I TOLD you Joe Schmidt and Jono Gibbes should have started!

(picture http://bit.ly/T7oRQF)

Sometimes you can’t wait to tell everyone about the rugby on the weekend – sometimes you can… I started the weekend by seeing a fair bit of Ulster beating Glasgow. A few rough edges to hammer out, but Ulster look in good nick, with a host of star players to return. Best, Wilson, Ferris, Bowe, Pienaar, they are going to be some team this season.

My appetite for rugby took a big dip after the Leinster match though. Fair play to the Scarlets, they have a good squad, played well, and had top class players to bring on from the bench to up the pressure throughout the match. Leinster’s lack of Ireland internationals, and long injury list showed. I wasn’t expecting miracles, but a bit of tackling would have done for a start. Jamie Hagan and Ian Madigan stood ou  in a forgettable outing for the men in blue. I can take this, given the disparity in strengths of the teams put out, but when the Scarlets come to the RDS…I want blood, and lots of it!

Well, after that, I had the Munster match on tape but wasn’t in the mood for any more rugby.Good win for them at Edinburgh though. Connacht picked a bonus point against Cardiff, and Treviso will be well pleased in beating the Ospreys.

The best rugby I watched was Taranaki successfully defending the Ranfurly Shield with a 49-40 victory over Tasman. End to end stuff, that’s what we want.

What I did like this weekend was the new scrum engage call, which has got the game moving again, and the Use it call from the ref.  Less hanging around, more rugby.

RaboDirect PRO12
Newport-Gwent D'gons 37 - 6 Zebre 
Benetton Treviso 12 - 6 Ospreys 
Ulster 18 - 10 Glasgow
Connacht 9 - 13 Cardiff Blues 
Edinburgh 18 - 23 Munster 
Scarlets 45 - 20 Leinster

Joe Schmidt and Jono Gibbes to start for Leinster?

( picture http://bit.ly/Ud2Iyb)

It’s rabid direct time again, with the rugby drought in the Northern Hemisphere due to break on Friday. Leinster’s first outing is an away trip to the Scarlets on Saturday, and the avialibility of players is a little bit concerning, with 11 fit international players unavailable for the opening rounds of the campaign and a further seven players (Luke Fitzgerald, Mark Flanagan, Conor Gilsenan, David Kearney, Sean O’Brien, Eoin O’Malley and Rhys Ruddock) ruled out through injury. I wonder how fit Joe Schmidt and Jono Gibbes are?
This was the 15 that started against Sale last Friday.

LEINSTER: 15: Isa Nacewa 14: Andrew Conway 13: Brendan Macken 12: Noel Reid 11: Fionn Carr 10: Ian Madigan 9: Isaac Boss CAPTAIN  1: Heinke van der Merwe 2: Richardt Strauss 3: Jamie Hagan 4: Tom Denton 5: Devin Toner 6: Dominic Ryan 7: Jordi Murphy 8: Leo Auva’a

I’d expect Leo Cullen to be back in the side, and possibly Quinn Roux will make an appearance off the bench.  If that’s the back 6, its’ very young, but Isa will be bossing them from the back. I’d go with a Scarlets win here because it’s always hard to win in Wales, never mind with young players.

Munster travel to Edinburgh – Scottish Rugby is on a bit of a high at the moment, and having just been thumped by London Irish, new coach Rob Penney has his work cut out, especially without the internationals. This was the team for London Irish:
D Hurley; D Howlett capt, C Laulala, J Downey, J Murphy; I Keatley, D Williams; W du Preez, D Varley, BJ Botha; D Foley, B Holland; D O’Callaghan, S Dougall, J Coughlan.
I wouldn’t expect too many changes to that, and despite what happened against Irish, I’d back them to win.

This is Ulster’s squad – I’m sure they’d like to have Ruan along, but I’d see them take out Glasgow at home. Interesting to see what Mark Anscombe will bring.
FORWARDS (15) Niall Annett Adam Macklin Callum Black John Afoa Lewis Stevenson Neil McComb Mike McComish Johann Muller Robbie Diack Sean Doyle Nick Williams Rob Herring Tom Court Nigel Brady Declan Fitzpatrick
BACKS (11) Peter Nelson Jared Payne Niall O’Connor Michael Heaney Craig Gilroy Paddy Jackson Luke Marshall Paul Marshall Chris Farrell Michael Allen Darren Cave

This was Connacht’s starting team for Quins:
M Jarvis; T O'Halloran, R Henshaw, M Fifita, F Vainikolo; M Nikora, K Marmion; D Buckley, J Harris-Wright, JP Cooney; M Swift, A Browne; J Muldoon, W Faloon, G Naoupu
There will be a few replacements going in there, will be hard to the Blues, but I’m going with them.
Enjoy the rugby!

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , August 31
Newport-Gwent D'gons vs Zebre 
Ulster vs Glasgow 
Benetton Treviso vs Ospreys 19:05
Saturday , September 1
Connacht vs Cardiff Blues 17:00
Scarlets vs Leinster 18:30
Edinburgh vs Munster 20:00

I hope the Lions sue their a%^&s off

This is my take on the Southern Kings replacing the Lions in the Super 15 , and Lions President Kevin de Klerk puts it really well.

"We were under the impression that the outcome would have suited everybody. This must be seen in the light of what was said to the Sports Portfolio Committee, that the Kings would come in, but not at the expense of any other team.

"However, that statement [by SARU] held no value, as it appears the writing was on the wall. We were led up the garden path.

"I was dumbfounded when I arrived there [at the meeting] and realised this thing was a done deal ... we needn't have bothered with the meeting.

"For me it is a lack of leadership - it is the worst leadership I ever experienced."

The Southern Kings, and Cheeky Watson – whom I’m no fan of – are coming in for a lot of flack, but at the end of the day it’s SARU’s problem. There’s no denying that Eastern Province could do with a boost, but not at the expense of any of the current S15 teams. SARU have withdrawn top class rugby from one of the biggest rugby playing cities in the world.  I hope the Lions sue their arses off.  The Lions have some world class players, and if the choice is London, Paris or Port Elizabeth…

All Blacks purr, while the Sprinboks try to bore the Pumas into submission.

Get on the wing! (http://bit.ly/QiXT7n)

There was a bit more urgency from Australia as they took on the All Blacks in Auckland. Not that it did them any good I’m afraid, as they were comprehensively thumped 22 – 0. Australia have suffered the least in terms of players retiring out of the four, but that continuity isn’t giving them any advantage. I can’t remember an Australian side which such little bite for ages, they just never seem to look threatening any more. The All Blacks are playing fairly within themselves, I don’t think they’ve got out of third gear yet, but they are a class apart in this year’s Rugby Championship.

The first Rugby Championship match in Argentina delivered a draw for the hosts against a flat Springbok team. The Pumas did a bit of homework, had a game plan, and played to it. The Springbok plan of boring the opposition into submission paid no dividends, and they may consider a rethink. I think Ruan Pienaar should start, and if Hougaard gets to play at all, it should be on the wing. His kicking is terrible, his passing is shocking, and his reading of the game takes half of the effectiveness of the big Bok pack out of the game. So the scrum half is infective, and then Morne Steyn, apart from his obvious services to hairstyling, doesn’t seem to have a clue what to do with the ball unless it’s on a kicking tee. Argentina need to work on their bringing their backs into play, not easy with fly halfs coming and going, but they aren’t going to get much change out of New Zealand and Australia with a completely forward based game, with the odd up and under to mix the game up. They played well though, physical, and niggled the Boks off their game, fair play to them, they deserved a win.

Rugby Championship
Saturday , August 25
New Zealand 22 - 0 Australia 
Argentina 16 - 16 South Africa 

It's air guns and sex in New Ziln this weekend for the Rugby Championship

I want to play Sir! (picture http://bit.ly/OSsras)

This week, as New Zealand is the host nation for the first match, I’m going to give you a few handy New Ziln phrases to get along with the Kiwi in your life. It’s considered ‘bed menace?’ (bad manners?) to meet someone without greeting them with ‘Air gun?’ ( How are you going?). Sex is something you carry coal around in. And finally, a trip to the dunny doesn’t mean you are going to be checking out Dunnes Stores.

Looking forward to the weekend, the All Blacks have lost Tony Woodcock for this match, while the Aussies will be more affected by the loss of captain David Pocock. The All Blacks have all the right ingredients for a good team, it just needs to gel together now. Their only slight weakness is at lock where they are relying on journeyman players. Australia have an awesome backline when they are not dropping the ball, but could do with a fit in form Cooper as soon as possible. They’ve also lost prop Kepu, and out of a pack of eight they only have 2, maybe 3 world class players. My prediction is for the All Black pack to be all over the Aussies like a rash, then their backs will finish the job. The Wallabies always pick their game up for New Zealand – but in this instance I’m expecting pain for them, and lots of it.

Argentina will be hoping that home ground advantage will turn things around for them this week. Over a 1000 fans attended a Springbok open training session, so the interest and passion is there from the fans. Although I’m a Bok supporter, I’d be the first to admit that while fronting up to the Springbok physicality is a major challenge, outsmarting them is not quite as demanding. Argentina’s problem is that they have exactly the same gameplan as the Boks but not the same class of players to execute it. Added passion at home may help, but it’s hard to look past the Boks again. The Springboks have lost Bismarck Duplesiss, but Strauss stepped into the breach really well. I would love to see a bit more ambition from them, getting Lambie and Pienaar into the mix. They’ll probably only try that when they’re desperate for a win at the end of the competition though.

Overall, I’m expecting a lift in intensity from all four teams this weekend, can’t wait!
Rugby Championship
Saturday , August 25
New Zealand vs Australia 19:35
Argentina vs South Africa 16:10

Rugby Championship - all four teams look undercooked

(picture http://bit.ly/S9UNSp)

I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed by the opening weekend of the crappily named Rugby Championship. All four teams looked undercooked, Argentina to Salmonella levels, but that was to be expected. The normal format for the Tri Nations was to have summer tours by the Northern  Hemisphere teams as a warm up, and that meant they hit the ground running at the start of the tournament. With a break from the tours to finish the Super 15, the Aus, NZ and SA all look rusty.

NZ weren’t rusty enough to stop them putting the Wallabies away with ease though. They scored two tries as easy as that, and then switched off and  let Aus back into the game. You always felt they had another gear to go to if they needed. Carter and Smith give their game superb tempo. I thought Barnes didn’t have a good match, standing way to deep, and the whole Aus team seemed to have dropsy.

The Springboks overcame the Pumas without much problem in Cape Town, but should have got the bonus point that Aus and NZ will surely be extracting from Argentina. The Pumas were lucky to have not conceded a yellow card, for some brutally dumb transgressions. The Boks lost Bismarck, which is a massive loss, but they have plenty of back up there, even if not quite of the same standard. They are kicking way too much, and not following it up properly. I thought Pienaar speeded the game up well, and I’d start him next week. I’d start Lambie at fly half as well, and practice running the ball for when they play the big boys. The Pumas will be better at home, and playing the best three in the world is only going to bring them on.

Rugby Championship
Saturday , August 18
Australia 19 - 27 New Zealand 
South Africa 27 - 6 Argentina 

The languages of the Rugby Championship

The Rugby Championship is the new name for the Tri Nations, now that Argentina have been added to Australia, New Zealand  and South Africa. It’s home to more than 15 different languages, and it’s even argued  (not convincingly) that English is spoken in some of these regions. Here they are in all their glory:

Afrikaans, New Ziln , Ndebele, Strine, Northern Sotho, Serf Effrican, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu  Walmajarri, Te reo Māori, Spanish, Kaiwá. This week, as Australia hosts the first match, we’re going to take a quick look at Strine, or Australian English as the posh people say. The rule is – add a y or an ‘ie’ thus tinny, barbie, bikey, bickie etc etc. Keep an eye on the ute’s and the bogans. And here’s a real insider tip, if you’re trying to impress an Aussie, tell them you catch a fat every time you think about the Wallabies chances this year. They’ll never think about you in the same way again, promise. It’s a great place to visit, where I’m hoping to go on holiday again next year.

So, there’s the small matter of rugby to think about. Conventional wisdom would be for a New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Argentina finish. Hard to see past that. Ireland showed in one match that the All Blacks can be vulnerable if you put them under pressure, but apart from that, they are, as always the number one team in the world to beat. The Springboks are unlikely to throw too many surprises – new coach Heyneke Meyer is pretty conservative so no expansive game plans on the horizon, but they have seriously talented, and seriously large new players coming through, so they’ll be competitive. Australia to me have never really clicked under Robbie Dean, two steps forward, one step back all the time. They have the talent if you take out all the good players from their franchises, but often the whole seems to less than the sum of their parts. The Pumas – I have no idea, they’ll probably start well, and then run out of steam later as their lack of depth starts to tell.

This weekend I’m going for New Zealand and SouthAfrica. Enjoy the rugby!

Rugby Championship
Saturday , August 18
Australia vs New Zealand 20:05
South Africa vs Argentina 17:00