Rugby: four South African Super Rugby clubs to join the Pro14 from April 2021

Four South African clubs - Vodacom Bulls, Emirates Lions, Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers - will join the Guinness Pro14 in April 2021 for the "Rainbow Cup" (16-team competition), according to the organising body, Pro14 Rugby, on 23/12/2020.

The 2020-21 Guinness Pro14 will end in March 2021 and the Rainbow Cup, which is contested by 16 clubs (see below) in two pools of eight, will begin on 17/04/2021, before the British & Irish Lions tour in July 2021 (which will pit the British Lions versus South Africa, 2019 World Champions). The winners of each pool after seven regular season days will face each other in the final on 19/06/2021.

These four South African clubs were previously participating in Super Rugby, an international rugby competition involving fifteen franchises from Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Japan and New Zealand, which was interrupted on 19/03/2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They then competed against each other, like the Australian and New Zealand franchises in a mini championship between franchises of the same country before playing the Currie Cup (a…