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Rugby – Guinness Pro12 season launched in London (Yes, London)

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August 24, 2015

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Ulster’s Paul Marshall, Connacht’s John Muldoon, Dragons’ Rhys Thomas, Cardiff’s Josh Navidi, Leinster’s Kevin McLaughlin, Munster’s Dennis Hurley, Warriors’ Peter Murchie, Zebre’s George Biagi, Ospreys’ Lloyd Ashley, Edinburgh’s Mike Coman, Treviso’s Alberto Demarchi and Scarlets Hadleigh Parkes Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Ulster’s Paul Marshall, Cardiff’s Josh Navidi, Treviso’s Alberto Demarchi, Zebre’s George Biagi, Munster’s Dennis Hurley, Warriors’ Peter Murchie, Leinster’s Kevin McLaughlin, Edinburgh’s Mike Coman, Ospreys’ Lloyd Ashley, Scarlets’ Hadleigh Parkes, Connacht’s John Muldoon and Dragons’ Rhys Thomas Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Connacht’s John Muldoon, Treviso’s Alberto Demarchi, Zebre’s George Biagi, Ulster’s Paul Marshall, Munster’s Dennis Hurley, Scarlets’ Hadleigh Parkes, Warriors’ Peter Murchie, Ospreys’ Lloyd Ashley, Cardiff’s Josh Navidi, Edinburgh’s Mike Coman, Leinster’s Kevin McLaughlin and Dragons’ Rhys Thomas take a group ‘selfie’ Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Ulster’s Paul Marshall, Treviso’s Alberto Demarchi, Dragons’ Rhys Thomas, Cardiff’s Josh Navidi, Leinster’s Kevin McLaughlin, Munster’s Dennis Hurley, Warriors’ Peter Murchie, Zebre’s George Biagi, Ospreys’ Lloyd Ashley, Edinburgh’s Mike Coman, Connacht’s John Muldoon and Scarlets’ Hadleigh Parkes Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/James Crombie

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Munster’s Dennis Hurley, Connacht’s John Muldoon, Leinster’s Kevin McLaughlin and Ulster’s Paul Marshall Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Head coaches of the Dragons’ Lyn Jones, Ospreys’ Steve Tandy, Warriors’ Gregor Townsend, Scarlets’ Wayne Pivac, Treviso’s Marium Goosen, Connacht’s Pat Lam, Leinster’s Leo Cullen, Munster’s Anthony Foley, Zebre’s Andrea Cavinato, Cardiff’s Danny Wilson, Edinburgh’s Alan Solomon and Ulster’s Neil Doak Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Head coaches of the Dragons’ Lyn Jones, Ulster’s Neil Doak, Scarlets’ Wayne Pivac, Ospreys’ Steve Tandy, Leinster’s Leo Cullen, Munster’s Anthony Foley, Warriors’ Gregor Townsend, Connacht’s Pat Lam, Treviso’s Marium Goosen, Zebre’s Andrea Cavinato, Cardiff’s Danny Wilson and Edinburgh’s Alan Solomon Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/James Crombie

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Leinster’s Kevin McLaughlin, Munster’s Denis Hurley, Connacht’s John Muldoon and Ulster’s Paul Marshall Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/James Crombie

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season: Munster head coach Anthony Foley and Denis Hurley Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Ulster’s Paul Marshall, Treviso’s Alberto Demarchi, Dragons’ Rhys Thomas, Cardiff’s Josh Navidi, Leinster’s Kevin McLaughlin, Munster’s Dennis Hurley, Warriors’ Peter Murchie, Zebre’s George Biagi, Ospreys’ Lloyd Ashley, Edinburgh’s Mike Coman, Connacht’s John Muldoon and Scarlets’ Hadleigh Parkes Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/James Crombie

Launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season, Diageo HQ, Park Royal, London 24/8/2015 Pictured today at the launch of the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 Season (L-R): Ulster’s Paul Marshall, Connacht’s John Muldoon, Dragons’ Rhys Thomas, Cardiff’s Josh Navidi, Leinster’s Kevin McLaughlin, Munster’s Dennis Hurley, Warriors’ Peter Murchie, Zebre’s George Biagi, Ospreys’ Lloyd Ashley, Edinburgh’s Mike Coman, Treviso’s Alberto Demarchi and Scarlets Hadleigh Parkes Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

THE LAUNCH of the Guinness PRO12 2015/2016 season took place this morning at the DIAGEO Headquarters in Park Royal, London, with all 12 club coaches and playing captains in attendance.
Launching the new season, Gerald Davies, Chairman, PRO12 Rugby, stated:
“Every game counts in the Guinness PRO12! With the introduction of meritocracy for European Champions Cup qualification, we had more competitive games at all stages of the tournament last year. We also had a sixth year of year-on-year growth on attendance, with record crowds of almost 1.2 million (up 4.65%) and a new league attendance record set of 52,762 at Judgement Day III, who saw a record 5,480 points scored – including 587 tries (4.35 on average per match) so we had lots of entertainment and excitement all season long!
“Our partnership with Guinness has been an unqualified success both on and off the park and their long association with rugby union has been apparent in everything they do. The continued support of our other partners Specsavers and Rhino Rugby is also recognised as a key component in our growth as a competition.”
Davies continued: “We would like to thank our very strong suite of broadcasters, our newest broadcast partner Sky Sports together with BBC Alba, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, S4C, TG4 and Rai Sport. TV audiences again were very strong with over 92% of games on live television last year. The Final in Belfast was viewed on average by an excellent live audience of 310,000. This season, we will have 62 out of 72 live games up to round 12 and we will have a greater reach in Italy as Rai Sport have re-joined our strong broadcast team
“The highest number of international players – 254 international players from 14 countries – played in the Guinness PRO12 last season and we wish all of them selected this year the very best in the forthcoming Rugby World Cup 2015 in England. We hope that our four countries have had an excellent and ongoing summer preparation, and wish them all a long, fruitful and successful participation in RWC 2015!”
Oliver Loomes, Category Director Beer Europe, Diageo, welcomed guests and said: “The Guinness PRO12 continues to grow year-on-year and establish itself as one of the biggest and best domestic rugby leagues in the world. We had a fantastic first season as title sponsor of this great competition during 2014/15 and we look forward to working with PRO12 Rugby, the clubs and the other partners over the coming 2015/16 season.”
The Guinness PRO12 2015/16 season will kick off next week on Friday 4th September with Edinburgh Rugby v Leinster, Connacht v Dragons and Ulster v Ospreys. Last year’s Guinness PRO12 Champions Glasgow Warriors will host Scarlets on Saturday 5th September and later that day Munster will host Benetton Treviso in Cork. The early Sunday afternoon fixture sees Cardiff Blues take on Zebre Rugby.
An updated fixtures list is online at www.pro12rugby.com – http://www.pro12rugby.com/matchcentre/fixtures_list.php#Fp4sddogHA2BJtvC.97
The Guinness PRO12 social media platforms have also grown exponentially over the last few years and will continue to keep supporters fully up-to-date throughout the season. Some new features include weekend highlight clips on Sunday evenings with the assistance of Sky Sports, plus live text commentary for all 135 matches, news, features and imagery.

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