Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, and captain, Alun Wyn Jones, were among the guests gathered at the Diageo Headquarters in Park Royal, London on Tuesday, to help launch the new GUINNESS PRO12 season.
The pair were joined by coaches and captains from their 11 PRO12 rivals, along with assembled members of the UK, Irish and Italian media, at the day long event on north-west London aimed at previewing the forthcoming campaign which kicks off next week when the Ospreys welcome Benetton Treviso to the Liberty Stadium on Friday 5th September, at the new regular kick-off time of 7.35pm.
The launch was hosted by Alex Payne, Sky Sports rugby presenter, his first duties on behalf of the PRO12s new primary broadcaster. The arrival of Sky and new title sponsors Guinness, along with tthe new European competition qualification procedure, will ensure a thrilling competition from first game to last.
It’s a league that boasts a total of 227 international players from 14 countries, all looking to secure a place in their national squads ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup.
The GUINNESS PRO12 experienced year on year growth for the 5th consecutive year for both match attendance and TV audiences in 2013/2014 while the GUINNESS PRO12 social media platforms and website have grown exponentially over the last number of years and will continue to keep supporters fully up to date throughout the season with key features including live text commentary for 135 matches, news, imagery and quickly turned around highlight videos.
All 11 home GUINNESS PRO12 matches are covered by an Ospreys season membership, which are still on sale from the Liberty Stadium Ticket Office and online at www.ospreysrugby.com/buytickets. Memberships also cover the three European Rugby Champions homes games, against Northampton Saints, Racing Metro and Treviso as well as two home LV= Cup fixtures.
Match tickets for the home game up to and including the Scarlets derby match on Saturday 27th December, are also on sale now at this link, at the Ticket Office, and via the Ticket Hotline on 0844 815 6665.
You can see our gallery of images from the launch event in London on our Facebook page here.