Celtic League (rugby union)
| Pro12 | |
|---|---|
Current season or competition:: 2016–17 Pro12
|
|
 |
|
| Sport | Rugby union |
| Instituted | 2001 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Nations |
 Ireland Italy Scotland Wales
|
| Holders |
Connacht (2015–16)
|
| Most titles |
Leinster (4 titles) Ospreys (4 titles) |
| Website | pro12rugby |
The PRO12 (known as the Guinness PRO12 for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union competition involving twelve professional sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The league is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe (along with the English Premiership and the French Top 14), the most successful teams from which go forward to compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup, the pan-European championship which replaced the Heineken Cup after the 2013–14 season.
Beginning in the 2001–02 season, the league was originally known as the Celtic League and comprised teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The league was sponsored by Irish cider makers Magners from the 2006–07 season until 2010–11. At the start of the 2010–11 season, the league expanded from ten to twelve teams, adding two Italian teams. Following the end of Magners' sponsorship, the league was sponsored by RaboDirect from 2011–12 through to 2013–14. The "Pro12" name was adopted in 2011 to reflect that the league now included teams from outside the Celtic nations. The current sponsorship deal with Guinness commenced at the beginning of the 2014–15 season.
The league has used a play-off structure since the 2009–10 season to determine the champions, similar to that used in the English Premiership. Until the 2008–09 season, the champions were determined from league performance.
The league season takes place between September and May, with each team playing every other team on a home and away basis. League matches traditionally avoided the international weekends in November and during the Six Nations Championship, however there has been some overlap since the 2010–11 season due to the increased number of games.
League points are awarded using the Rugby union bonus points system. Until and including the 2008–09 season, the champions were decided solely on the basis of who led the final league table, but since the 2009–10 season, the league champion has been decided by a play-off series, in line with other rugby club competitions such as Super Rugby, Top 14, and the English Premiership: at the conclusion of the regular season, the top four placed teams enter the semi-final stage, with the winner of the first vs fourth and second vs third play-offs entering the final (known as the "grand final" in 2010 and 2011). The venue for the final is chosen by the highest placed team in the regular season.
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