Ulster Rugby vs Zebre

Managing Director, PRO12 Rugby Welcome

With two rounds of Guinness PRO12 action and a host of autumn internationals already played, it’s fair to say November has delivered a feast of rugby. But it’s not over yet and this weekend promises even more drama. Firstly, I must congratulate the Irish and Italian teams for creating history with their first-ever victories over New Zealand and South Africa, respectively, and it was a great advert for our Championship to see that 43 of the 46 players involved in those Tests ply their trade in the Guinness PRO12. Scotland’s win over World Cup semi-finalists, Argentina, cannot go unnoticed either, with 19 of their match-day squad all based in the Guinness PRO12. As always, international windows present new opportunities for the countless rising talents that emerge every season in the Guinness PRO12 and the past few weeks have been no diŠerent. Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland), Joey Carberry (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), Sam Davies (Ospreys Rugby/Wales) and Giorgio Bronzini (Benetton Rugby Treviso/Italy) have all won their first caps for their countries and great credit goes to their coaches, their clubs and to the players themselves. I’m also delighted to welcome Eurosport on board as broadcast partner in Italy. Eurosport are one of the leading sports broadcasters in Europe and Asia and the Eurosport Player is evidence of how they have embraced new technology to oŠer fans new ways to watch the games that they love. As for the Championship, the entertainment continues to flow with our clubs scoring more tries at this point in the season than ever before. Across the first eight rounds we’ve seen 247 tries scored which averages out at least five tries per game. In addition, fans like you are responding to action on the pitch by attending more games and watching our broadcasts as all those numbers are on the rise. Your support is invaluable and behind the scenes at all of our clubs and within our own team at PRO12 Rugby we are all working hard to make sure you enjoy a great day out every time you come to a game. The intense competition hasn’t let up either with nine points separating the top six teams – all of whom are previous winners of the Championship – and whoever reaches the Guinness PRO12 Final on May 27 will have beaten some very tough teams to get there. Enjoy the game, Martin Anayi