FORMER Springboks ace Zane Kirchner believes the Guinness PRO14 will be improved by the Dragons being joined by a pair of South African sides, writes Chris Kirwan.

The Rodney Parade region have been partnered by the Southern Kings, who are based in Port Elizabeth, in Conference B of the revamped Championship.

They will play the Kings home and away while they will go up against the Cheetahs either in Bloemfontein or Newport in the coming campaign, the venue set to be announced next week along with the rest of the schedule.

Kirchner moved to the Dragons from Leinster this summer and has joined a sizeable South African contingent featuring lock Rynard Landman (who is now Welsh-qualified), tighthead Brok Harris, scrum-half Sarel Pretorius, wing Pat Howard and full-back Carl Meyer.

And the full-back, wing or centre, who won the last of his 31 caps in South Africa’s World Cup loss to Japan two years ago, is relishing the chance to go up against his compatriots.

The Kings won only six of 15 games in the current campaign of Super Rugby while the Cheetahs claimed just four scalps but Kirchner is confident their ability, and style, will add value to the PRO14.

“They will definitely enhance the Championship,” said Kirchner, who is from Western Cape and played for the Bulls in Super Rugby before heading to Dublin in 2014.

“My first season in the northern hemisphere was definitely something different to what I was used to in terms of surface and competition.

“Super Rugby is not an easy competition, the Cheetahs did reasonably and last year [the Free State Cheetahs] won the Currie Cup while the Kings have put down a couple of big names.

“Both like to play attacking rugby with an attractive game – they are not scared to move the ball around the park.

“Coming to the northern hemisphere in the winter, that might be a big challenge but in general they will bring some attractive rugby.”

Games in South Africa are fixed for Saturdays to allow visiting teams to have a seven-day turnaround. Those pencilled in for a pair of fixtures in the southern hemisphere will play them back-to-back on a ‘mini tour’.

The Kings and Cheetahs cannot qualify for European tournaments at the moment.

l More on the new PRO14 on page 38