In September 2020, the Southern Kings ceased operations and the South African Rugby Union council began exploring the possibility of the four South African former Super Rugby teams - the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers - joining an expanded Pro14.

[1] PRO14 Rugby announced in December 2020 that the 2020–21 Pro14 regular season would conclude after 16 rounds, and the top team from each conference would advance to a final in March 2021.

[3] Due to several issues surrounding travel restrictions as a result of the pandemic, it was announced in April 2021 that the Rainbow Cup would adopt a dual tournament format and there would be no cross-hemisphere fixtures.

[6] The Rainbow Cup saw three law variations trialled: Replacement for a red carded player after 20 minutes, Captain's Challenge and Goal-line dropouts.

[7] The captain's challenge law attracted widespread criticism, particularly after an incident in Munster's game against Cardiff where Munster's CJ Stander called for a captain's challenge on a Cardiff player returning the ball into a ruck, a minor technical offence.

[14] Benetton won 35–8 in front of their home crowd for a historic first win of an international competition for any Italian club.