The Scarlets’ conference rivals for the next two seasons have been officially confirmed.
The 2016-17 champions will again be in Conference B along with Munster, Connacht, Cardiff Blues (who have switched from Conference A), Edinburgh, Benetton and Southern Kings.
The conferences have been drawn based upon finishing positions after round 21 of the 2018-19 campaign.
The Scarlets finished fourth in Conference B last season, narrowly missing out on a play-off spot and because they had less points than both the Ospreys and Blues were seeded as Wales’ third team.
The criteria for placing teams in each conference relies on competitiveness and ensuring that an equal spread of teams from each union are present in both conferences.
As a result, the conferences for the next two seasons are as follows:
Conference A
Glasgow Warriors (SCO 1)
Leinster Rugby (IRE 2)
Ulster Rugby (IRE 3)
Ospreys Rugby (WAL 1)
Dragons Rugby (WAL 4)
Zebre Rugby Club (ITA 2)
Toyota Cheetahs (SA 1)
Conference B
Edinburgh Rugby (SCO 2)
Munster Rugby (IRE 1)
Connacht Rugby (IRE 4)
Cardiff Blues (WAL 2)
Scarlets (WAL 3)
Benetton Rugby (ITA 1)
Isuzu Southern Kings (SA 2)
How the Conferences were drawn
First, all teams were placed into a consolidated table
1 Glasgow Warriors (81 pts)
2 Munster Rugby (77)
3 Leinster Rugby (76)
4 Ulster Rugby (63)
5 Connacht Rugby (61)
6 Ospreys Rugby (58)
7 Benetton Rugby (57)
8 Cardiff Blues (54)
9 Scarlets (52)
10 Edinburgh Rugby (51)
11 Toyota Cheetahs (46)
12 Dragons Rugby (26)
13 Isuzu Southern Kings (22)
14 Zebre Rugby Club (19)
Each team was then slotted into their union ranking
SCO 1: Glasgow Warriors (81)
SCO 2: Edinburgh Rugby (51)
ITA 1: Benetton Rugby (57)
ITA 2: Zebre Rugby Club (19)
SA 1: Toyota Cheetahs (46)
SA 2: Isuzu Southern Kings (22)
IRE 1: Munster Rugby (77)
IRE 2: Leinster Rugby (76)
IRE 3: Ulster Rugby (63)
IRE 4: Connacht Rugby (61)
WAL 1: Ospreys Rugby (58)
WAL 2: Cardiff Blues (54)
WAL 3: Scarlets (52)
WAL 4: Dragons (26)
As the team with the most points Glasgow Warriors were placed into Conference A to allow the population to follow the sequence below:
Conference A
Scotland 1 (Glasgow Warriors)
Ireland 2 (Leinster Rugby)
Ireland 3 (Ulster Rugby)
Wales 1 (Ospreys Rugby)
Wales 4 (Dragons Rugby)
Italy 2 (Zebre Rugby Club)
South Africa 1 (Toyota Cheetahs)
Conference B
Scotland 2 (Edinburgh Rugby)
Ireland 1 (Munster Rugby)
Ireland 4 (Connacht Rugby)
Wales 2 (Cardiff Blues)
Wales 3 (Scarlets)
Italy 1 (Benetton Rugby)
South Africa 2 (Isuzu Southern Kings)
This sequencing is put in place to ensure each union is equally represented in each conference which is a guiding principle of the format of the Guinness PRO14.