiff v Scarlets Connacht v Munster Zebre v Edinburgh Glasgow v Benetton
* Exact scheduling for the last three rounds of games will occur in due course.
