there was talk of getting some English teams involved, London Irish and/or London Scottish (Edinburgh had an agreement between themselves and LS which saw alot of players move between the clubs over a few months which might have been the start of the rumours, that deal ended on bad terms though).

There's always talk of a 3rd Scottish team. About 12 months ago it sounded like a team was going to be set up in Aberdeen but oil prices dropping then and probably Brexit now means it'll struggle to get off the ground due to sponsors having to rein in the spending.

Maybe a more realistic option would be to get 3rd/4th tier international teams involved - Spain, Germany, etc.These countries have mid season breaks in soccer so there'd be a few weeks where some sports fans might be tempted to give something new a go

Winters in Boston are awful, not Siberia awful, but you can't put a team in Boston and expect them to play outdoors every other week from Sept-May and I doubt they would build a dome for an expansion rugby team. Also, Pro Rugby looked into teams for Boston, NY, Philly and other places in the Northeast but couldn't secure any fields that were up to World Rugby standards.

If anything the Pro 12 needs a bigger commitment from Italy like still don't have a deal sorted.


A 3rd tem based in Rome and then another Scottish team say something like the border reavers but based in Aberdeen would be great (all not going to happen i know)

A 5th province (Irish team) would be a huge mistake. We have a great balance in terms of teams. More chance of London Irish/Scottish/ joining the Pro12

The Welsh teams need to stop looking at England as the answer. It's pointless they have their league well sewn up and by keeping going back they are driving down the value of the league.

The Scots are grand but 2 teams isn't enough to make a TV deal worth a lot.

We need to see international players more often. The years of using the Pro 12 as a warm up for Europe are coming to an end but I feel there is still a bit of it about

If I were to be very commercial focused, I would reduce the Italian contingent from 2 to 1 teams....then opens up 2 fixture dates in calendar. For one of those dates..have a Welsh style judgement day. Which is have all 4 provinces play in aviva on a Saturday in April. It would be a third interprovincial weekend alright but main benefit is it could be a real money spinner. Tv rights would love it. Full aviva stadium.

Welsh and scots could do same.

I also think there is market for pro 12 team in Irish Midlands..Kildare...Meath....but that's a longer shot..

Pro 12 CEO said some months ago they're looking at a conferenced based system where teams would play just 18 games with all internationals available for all games. Pro 12 had more internationals than the other leagues at the RWC, main issue fans have is not getting to see them.

The comments he made on the threat to the pro game are scary enough. Sounds like the league could be in real trouble ...

Such an increase in values will require some radical change to the tournament and how it is structured

I wonder does that just refer to the geographical expansion or are they considering some other changes.

1 team based in Boston and one from maybe Toronto would be fantastic. The US started their own league which is still running so the hard work is done.
If super rugby can work logistically having teams from Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina then getting 2 teams from the east coast of North America shouldn't be impossible. Nice big sponsorship would help of course.

I always thought USA and Canada should be involved in some sort of expanded 6 Nations (with Georgia and maybe Romania and Russia)

When you see Argentinan and Japanese teams in Super Rugby it makes sense to some how get them involved in Club Rugby in Northern Hemisphere ..

Logistics would be expensive though

Edit: also name checks potential franchises in Germany, Netherlands and Spain (Real Madrid, Barca and Real Sociead all have Rugby clubs affiliated with them)

Something clearly needs to be done to increase the appeal and financial clout of the Pro12 clubs but America wouldn't have initially sprung to mind.

www.balls.ie/rugby/irfu-madness/339927