Who cares if there’s no PRO14 winner? It’s started but doesn’t need to finish

The Australia-bound Glasgow boss, undoubtedly with a smidgen of mischief given Edinburgh’s place at the top of Conference B, suggested calling the whole thing off and awarding the title to unbeaten Leinster.

"Leinster - unbeaten all year, miles in front - it's hard not to award them the competition, isn't it?" said the New Zealander, whose Warriors side sit in the play-off spots, at the end of April.

Rennie is in the final weeks of his time at Scotstoun Stadium and will be heading Down Under.

He won’t be in charge if 2019/20 does return and frankly he will be better off out of it, even if he is heading to an Antipodean shambles with the Wallabies.

It’s a nightmare (clearly only in a sporting sense or the word) for the PRO14 chiefs, who must be jealous of the Welsh Rugby Union.

The governing body were able to act swiftly in just cancelling the whole campaign in Wales and saying it will be as you were when the sport can return, an approach that has provided clarity and allowed clubs to concentrate on just trying to survive.

But there aren’t the same financial complexities in Division Three East B and one of the prime motivations for PRO14 clubs is the need to try and satisfy broadcasters.

One suggestion is to play some derby clashes – easier in Wales and Ireland where there are four teams, not so simple in Scotland – before crossing fingers that play-off fixtures can take place in late summer.

But do we really care enough for that?

If the 2019/20 campaign can somehow be finished, albeit shortened with a glut of Ps next to fixtures, then it will be tainted.

That makes you wonder whether the whole thing should just be called off.

Do Leinster really need a piece of silverware engraved with an asterisk to go in their jam-packed trophy cabinet?

It would rival the Prince William Cup for pointlessness. Just have a blank year on the roll of honour, everybody will understand why.

If rugby can return in August then great, but let’s not pretend that everyone has just picked up where they left off.

It would be rather odd if Ian Madigan, back in Ireland from Bristol in June, kicks Ulster to the title to the sound of ‘Stand up for the Ulstermen’ piped through the Tannoy at an empty stadium.

Sorry Magnus Magnusson, the PRO14 has started but it doesn't need to finish.

It’s a return of rugby that many long for, not a return of the competition.

European viewers will tune in to New Zealand’s Super Rugby Aotearoa from June 13 but the majority won’t care whether it’s the Blues, Highlanders, Chiefs, Hurricanes or Crusaders that tops the pile.

They just want a gap filler and part of me wishes that, when things settle down and more travel is gradually allowed, there was a way of just having an old-style fixture list of friendlies.

The Dragons could just sort out some local tussles with the Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and Ospreys, perhaps nip over the border for some scuffles in Worcester, Bristol, Gloucester or Bath and bus travel to Scotland might be doable in a few months.

If someone wants to compile a Merit Table fair enough but it’s just some action and talking points from games, watched on a screen and sadly not from the terraces, that most folk want.

I realise that a calender featuring friendlies is a non-starter due to a lack of broadcast revenue but whatever schedules are put in front of us will have to be written in pencil rather than ink.

There will always be the possibility of future coronavirus waves putting things on hold again, with lockdown lulls leading to the need for more pre-season blocks..

PRO14 bosses, who really aren’t in an enviable position, know that if they can get 2019/20 done and dusted then they move straight into another headache.

The chances of 2020/21 going like clockwork, with 19 rounds of action played as planned in a competition featuring five countries and played in two continents, look slim at the moment.

An end has a start but there might not be a middle.

Caution will have to be mixed with getting a sporting fix for quite some time and the problem for the PRO14 at the moment - one that they are not alone in suffering from - is that we just don't care enough about it.