Sunday, April 24, 2011

Rugby - Easter rising by the Irish provinces, the Ospreys suck, and the Sharks are the only suck proof SA side

Impressive Conor Murray (picture from http://bit.ly/hr20dk )

Magners

Munster     21 79
Leinster     21 65
Ulster        21 63
Blues        20 60
Ospreys   21 59
Scarlets    21 57

It all went fairly according to plan , Ulster, the Blues, Scarlets and Leinster all won, it was the Ospreys, the new bad boys (as in not good) of Welsh rugby, who have to hang their heads in shame. Losing to Munster is no disgrace, but at home, with what was as at stake in the match, was a tiny bit of a disgrace. Jerry Collins was the villain, who gave away the penalty, that lead to the line out, that lead to the maul, that lead to the offside, that lead to the penalty, that lead to the loss.

Pretty gut wrenching for the Ospreys, but can I go wading in again will ill informed judgment, but if Hook wouldn’t stay there for a million pounds, they are not happy campers at the moment. They need players who wouldn’t move for a million pounds. The Osprey pack had a few stand out performances, Alwyn Jones looked good, but not too much was happening behind them. For Munster, Connor Murray is growing with each game and shows the home grown production line is still functioning and Felix Jones shows the Leinster academy works well too!

I saw the Ulster Connacht match too, and it was a fair result in the end. Ulster had to work for it though, they have an irritating habit of switching off at key moments in a match – just after they’ve scored for instance. Their own Cave man made the game safe in the last few minutes, and with the Ospreys losing, their future in making the playoffs is in their own hands.

Leinster’s match at Airoldi was a bit of a squad work out, but they have pretty awesome strength in depth now. A bonus point would have been nice, but a win is a win.

Aviva

Leicester Tigers     21 73
Saracens               21 72
Gloucester            21 62
Northampton        21 61
London Irish         21 54
Bath                     20 53

Exiles are knackered at this stage, they fell off the pace earlier in the season and have never really come back from that. The Saints were more than they could handle, even at home. Elsewhere, Saracens got a bonus point win out of Gloucester, and Bath thumped Wasps. If my maths is right, Bath are still in contention, although they’re looking for Leeds to do them a massive favour.

Shark Bite

Sweet! Four try bonus point over the Canes! Even though I flippantly predicted it, I never really saw it coming. The Bulls sucked again, the Lions always suck, and the Cheetahs and Storemers weren’t playing so they couldn’t suck this week. And nice one by the Highlanders, beating the Crusaders! The Crusaders and the AB’s are not the same team without their DC10.

The Magners League


Saturday , April 23

Aironi Rugby 8 - 20 Leinster

Ospreys 20 - 22 Munster

Friday , April 22

Ulster 27 - 16 Connacht

Edinburgh 27 - 15 Newport-Gwent D'gons

Glasgow 29 - 37 Scarlets

Thursday , April 21

Cardiff Blues 29 - 9 Benetton Treviso

Aviva Premiership


Sunday , April 24

Saracens 35 - 12 Gloucester

Leeds Carnegie 3 - 38 Harlequins

Saturday , April 23

London Irish 20 - 26 Northampton

Wasps 10 - 43 Bath

Friday , April 22

Sale 24 - 30 Exeter

Newcastle 13 - 24 Leicester

Super Rugby


Saturday , April 23

Crusaders 18 - 26 Highlanders

Reds 19 - 15 Waratahs

Western Force 26 - 21 Bulls

Lions 30 - 34 Chiefs

Sharks 40 - 24 Hurricanes

Friday , April 22

Blues 40 - 23 Melbourne Rebels

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