Leinster need wins now and a bit of luck now in the PRO 12!

 

 Mick Kearney (Picture http://bit.ly/1CZRmor)

With a semi final appearance in the bag for Leinster, time to try and restart their PRO 12 ambitions. Our run in looks like this: Dragons away, Ulster away,  Treviso at home and Edinburgh away,. Win all those and we’d be in with a good shot of nabbing a top four finish.  The Ospreys, four points above us in the table, have Treviso (A),  Cardiff (A), Glasgow (H), and Connacht (A). If Cardiff, Glasgow and Connacht could just do us a favour, we’d be home and hosed!

We have to beat the Dragons first up at Rodney Parade, where we’ve struggled in the past. With Kane Douglas in doubt again, it’s great news that Mick Kearney will be beefing up our squad next year.  We should do the job no problem, we are reliant enough on other results going our way at this stage, so no slip ups please!

Connacht will be without Mick Kearney and Mils Muliaina due to injury, but Bundee Aki could be in action against Ulster. That’s shaping up to be the match of the weekend, Ulster to keep their top 4 spot, and Connacht to keep their top 6 place.

Donnacha Ryan, MIA for Munster for far too long, is in contention for their match against Edinburgh, who have had a few good results in the last couple of weeks. Can’t see Munster having too many problems though.

Guinness PRO12
Friday, April 10
Benetton Treviso vs Ospreys    18:35
Glasgow Warriors vs Cardiff Blues    18:35
Saturday, April 11
Connacht vs Ulster    13:40
Zebre vs Scarlets    14:00
Edinburgh vs Munster    18:30
Sunday, April 12
Newport Gwent Dragons vs Leinster    15:15

Leinster looking for another win!

 

(picture http://bit.ly/1FyxrB1)

I’m back in action after a good holiday – saw the results over Christmas- did all the 4 provinces get a win and a loss? All even then. Amazing how good Munster are against Leinster – they’d be top of the league if they played like that every week – and amazing how abject Leinster are against Munster. News from Munster is the departure of JJ Hanrahan – they weren’t playing him much, he’s a big loss, but he’s young and he’ll be back. If Munster get their forward play right, the fly half doesn’t have much to do anyway.

Connacht kick things off on Friday at Edinburgh – good times when they’re favourites and should
win this handily.

Leinster hope to make it two in a row against Cardiff, who have a decent team and should be doing much better than they are. Marty Moore and Ben Te'o are back in the picture, whilst Jack McGraw is on the bold step for a few weeks. Leinster have been poor away in general, but I think they might do this.

Munster won’t struggle against Zebre, nor Ulster against Treviso. Munster have pretty lengthy injury list though – Earls and Cronin are close to returning, but Kilcoyne, Copeland, Smith and Ryan are still a way away.

Enjoy the rugby!

Guinness PRO12
Friday, January 09
Connacht vs Edinburgh    19:35
Glasgow Warriors vs Scarlets    19:35
Saturday, January 10
Cardiff Blues vs Leinster    14:40
Zebre vs Munster    15:00
Sunday, January 11
Benetton Treviso vs Ulster    14:00
Ospreys vs Newport Gwent Dragons    16:00

Leinster get clinical!

 What did you think of Heaslip's haircut, Rob?

If it was ever in any doubt, Leinster underlined their class with a clinical win over Glasgow, to end their season on a high. Glasgow have great young team, and hung on well in the match up until the sixty minute mark. Attacking the Leinster try line, they turned over the ball, lost 75 metres, and the game in that moment. BOD may have limped off after 8 minutes, but the spirit of his play lived on, with fluid attacking moves that were just too quick and slick for Glasgow to cope with. Glasgow’s defense was murderously effective, driving Leinster back in the tackles, but Leinster had the variety in their game to cope with that and find another way through. In fairness to Matt O’Connor, Gopperth had his best match in an age, and Madigan at 13 is a very interesting proposition. Zane Kirchener has proved a very good buy, and D’arcy just oozes class and experience. And BOD got to say goodbye to the RDS with another good win, finally drawing his glittering career to close.

I was spot in England, where Northampton came out on top, in extra time over a Saracens side seriously up for the match.

And Toulon closed out their season in style, getting the double Heineken Cup and T14, and giving Jonny Wilkinson a fitting send off in the process.

RaboDirect PRO12

Leinster 34 - 12 Glasgow 

Aviva Premiership

Saturday , May 31

Saracens 20 - 24 Northampton 

RaboDirect PRO12

Leinster 34 - 12 Glasgow 

Top 14

Toulon 18 - 10 Castres

Leinster will win for BOD Almighty!

 

 BOD Almighty (picture http://bit.ly/1pus392)

THIS IS IT! Finals day all over Europe, for a season that got going in August!
 
Leinster can sign off in style by beating Glasgow tonight…or they can end their season with a question mark with a loss. This is a sum of Mark O’Connor’s first season.  There’s no doubt that the scrum has seen a huge improvement, with Leinster’s starting and bench front rows basically no 1 and 2 for Ireland as well. And the defense is as good as ever, able to contain most attacks. It’s the backline play that has gone into decline, Leinster’s attack used to have rythym, they could push the button at the right time and just destroy teams. Apart from Saints away, we haven’t really seen that this year.  And Madigan is still on the bench for tonight, so I don’t think we’ll see pyrotechnics from them tonight either.

Glasgow have a good all round team, superb defense, and real game breakers on the bench. They also have momentum, and a win today would cap two good seasons. But…Leinster have home advantage, and they are alos saying goodbye to two massive players, BOD Almighty, and Leo Cullen.  It’s hard to put into words the impact BOD has had on Leinster over years, helping turn them from competitors into Kings of Europe, with crucial breaks, turnovers and tackles. Leo too, brought an edge to the pack that helped take them to another level. This is their sign off, the Leinster crowd is going to fanatical in their support. If the final was in Glasgow, I’d be going with Glasgow, but at home, saying goodbye to BOD, I’m saying Leinster with a good win.

Elsewhere, I fancy Northampton to take Saracens out, the Saints are on a roll, and Saracens loss to Toulon took a lot out of them, physically and mentally.

And finally, I’m going with Castres, don’t know why but I think that they just have steely nerve in finals that gets them over the line.

Saturday , May 31
Leinster vs Glasgow 
Toulon vs Castres 
Saracens vs Northampton 
Sunday , June 1
England vs Barbarians 15:00

Glasgow triumph, while Leinster turn in the sleepiest win of the season.

 

 ( picture http://bit.ly/1p3BYiP)

Munster’s season closed up on Friday night with a hard fought loss in Glasgow. It was an eye wateringly physical match, where defense was king. Both sides really struggled to make line breaks - it was kitchen sink stuff for 80 minutes. Munster’s disallowed try was a pivotal point in the match – you could have seen them kicking on from there, but it was Glasgow who got stronger as the match wore on. The Fijian substitutes of Nakarawa and  Matawalu made a big difference for Glasgow, Munster just didn’t have the quality to bring on and up their intensity. The result leaves Munster with nothing to show for the season, and potentially a tricky year next year – a new untested coach, and a few players leaving. If they could pick up where they left after the Toulon match however, things good be very bright indeed though. And Glasgow have been the form team last year and this, and look to be favourites for the final.

However Munster might feel about luck, decisions etc, Ulster must feel even unluckier, the cards never seem to fall their way. Leading up until the 60th minute 9-0, only to lose it 13-12. Leinster turned in the sleepiest sloppiest win of the season, kept in the game by a massive defensive effort. And it was the old heads that were giving away the dumb penalties too, Kearney and D’Arcy, hang your heads. Again, in a strange way, it was O’Driscoll that sparked them into life, not by his play, but the realistation when he went off that they were sending him off with a loss. How sweet for Madigan to finish the job too, time to back him and let him do his thing. It must be frustrating to bits for Ulster, they have it all, but not that extra 5% killer instinct to finish the job. Best moment was the laughter between Mullet and Cullen after the match, both retiring, a little bit of what rugby’s about.

RaboDirect PRO12
Saturday , May 17
Leinster 13 - 9 Ulster 
Friday , May 16
Glasgow 16 - 15 Munster 

Glasgow and Leinster...

 

 ( Picture http://bit.ly/1nRSx3X)

So this is it, no more messing around, there’s two teams going man down, Brown, this weekend, so who’s it going to be?

First up is Munster’s trip to Glasgow. The Scots are heavily tipped to go all the way this year, while Munster have been a bit erratic these last few weeks.  If they play like they did in the second half v Toulon, they’ll win no problem, but if they play like they did last weekend, that’s the end of the season for them. Both have formidable starting line ups – although Stuart Hogg is notable by his absence. But it’s quite unusual to see Glasgow with more capped internationals on the bench than Munster, and I think that could tell in the second half when Munster start to tire. Home advantage is massive for Glasgow, I think Munster would have won at home, but his weekend I think the Scots will prevail.

On Saturday, Leinster get to lock horns with Ulster. After winning the HCup two years  (against Ulster), and last year winning the RaboDirect (also against Ulster) and the lesser spotted (but still worth having Amlin Cup), really this year the SweetEffAll season is looming. There will be goodbyes for Brian O’Driscoll and Leo Cullen the next time they lose. Despite topping the Rabo table, Leinster have looked pretty ordinary for the last half of the season, which probably peaked with their away win at Northampton. Ulster have Rory Best and Ruan Pienaar back, which is a massive boost. I kind of think that Leinster will scrape though this one, while ref Leighton Hodges sweats and brandishes cards.

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , May 16
Glasgow vs Munster 
Saturday , May 17
Leinster vs Ulster

Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Glasgow with it all to play for!

 (picture http://bit.ly/1ojFLuM)

So 22 games, all finished up this weekend, looking very healthy for Irish rugby with 3 out of four semi finalists. It’s a bit sobering for Wales not even having a finalist, but good to see a Scottish side on the rise, mainly due to Gregor Townsend I think.

I watched the Leinster Edinburgh match. Apart from a few purple patches, it was prey ordinary stuff from Leinster, Edinburgh are not exactly Clermont Auvergne, but they seemed to be able to cope pretty easily with what Leinster threw at them, and make some good breaks of their own. There was some individual class that set Leinster apart, Rob Kearney gets better and better, and BOD is worth his weight in gold at the break down.  But they’ll have to play so much better than to win the Pro 12. Lot’s of big goodbyes in the wings, as both BOD and Leo get ready to bow out.

I didn’t watch the Munster Ulster match, but that was some result for an inexperienced Ulster team. It’ll be different when Munster have their full team, and get into knockout rugby mode, but they are going to have their work cut out in Glasgow. Ulster will be brimming with confidence ahead of their trip to Dublin.

Connacht signed off with a loss, which sees them end in 10th, level on points with the Dragons. Last year they were 8th, but it must be tough to be continuously losing your best players.
Treviso, meanwhile, got the point they needed to get into the European cup next year,


RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , May 16
Glasgow vs Munster 19:35
Saturday , May 17
Leinster vs Ulster 19:00
Saturday , May 10
Munster 17 - 19 Ulster 
Scarlets 27 - 15 Cardiff Blues 
Leinster 15 - 13 Edinburgh 
Glasgow 54 - 0 Zebre 
Newport Gwent D'gons 20 - 19 Benetton Treviso 
Ospreys 45 - 20 Connacht 

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	PD	B	Pts
1	Leinster	22	17	1	4	554	352	202	12	82
2	Glasgow Warriors	22	18	0	4	484	309	175	7	79
3	Munster	22	16	0	6	538	339	199	10	74
4	Ulster	22	15	0	7	470	319	151	10	70
5	Ospreys	22	13	1	8	571	388	183	12	66
6	Scarlets	22	11	1	10	435	438	-3	9	55
7	Cardiff Blues	22	8	1	13	425	538	-113	7	41
8	Edinburgh	22	7	0	15	397	526	-129	10	38
9	Dragons	22	7	1	14	392	492	-100	5	35
10	Connacht	22	6	0	16	371	509	-138	11	35
11	Treviso	22	5	1	16	376	591	-215	8	30
12	Zebre	22	5	2	15	347	559	-212	5	29

It's the last weekend of the PRO 12, wins for Leinster and Munster!

 

(picture  http://bit.ly/1jalDTY)

This is the final round of the Pro12 this weekend, the final places are pretty well decided, but there should still be some good matches.

Glasgow should thump Zebre first up, although as it stands, Zebre will take the Italian place in the European cup next year,  so they’ll be trying at all costs to get something out of the game.

Zebre will be hoping that the Dragons do them a favour, by beating a Treviso and denying them any points. Both sides have been pretty poor this year, but a place in Europe will probably give Treviso the focus they need to at least get a losing bonus point.

The Ospreys don’t need to beat Connacht to get into Europe, but if they get a bonus point win, they might get into the Rabo play offs, and Connacht would love to end  8th and match their best finish ever.  So that could mean the match will be closer than expected, don’t think Connacht will win but they might come close.

Leinster have Edinburgh to entertain at the  RDS. By entertain, I mean knock 7 colours of poo out of. What a pleasure to see Sean O’Brien back in the strting 15, and Fergus McFadden adds extra depth and variety. I think Leinster will win, probably not look to flash, but get the win to pave the way for a home semi, and final if they get there.

I think Cardiff will take care of the Scarlets, and that just leaves the match of the weekend, Munster v Ulster. Potentially, the table will stay at is, so the result won’t affect anything, but it’s not impossible that Ulster might lose their top four spot to the Ospreys, so it’s surprising their team isn’t a bit stronger.  Their pack looks up to the job, but the backline is inexperienced. Munster have put out a strong side, so they’ll win, but I hope that Ulster manage to get the point they need to guarantee their place in the play offs.

RaboDirect PRO12
Saturday , May 10
Glasgow vs Zebre 
Newport Gwent D'gons vs Benetton Treviso 
Ospreys vs Connacht 
Leinster vs Edinburgh 
Scarlets vs Cardiff Blues 
Munster vs Ulster 

Ulster are not the luckiest team in Ireland are they?

 

 (picture http://bit.ly/1ngJgiR)

Ulster v Leinster had it all on Friday night, a red card for Tom Court in a challenge that was clumsy rather than malicious, and two yellows for Leinster. Bloody hell we’re a dirty bunch! There was lots of entertaining, intense rugby too, and what a pity the red was given, because it went down to the wire even with that. Ulster totally started playing better when they were down to 14, (they’ve been practicing) and played with real intent. Leinster, meanwhile, got the job done, they started better, took their chances – Shane Jennings won’t score and easier try - but don’t look anywhere near their best. I think this flyhalf story is partially to blame, Matt O’Connor should make one first choice and leave it at that. Paddy Jackson, meanwhile, underlined his status as the clear no 2 fly half for Ireland. And the new Ravenhill looksa awesome.

Munster racked up a big win against a poor Edinburgh. Munster took a bit of time to break Edinburgh down, but they their relentless attack is back, and Edinburgh really didn’t have any answers. The basic skills of the Scots was appalling, they won’t get anywhere until they sort it out.

Finally, Connacht couldn’t quite get the win in Cardiff, though at least they managed a losing bonus point.  At one stage it looked like they might challenge for the last European cup place, but that’s faded after the results of the last few weeks.

RaboDirect PRO12
Saturday , May 3
Connacht 15 - 22 Cardiff Blues 
Edinburgh 12 - 55 Munster 
Friday , May 2
Benetton Treviso 16 - 38 Glasgow 
Scarlets 34 - 23 Newport Gwent D'gons 
Ulster 20 - 22 Leinster 
Thursday , May 1
Zebre 30 - 27 Ospreys 

Ulster v Leinster is more than living up to the billing!

 

 ( picture http://bit.ly/SidOa3)

Well, Ulster v Leinster, the opening match of the weekend , the official opening of Ravenhill, what’s not to like? This is the last minute preview, the as it happens preview. So far There’s been a red card for Ulster (bit Harsh I thought) and two yellows for  Leinster. And lot of lots of rugby, enough for a whole match I think. Neither side is going to die wondering. It’s a pity that’s it’s 14-15 because Ulster don’t need any further handicaps, they’ve been totally up against it the last few weeks. You’d have to favour Leinster at this stage, but Ulster are so up for it.

I was good to see last night there are still teams in the Pro12 to which winning isn’t everything. Well, it must be like that because otherwise how di d the Ospreys lose to Zebre?
Munster shouldn’t have too many problems at Edinburgh, they did themselves proud ;last week, and will just want to get back on the horse with a win.

The Connacht match should be really good, I’m back them to sort out Cardiff and climb the table again!

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , May 2
Benetton Treviso vs Glasgow 
Scarlets vs Newport Gwent D'gons 
Ulster vs Leinster 
Saturday , May 3
Edinburgh vs Munster 
Connacht vs Cardiff Blues

Leinster and Munster plough on, Ulster plough in

 

 (picture http://bit.ly/1hfo86W)

Leinster gave the RDS something to shout about on Friday with a 9 try thumping of Treviso. The Italians are no Toulon, but you can only play what’s in front of you. Leinster played the sunny kind of rugby that suited the day and the crowd. The win keeps them on top, and the bonus point keeps them slowly pulling away from the chasers. I thought Heaslip was very impressive, there was a little more space for him to show his running game.

Things weren’t so sunny for Ulster though. They just have no luck, a few weeks ago they were riding high in the league, and looking forward to a home Heineken Cup fixture. Now they are plagued by injuries and suspensions, out of the HC, and teetering on the edge of not making the Rabo play offs. Glasgow were efficient if not exactly inspiring in their home win, flattered by the try that never was. But in fairness, the Glaswegians are finding form at the right time, and helped by some appalling tackling from Ulster, continued their journey up the table. Ulster need a lot of grit and just a little luck to get themselves out of this.

In Galway, it was the season of giving, as Connacht gift wrapped two tries for Munster, and Munster returned the favour right at the end. Connacht have 80% of a good team, a lot of good young backs, but no lpolish. Munster didn’t fire on all cylinders, laboring away for the bonus point try, but they got it. That wasn’t anywhere near their strongest team though, it was about a pass as a warm up for Toulon.
RaboDirect PRO12

Sunday , April 20
Cardiff Blues 17 - 13 Scarlets 
Saturday , April 19
Zebre 26 - 13 Edinburgh 
Connacht 23 - 32 Munster 
Friday , April 18
Leinster 62 - 7 Benetton Treviso 
Glasgow 27 - 9 Ulster 

Easter wins for Leinster, Ulster and Munster!

 

 (picture http://bit.ly/1mdggut)

Leinster have put out a strong side for the visit of Treviso tonight.  With the Heineken Cup down the tube for this year, they need to clock up five pointers whenever they can to make sure of a home semi in the Rabo.  It’s a home match on an Easter weekend, I hope they are going to put on a bit of a show, something which has been missing from their game recently. They need to kick some arse! Madigan is at least back on the bench again, he’s the man that to me could spark them back into life.

The big clash this weekend is Ulster’s trip to Glasgow. The Glaswegians win over Munster has been talked up as a revival of Scottish rugby – steady on there… I really fancy Ulster this week, even with a few big names out, they are a potent side, and still hurting from their Heineken Cup loss.

Connacht play at home to Munster. I pretty well glossed over Munster’s underperformance against Glasgow, but a loss here would sound a BIG alarm. Connacht won’t be a push over either, they are ferocious at home, and won’t be feeling intimidated by anything they saw last weekend! I’s be surprised if Munster lost though.

Meanwhile, it’s ‘Judgement Day’ in Wales on Sunday – you don’t have to play well to get into heaven, however, just into Gatlands Welsh squad.  Should be a great day of handbags, petty grievance solving, and even some rugby maybe – nothing like getting stuck into your Welsh mates! I’m looking forward to it!

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , April 18
Leinster vs Benetton Treviso 
Glasgow vs Ulster 
Saturday , April 19
Zebre vs Edinburgh 
Connacht vs Munster 
Sunday , April 20
Cardiff Blues vs Scarlets 
Newport Gwent D'gons vs Ospreys 

Leinster need to suck it up and get back on the horse next weekend!

 

 (picture http://bit.ly/QktYOx)

It was a tale of woe for the Irish teams this weekend, unless you’re an Ulsterman. Connachts run of good results came to crashing a halt at Ravenhill, as Ulster put 8 tries on them, and basically gave them a hammering. Connacht are 8th, they’re not a bad team, but Ulster had a point to prove, with Trimble getting a hat trick, and Tommy Bowe sounded good in the centre.

I didn’t get to watch that complete performance by Ulster, because I was dutifully watching Leinster struggle against the Ospreys. Both Leinster and Munster didn’t have to win this weekend, where the Ospreys and Glasgow did, and it showed. A couple of players really stood up, Cian Healy was massive,  I though Dave Kearney was great, but on the whole it was pretty flat and ordinary from Leinster, no tempo, no magic. Just have to suck it up and get back on the horse next weekend!  At least they got a losing bonus point.

Munster, meanwhile, were equally all over the place against Glasgow, conceding their first loss at home to a Scottish side for 6 years. With Paulie sitting in the stands, and POM out injured, here was no one to rally the troops against an organised determined Munster side.. I’d say there’s going to be a bit of tackling practice this week. Like Leinster, best just to forget this happened and get their focus back.

RaboDirect PRO12
Saturday , April 12
Benetton Treviso 45 - 27 Newport Gwent D'gons 
Munster 5 - 22 Glasgow 
Scarlets 27 - 20 Zebre 
Friday , April 11
Ospreys 25 - 19 Leinster 
Ulster 58 - 12 Connacht 
Edinburgh 22 - 29 Cardiff Blues 

Wins for Ulster and Munster this weekend...

 

Where is he? (picture http://bit.ly/1jwzojs)

After a hectic, and apart from Munster, not a very productive Heineken Cup weekend, it’s back to the day job, the RaboDirect PRO12.

Ulster have to put defeats, cards and injuries behind them ( they currently have Best, Pienaar, Wilson. Afoa and Tuohy out) (and no Payne after 2 week suspension) and pull themselves together to beat Connacht, to keep them in the play-off race. They’ve still put out a strong team, and have Tommy Bowe in center – a place a lot of Irish fans would have liked to see him in for a long time. While Connacht have put a good few wins together recently, I think they’ll find Ravenhill a step too far.

Leinster have to pick themselves up, and get back on the horse at the Liberty Stadium, as they try to get a result out of the Ospreys. Leinster escaped pretty well injury free against Toulon, apart from Fergus McFadden, pride was the main thing that was hurt.  BOD has been swanning around England this week so he’s out, and Ian Madigan is nowhere to be seen, which is odd, apart from that it’s a strong team. The Ospreys have a pretty potent squad out, they’ll be a bit rusty after all the gaps in play, but I think realistically Leinster will look at a  losing bonus point as the main points on offer. Surprise me!

Finally, Munster get to play Glasgow at home on Saturday. They don’t have Peter O’Mahoney due to his surgery, but CJ Stander made his case convincingly for more regular starts last weekend, for Munster and maybe ultimately Ireland. Also absent are Donnacha Ryan and Casey Lualua. Glasgow had a great end to the 2013 season, and great start to this year’s season, but things have gone a bit pear shaped since then. Unless they’re tired from last weekend, or they underestimate Glasgow, they should win this easily.

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , April 11
Ulster vs Connacht 
Ospreys vs Leinster 
Edinburgh vs Cardiff Blues 
Saturday , April 12
Benetton Treviso vs Newport Gwent D'gons 18:00
Scarlets vs Zebre 18:30
Munster vs Glasgow 18:30

No gouging or murders in the Leinster/Munster match!

 CJ Stander (picture http://bit.ly/1hoVSTF)

And here was me thinking the 6 Nations would invigorate the Irish teams! Last weekend, apart from Connacht, it was pretty ordinary stuf from the provinces. And then this weekend, only one win!

I only watched a bit of the Ulster Cardiff match, and they were 5-0 up when Ieft them, from then on it went pretty pear shaped obviously, in a fixture you felt they should have won.

The big clash was Leinster Munster, in front of a sell out 50000 crowd. It was an intense physical match, fortunately no injuries, with a real finals rugby feel to it. Munster won the first half, and Leinster the second and the match. The best break and offload was from a flank, as Jennings set up O’Driscoll beautifully for his try. Apart from that, there was a lot of bashing up, tackling, scrum resets, but while it was tense, there was no overtly foul play, no gouging or murders, so that was good. For Munster, CJ Stander was the stand out forward for me, while Earls and especially Zebo look really sharp. Lualua is always dangerous, but doesn’t link all that well with the rest of the team. For Leinster, Jennings had a great match, as did Kearney, D’Arcy and Heaslip, and BOD put in a sublime kick just on half time. Frankly, both teams (and Ulster) are really going to have to step it up for next week. Leinster’s attitude at the end was job done, rather than being elated, both teams have bigger fish to fry now!

Connacht just lost out at the Scarlets – they really seemed to have turned a corner in their season, getting two bonus points out of the match. There’s  a lot of rugby still to be played, but they are one position off qualifying for Europe on merit, awesome for such a small team.

RaboDirect PRO12

Sunday , March 30

Scarlets 32 - 30 Connacht 

Saturday , March 29

Zebre 25 - 25 Newport Gwent D'gons  

Benetton Treviso 20 - 16 Edinburgh 

Cardiff Blues 28 - 23 Ulster 

Leinster 22 - 18 Munster 

Friday , March 28

Glasgow 11 - 9 Ospreys 

It's going to be feisty at the Aviva!

 

 Stirring (picture http://bit.ly/1mxTUUl)

Last weekends poor PRO 12 matches are a distant memory now, I found the electroshock therapy and the psychotropic drugs worked a treat.  This weekend we have REAL rugby, nevermind England v Ireland, this Leinster v Munster!

Munster have Donnacha Ryan out, although they are not exactly short of big physical forwards, while Leinster have nearly a full squad to pick from. There’s a lot of crossover these days, with players like Ross, Cronin and Reddan for Leinster, and Felix Jones and Downey for Munster. Nothing as enjoyable in sport as knocking lumps out of your mates from the Ireland camp! While it’s first plays second in the league, I wouldn’t say that either side near their best this season. Leinster have an edge in the backs, and nearly parity – in fact probably definitely parity in the scrum, so have to starts as favourites. Both teams are talking each other up, Rob Penney is trying to stir it up, but for me, home advantage is going to tell, so Leinster in a tight match.

Ulster go to Cardiff, and should take care of what is an out of sorts Welsh team at the moment.
And then Connacht wrap things up for Ireland with a trip to Parc y Scarlets, where they’lll be lucky to come away with points.
Glasgow v Ospreys will be good Friday night viewing too!

Connacht shone, and Ulster, Leinster and Munster didn't!

 (picture http://bit.ly/1islXAC)

Well, forget the sparkle, the Irish teams were mostly in dire, but winning form this weekend.
I didn’t see the Ulster match, as did hardly anybody because a technical broadcasting fault, but that was just as well, for a match with four penalties only scored. Ulster came out the right side of it, but it didn’t sound like thrilling stuff.

I started watching Leinster’s match, against lowly Zebre after half time, and spared myself the fumble fest that was the first half. Not that it got much better – Leinster had a purple patch of about 10 minutes  where they scored two tries, and squeezed one out at the end, but it was pretty ordinary stuff. I guess they haven’t been playing much , and the big guns are still out. I hope they play better next weekend! Luke Fitzgerald, Richardt Strauss and Jordi Murphy were the only highlights for me.

I watched most of the Munster match, for my sins, and it was not great. It was freezing, raining and they haven’t played together recently, but still.. they got two tries they would have been outraged to have awarded against them (although they surely should have had a penalty try), no bonus point…no doubt they’ll turn it around for next week, but they’ll need to! That was also the most limp, indecisive reffing I’ve ever seen. Felix Jones though, had a stormer, and was easily the best player on the field.

Finally, it was up to Connacht to spare Irelands blushes and turn in a rousing four try victory over the Dragons at Rodney Parade, not an easy place to go at all. They are finding some good form, the Galwegians, and have charged up to 7th in the table.

RaboDirect PRO12
Sunday , March 23
Newport Gwent D'gons 8 - 24 Connacht
Saturday , March 22
Glasgow 14 - 6 Scarlets 
Munster 14 - 3 Benetton Treviso 
Friday , March 21
Ospreys 34 - 9 Cardiff Blues 
Leinster 27 - 0 Zebre 
Edinburgh 3 - 9 Ulster 

Irish teams likely to sparkle in the Pro 12 this weekend!

 

Sean Doyle ( picure http://bit.ly/1dxzy5e)

After  a close exciting 6 Nations, back to the RaboPro12, where I’m expecting all the Irish teams to be in top form after the boost of the 6 Nations title.

Leinster don’t have most of their front ranking international back, but still feature 11 internationals, which is pretty amazing. Furlong and Strauss start in the front row, and it’s Ian Madigan’s birthday and his 100th cap.  Zebre won’t trouble them at all, and it could be a bit of carnival atmosphere at the RDS tonight.

Ulster travel to Edinburgh, and look really strong. Ferris starts, Tuohy is on the bench, and the form of Sean Doyle has been just sensational these last weeks. They should roll Edinburgh over.

Munster also have gone all guns blazing for the vist of Treviso, looking for the bonus point I gues.. Not sure why they’re playing O’Connell after such tough shifts for Ireland, but good to see Earls staring, and they have former Blues and Crusader Quentin MacDonald on the bench. They should get their bonus point easily.
Finally, Connacht will have their work cut out for them,as the Dragons at home are a tough proposition. As the Welshmen have made a few speculative selections, there’s a glimmer of hope, but I think the Dragons will do it.

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , March 21
Ospreys vs Cardiff Blues 
Leinster vs Zebre 
Edinburgh vs Ulster 
Saturday , March 22
Glasgow vs Scarlets 
Munster vs Benetton Treviso 
Sunday , March 23
Newport Gwent D'gons vs Connacht

Leinster go top again!

 (Picture http://bit.ly/1eRyqsK)

Ravenhill proved to be a daunting experience for the Dragons, who hardly put a foot right on Friday night. Ulster were carving them up all over the place, I didn’t see Bowe’s tries but it looks like he’s a sharp as ever, and should be on the bench for Italy. Cave was excellent, so was Henderson, it’s a fearsome unit even without their Ireland stars. Ref Lloyd Lintons hair was the only thing more scary than the Ulster scrum on the night!

Munster Scarlets was an odd one. All I can say about the match is that I wouldn’t have been happy if I was a Munster fan, and that the Scarlets fans would have been really unhappy f they’d lost too. Thank God Leinster had Nigel Owens reffing!

Connacht were all kinds of awesome registering a bonus point try against Treviso. ‘mon the Wesht!
Finally, Leinster  and Glasgow fought it out in style, with Leinster just shading it at the end. Hard to believe Glasgow are fifth, or that both teams had a rake of internationals missing. Madigan was as cool as you like slotting over the kicks, Noel Reid put in some good touches, and Jordi Murphy impressed again. Darragh Fanning improves  with each game, I wonder if they’ve ever thought of putting him in the centre, not a bad option at  6-2. And we’re top again!

RaboDirect PRO12
Ulster 38 - 8 Newport Gwent D'gons 
Edinburgh 31 - 25 Ospreys
Zebre 15 - 10 Cardiff Blues 
Leinster 28 - 25 Glasgow 
Scarlets 18 - 13 Munster 
Connacht 38 - 6 Benetton Treviso