Leinster soar, Munster rumble, and Quins excell.

The 'lip (photo http://bit.ly/sa2ZtT)

Another weekend, dominated by rugby, I do have a proper life as well, no really. Ok not really.

Leinster soared high on Saturday, as they pretty comprehensively thrashed Bath at the Aviva Stadium. 7 tries does it for me. Fitzgerald is getting back to his best, Heaslip was immense, and Sexton was masterful. They have an irresistible attack, but with three tries conceded, they have to work on their defence. BOD was in the Sky studio instead of on the pitch where we want him, and he’s going to have to impart some of his experience to McFadden and O’Malley. Their discipline was fairly ordinary in the first half but they always had too much for Bath, who apart from Louw, Barkley and Abendenon look very run of the mill.

Sunday afternoon saw Munster welcome the Scarlets to Thomond for a titanic battle that went right down to the wire. Scarlets would be making mincemeat of half the teams in the Heineken Cup the way they are playing, and they made a good fist of surprising the men in red, before Munster roared back and took the game away from them. Munster’s pack is impeccable, but somewhere between Murray and O’Gara their backline doesn’t get the chances they deserve. How many times did Earls get passed the ball for instance? That aside, the engine rumbles on, 4 from 4.

I also saw most of Connacht Gloucester, a pretty heart breaking loss for the Galwegians. They have a total team ethic, while Gloucester seemed to be every man for himself. O’Connor impressed at fly half – they impressed all over the pitch actually.

Ulster got the 5 points they needed, while Irish slipped up at home, and are really going to struggle to get out of the group now. Saracens Ospreys was a good hard match, won by Saracens doing all the basics well, solid scrum and line out and excellent defence. They don’t use their line much though. The Ospreys look really competitive, Tupuric is great to watch, Ryan Jones was the MOTM for me, and Ashley Beck is a star in the making. Mauritz Botha is outstanding for Sarries.

Finally, I saw Quins give Toulouse a bloody nose in their own back yard with an excellent away win. Don’t underestimate the power of the top 2 inches in a match, Toulouse were wondering by how much they were going to win, and Quins had nothing to lose. Mike Brown could do no wrong, Care was brilliant, and they all played for each other. Toulouse had two tries not given, missed plenty of penalties, and have no one to blame but themselves.

Biarritz 29 - 12 Benetton Treviso 
Edinburgh 19 - 12 Cardiff Blues 
Ospreys 13 - 16 Saracens
Aironi Rugby 20 - 46 Ulster 
Leicester 23 - 19 Clermont Auvergne 
London Irish 19 - 25 Racing Metro 92 
Gloucester 23 - 19 Connacht 
Leinster 52 - 27 Bath 
Montpellier 13 - 13 Glasgow
Sunday , December 18
Munster 19 - 13 Scarlets 
Toulouse 24 - 31 Harlequins 
Northampton 45 - 0 Castres

Leinster, fresh off the bold step, set to clean up Bath

Geech - in dub (Picture http://bit.ly/tOabR6 )

Part deux of last week’s matches kicks off this weekend, with a big day on Saturday.  Ulster are away to Aironi, and should accept no less than a five point win. Ulster have a full squad to pick from, with only Paddy Wallace and Jared Payne out with injury. Could we get to see Pienaar again for the match? Connacht take on Gloucester at Kingsholm, with the welcome return of Mike McCarthy. They got really close last week, but away wins at this level are not all that common, and I can’t see them winning this one.

Leinster have no injury problems at the moment ahead of their home clash with Bath. Are they going to pull the plug on Bath, clean up Bath, or another cliché I haven’t thought of? This week’s preparation should have included a bit of time for the team on the bold step, while they reflected on where it went wrong last week. The review of the match must have been like one of those video nasties from the 80’s, up there with Driller Killer. Bath travel with nothing to lose, while the Leinster have all the pressure to show they have the form to try and retain the Heineken Cup. I’d say Bath are going to feel like they’ve been hit by a freight train. Bath have a spectacularly uninformative website, so I’ve no update on their squad, but I did find out that their coaches Sir Ian McGeechan, Brad Davis and Martin Haag, along with Nick Blofeld and David Trick, will be doing a meet and greet in the Lagoona Bar in Dulin on Friday from 8-9pm.

Munster have Keith Earls back in the squad, but I doubt he’ll play, while Peter O ‘Mahoney is out for the moment. Scarlets have as useful a website as Bath, but from a neutral point of view I’d like to see George North back in action. A tough group sets you up well to succeed later, and it looks increasingly likely they will top the group. This will be a hell of a match, but Munster’s home advantage should do it for them.

London Irish’s chances of progressing are pretty slim, but if they can beat Racing away, they can beat them at home too, and then they just have to hope for other results to go their way.

Friday, 16 December 2011
Biarritz v Treviso, Pl5, 20:00
Edinburgh v Cardiff Blues, Pl2, 20:00
Ospreys v Saracens, Pl5, 20:00

Saturday, 17 December 2011
Aironi v Ulster, Pl4, 13:30
Gloucester v Connacht, Pl6, 15:40
Leicester v Clermont Auvergne, Pl4, 13:30
Leinster v Bath, Pl3, 18:00
London Irish v Racing Metro 92, Pl2, 15:00
Montpellier v Glasgow, Pl3, 15:40

Sunday, 18 December 2011
Munster v Scarlets, Pl1, 12:45
Northampton v Castres, Pl1, 15:00
Toulouse v Harlequins, Pl6, 15:00

Leinster the butchers at Bath, and Munster are like Jason from Friday the 13th!

Strings (picture http://bit.ly/t9PaLX )

Ireland 3 / 4
Scotland 1 /2
France 3 / 6
England 3 / 6
Italy 1 / 2
Wales 1 / 2

I started off the weekend rugby viewing early by taking in Newcastle/Toulon. In terms of interest and excitement levels I put it somewhere between Crown and Dulux, with watching Crown Paint dry definitely having a slight edge over this match. Dulux Paint, now that’s really boring stuff to watch dry.

I thought I was going to catch a bit of the Ulster match on TV on Friday, but I thought wrong, as the match wasn’t shown anywhere in the universe. No weedy excuses Sky, you could have showed it and didn’t. I did, however, get to see the rather excellent Harlequins/Toulouse match. Top of the Premiership v top of the T14, and the Frenchmen were clear winners. They were just better, more skilled, bigger, more physical and clinical. What made it a great match to watch though was the way Quins took the game to them, getting them on the back foot and scoring a good try in the process. There’s no shame in losing to that team, and Quins need to suck their methods into the DNA of their young players.

Saturday I saw the Scarlets/Munster match, another hard fought but enjoyable match. Munster are like Jason, you think you’ve killed him but he always comes back, there’s always a sequel. Munster were pants for the first 20 minutes, the ball was shooting out the back of the scrum, their line outs were shocking, and they couldn’t kick or pass the ball. Scarlet should really have been 15-0 up and that could have the match. Instead, Munster clawed their way back to parity, when they clearly weren’t playing as well as the Scarlets, then got into the lead and never looked back. Munster have leaders like O’Connell and O’Gara that pull together the young talented players around them and give them purpose and direction. Scarlets really let that one slip, but same as Quins, they are paying their dues, and will be back themselves one day.

Sunday I watched the ‘mighty’ Leinster take on Bath, and I watched that one on Sky+, which was handy, so I could fast forward past all the shitty bits. So it took me about 15 minutes to watch the game then. Leinster took three absolutely golden chances to score, hung them from a hook, and butchered them in front of a shocked crowd. Bath have some talent, but they are team in transition, and Leinster should have had them gutted and filleted in the first half. Instead it was Leinster eking out a win with penalties while Bath scored the only try of the match. I think Leinster had ‘bonus point win’ lit large in their minds before the match, all the planning went out the window and it was every man for himself. SOB, you SOB! Oh well, still an away win, and they get the chance to make up at home next weekend.

Finally, I saw the Saracens/Ospreys match in x6 speed. Feck me, Saracens have a big team! Mauritz Botha is a giant, they are all massive, and players like Goode give them a cutting edge too. Fair play to Ospreys for getting a point and living with the physicality. Strings put in a good little cameo. What the Ospreys could have done a with a few cool heads at fly half and scrum half though, they could even have pinched a win.

Connacht lost to Gloucester but certainly didn't disgrace themselves.

Irish got a good win over Metro!

Glasgow 20 - 15 Montpellier 
Bath 13 - 18 Leinster 
Clermont Auvergne 30 - 12 Leicester
Connacht 10 - 14 Gloucester 
Benetton Treviso 30 - 26 Biarritz 
Scarlets 14 - 17 Munster 
Racing Metro 92 14 - 34 London Irish 
Castres 41 - 22 Northampton 
Saracens 31 - 26 Ospreys
Ulster 31 - 10 Aironi Rugby 
Cardiff Blues 25 - 8 Edinburgh 
Harlequins 10 - 21 Toulouse

Return of the Heineken Cup, and Leinster to sack Bath

(picture http://bit.ly/s4UxOD )

So it all kicks off again on Friday for the Irish provinces, with Ulster hosting Aironi. Now this has to be 5 points in the bag for Ulster, non negotiable, and to rack up a good points difference just in case that comes into play later, which they should do easily enough.

Connacht get to host Gloucester, and see what they can get out of the Gloucesterians. Gloucester don’t seem to be in a good place at the moment, and they lose this one they’re going to feel a whole lot worse that’s for sure. Well, I’ll stick my neck out and say they’re going down, Brown, in Galway. That’s if Connacht can play the way they did against Quins.

Munster away to Scarlets could be the match of the weekend. What are the bets that O’Gara produces a drop of magic in the last minute to make it three in a row?  Munster have been rocked by the loss of Doug Howlett, leaving a 6 ‘1” hole in their backline. He’s out for the season as well, so I hope they find someone to sign to bridge the gap. Scarlets look like the form Welsh team, with all their internationals back from the World Cup full of confidence. They’ve got the best fly half in Wales in the shape of Rhys Priestland, and Luke Charteris is shaping up to be the best lock in Wales as well. The young guns of Munster had a setback with the Ospreys last week, so is the team going to be able to bounce back this week. There’s a lot of changes going on at Munster, with some of the old heads moving on, and some fantastic new talent coming though. I'd give Scarlets the edge in thi match.

Leinster travel to Bath, a city famed for it’s Georgian architecture, and it’s baths, obviously enough. Bath have some talented players in their squad, but modestly placed at 10th in the Premiership, they are not setting the world alight so far this season. Olly Barkley and David Wilson are players I’ve always rated, but they have just lost captain Moody for a few months.  Leinster meanwhile, are riding high in the Pro 12, and have Gordon D’Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald, Jamie Heaslip and Kevin McLaughlin all back in the frame for selection. I’m going with Leinster to sack Bath.

London Irish face a tricky away game at Racing Metro, and even if the French don’t really seem to get the Heineken Cup, they are normally hard to beat at home. So O/3 for the exiles then :(

Friday, 9 December 2011
Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh, Pl2, 20:00
Harlequins v Toulouse, Pl6, 20:00
Ulster v Aironi, Pl4, 19:30
________________________________________
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Castres v Northampton, Pl1, 13:30
Connacht v Gloucester, Pl6, 13:30
Racing Metro 92 v London Irish, Pl2, 15:40
Saracens v Ospreys, Pl5, 18:00
Scarlets v Munster, Pl1, 15:40
Treviso v Biarritz, Pl5, 13:30
________________________________________
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Bath v Leinster, Pl3, 12:45
Clermont Auvergne v Leicester, Pl4, 15:00
Glasgow v Montpellier, Pl3, 12:45

Can he kick it? Yes he can! ROG boots Munster home, while Leinster get a bonus point win.

ROG (picture http://bit.ly/s9T5MP )

This week I did get to watch the Leinster match, as they  put away Glasgow in a bonus point performance. And they scored two tries while Toner was in the bin! Not taking anything away from Toner, but they definitely played better without him. Heaslip had a good match, O’Briens all round game is fab and his ball handling skills are sublime. Nacewa is in a class of his own, and O’Malley and Madigan all put in good performances. In fairness Glasgow weren’t great, they have a competitive scrum but not much behind it – they should get the cash from selling Richie Gray and buy one decent back.

Munster had everyone reaching for the superlatives again, as that man ROG drop kicked them another win. His prowess sits on the foundation of some awesome work done by the pack, O’Mahoney, Ryan and O’Connell all really shone. Competition for places in the Irish scrum is going to be very healthy indeed. There’s life in the old dog yet!

Ulster played some really good rugby but still came away empty handed at Welford Road. They should really have got a least a point, and the Tigers are looking pretty ragged round the edges, hanging on for dear life for a while there.  I thought Tuohy was outstanding, as were Trimble, Ferris and Muller.

Connacht were fairly well thumped by Toulouse, but that’s no disgrace, it’s happened to teamas far more august than them.

London Irish faltered again, but considering they played most of the match with 14, they were good value for their losing bonus point.

The result of the weekend was Scarlets win at Franklin Gardens.  The Saints last minute loss last weekend, and the departure of Fodden before the match, really knocked the stuffing out of them. They’re not my favourite team, Hartley leads from the front with a brash in your face style that doesn’t endear him to most. There is a lot to admire about their brutally efficient style though, but they sure missed Fodden, and looked a bit blunt and clueless without him. Scarlets are growing with each match, Priestland North Davies are all top performers, and Morgan at 8 was awesome.

I also watched Bath hang on for dear life against Montpellier. Did you know that fly halves Trin Duc and Donald played for France and New Zealand in te World Cup final? Well, you would have if you’d watched the match, because the commentators only mentioned it about a 100 times. Montpellier are going to be a handful at home for Leinster, while Bath need a bit more x-factor if they want to really succeed.

Wales 2 ½ /3
Scotland 1 /2
Ireland 2/4
England 3 / 6
France 3/ 6
Italy ½ / 2

Edinburgh 48 - 47 Racing Metro 92 
Cardiff Blues 24 - 18 London Irish 
Clermont Auvergne 54 - 3 Aironi Rugby 
Northampton 23 - 28 Scarlets
Benetton Treviso 26 - 26 Ospreys 
Biarritz 15 - 10 Saracens 
Gloucester 9 - 28 Harlequins 
Connacht 10 - 36 Toulouse 
Leicester 20 - 9 Ulster 
Castres 24 - 27 Munster
Sunday , November 20
Leinster 38 - 13 Glasgow 
Bath 16 - 13 Montpellier

Peter de Villiers for the England job, and Leinster and Munster to prosper this weekend

My tip for the new England Manager

Leinster face a tricky task at the RDS of subduing a resurgent Glasgow side. Edinburgh are the Scottish side that normally have the irritating habit of pooping Leinster party, but the Glaswegians will be on to keen to emulate them. Before last weekend, I would have put the men in a blue (which is apparently  VERY similar to that of a team in another unnamed code) way favourites against the Scots,  but given the turnout last weekend, I’d say Jonny Sextons boot is going to come in very handy again. BOD and Hines leave massive shoes to fill, hope the fillers are found soon. Leinster should win at home though.

I’m backing Munster to sort out Castres, their attack may not have the penetration of some of the other teams, but their defence is as tight as a ducks bottom.  Connacht proved against Quins that they are no walkover, but Toulouse are an altogether different proposition. However manky French form is away from home, and however vociferous the capacity home crowd is going to be, you’d still back Toulouse.  Ulster Leicester is likely to be the most competitive Irish tie, to me it’s the story of a team on the rise meeting a team in decline. At home the Tigers should still have the edge, but it likely to be a full blooded and bloody match.

London Irish are going to struggle against the Blues you’d think, I had high hopes for them – but you can’t lose at home. Pity Delon Armitage can’t take some time out from his busy suspension schedule and play some rugby.

Elsewhere, I fancy Gloucester/Quins could be a real humdinger.

New England Manager

Johno is no more, they may never find someone else to replace his magnificent scowling abilities, but can they get a decent coach? Front runner is Jim Mallinder, and why not, he’s on the up at the Saints. He’s won Parker Pen Shields, LV Cups and European Challenge Cups, and is most likely on the cusp of something great at the Saints. Other leading candidates are Graham Henry and Nick Mallet, and Conor O’Shea has had a mention. Eddie O’Sullivan is also on the market, may not be to eveyone’s taste, but how often did England beat Ireland when he was in charge? My favourite for the position is Peter De Villiers, just for the craic. With some of the English players acting like clowns, his insight into this area could come in handy. I’m going to go leftfield with my choice for the job though. Times have changed, the position has a media spotlight on it now, and the players are pretty well paid, and can misbehave and act like divas. I’d emulate English soccer and go outside the fold, with Toulouse coach Guy Novès as a man that can handle the circus better than most.

Friday, 18 November 2011



Bath v Montpellier, Pl3, 15:00
Leinster v Glasgow, Pl3, 12:45Biarritz v Saracens, Pl5, 13:30
Castres v Munster, Pl1, 15:40
Clermont Auvergne v Aironi, Pl4, 20:00
Connacht v Toulouse, Pl6, 18:00
Gloucester v Harlequins, Pl6, 15:40
Leicester v Ulster, Pl4, 18:00
Treviso v Ospreys, Pl5, 13:30
________________________________________
Sunday, 20 November 2011Cardiff Blues v London Irish, Pl2, 20:00
Edinburgh v Racing Metro 92, Pl2, 20:00
Northampton v Scarlets, Pl1, 20:00
________________________________________
Saturday, 19 November 2011

Heineken Cup - top marks for Wales and Scotland, Ireland could do better, England scrape through, France and Italy fail

Best hair of Round 1 - Joe Marler (picture http://bit.ly/sY4QLq )

Wales 3/3
Scotland 2/2
Ireland 2 ½ /4
England 3/6
France1 ½ /6
Italy 0/2

I had an epic fail as a Leinster supporter this weekend. I Sky+ the match as I was working – then chose the wrong match to delete just as I was about to watch... But I knew the result anyway, and it didn’t sound like a classic. I thought they were going to win, but a draw away from home will do as well. I’ll make it up to Leinster  next weekend. Andato add insult to injury I caught a bit of each of the other Irish matches, but not my team!

First up was Connacht – what a match from the Galwegians! First in the premiership , at home,takes on on 9th in the Rabowhatever, it didn’t sound like it was going to be pretty. But as it turnedout , from a Quins point of view, it wasn’t pretty or comfortable, as they clung on for the win. And that was despite some pretty generous refereeing which saw Quins nonchalantly belly flopping in to loose mauls at wiil, and Robshaw spending most of the time on Connachts side of the maul. John Muldoon was the standout Connacht player for me, and I though Jordan Turner Hall was excellent for Quins.

Then I caught some of the Ulster match, who put in a fantastic win against Clemont. The Ulster scrum is first class now, packed with imports, but it’s Ferris and Best that stand out. Behind the scrum though, things are not so rosy, and it took a moment of magic from Adam D’Arcy, on a sub, to turn the tide for Ulster. They’ve got talent in midfield, but no incision, and they need to try and fix that to really go places. Clermont – that was just about France, so awesome win.

Munster/Northampton was a classic, where the home crowd, massive patience, and Ronan O’Gara saw the home team through. It was not a night for the faint hearted, an absolutely colossal forward battle, but plenty of attractive running rugby as well. Ben Fodden is awesome, fast skilfull and tough and Munster had their hands full containing him. The four players that really stood out for Munster were the loose trio of James Coughlan, Niall Ronan, Peter O'Mahony, Donnacha Ryan, and of course, Dougie Howlett. The first four are only going to get better, and the team is starting to look really balanced again, but they need Earls and Jones back in a hurry, to give them a threat behind the scrum.

Elsewhere- the rise and rise of the Rabo Protexyexy Super 12 – five out of five for Scotalnd and Wales, how about that! England scrape a pass, and the French are abysmal. Gut wrenching loss for Irish.
Racing Metro 92 20 - 26 Cardiff Blues 
Harlequins 25 - 17 Connacht
 Aironi Rugby 12 - 28 Leicester 
London Irish 19 - 20 Edinburgh 
Scarlets 31 - 23 Castres 
Montpellier 16 - 16 Leinster 
Ulster 16 - 11 Clermont Auvergne 
Munster 23 - 21 Northampton 
Ospreys 28 - 21 Biarritz
Glasgow 26-21 Bath
Toulouse 21 - 17 Gloucester 
Saracens 42 - 17 Benetton

Heineken Cup Final 2011 - Leinster blow the Saints away in the best comeback since Lazarus.

Picture from http://bit.ly/lEf5b9

Adjective Alert – for the week and the weekend that was in it, don’t be surprised to see the odd superlative crop up – fantastic, fabulous, outstanding etc etc. Unbelievable is probably the most apt to describe this Heineken Cup final. At half time I was whistling for the dogs and looking for their leads, muttering under my breath and getting ready for a week long sulk. Leinster were unbelievably dire in the first half, their scrum was a shambles, and the rest of their play was a collection of foul-ups, bleeps and blunders. My blood pressure was rising faster than the Saints’ scoreline. And of course, if I had given up and taken the dogs for a walk, I would have missed one of the great rugby comebacks of all time, because dire as they were in the first half, Leinster were unbelievably brilliant in the second half.


Northampton played the first half very astutely – gaining dominance in the scrum, kicking for field position, sucking up defenders and then getting the ball wide to their danger men. I don’t think even they could believe how they were dominating Leinster, and everything went their way – the ball rolled well for them, and they managed to outscore Leinster 7-3 during Mujati’s sinbinning. They finished the half 22-6 up, and the match was all but one. Tonga'uiha, Hartley and Mujati had propelled the team into touching distance of the cup.

Then it was half time, with Leinster dragging their sorry arses to the dressing room, while the Saints walked on air to get there. What exactly happened at half time in the Leinster changing room will forever be subject to conjecture. Greg Feek their former All Black front row coach, obviously sat the Healy, Strauss and Ross and gave them the wisdom of the ages to know how to cope with Saints’ 1,2 and 3. Joel Schmidt made a few long overdue introductions – ‘Brian, this is Gordan, Jonny, this is Eoin’, gave some really insightful advice ( When you run, carry the ball in TWO hands), and they session ended with a group hug and a rousing version of the Glee version of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Belivin’. In all seriousness, it sounds like Jonny Sexton gave the most amazing motivational speech that in my opinion marks him out as future Leinster and Ireland captain.

Sexton was also at the heart of the Leinster explosion that blew the Saints away in the second half. He scored two tries, kicked the conversions, kicked the penalties – there weren’t any limit to his talents. Leinster imposed their game on Northampton, and the Saint’s couldn’t live with it, couldn’t find the answers to the relentless waves of attacks. Shane Jennings was a revelation and an inspired substitution, and Sean O’Brien, Heaslip, Strauss, Shaggy and Nacewa all stood up to be counted. But for me, the whole foundation for the victory was laid in the front row, lads who don’t often get a mention in this blog (except in the same sentence as ‘pie shop’. ) Healy, Strauss and Ross, take a bow, you did you did your province proud. The whole team did.

It must be absolutely gut wrenching for the Saints, in line for a double, then to have it all snatched away from you. Ben Fodden was outstanding, as was Lawes, and they have a host of young players that as the years go by are going to get them back into the Heineken Cup Final and get themselves into the England team – players like Clarke, Dickson and Dowson.

The whole thing was a humbling experience, going from the depths of despair of despair to the elation of victory. Leinster’s victory means that Connacht get to play Heineken Cup Rugby next year, which is a fabulous result for them. And with the Queen playing a blinder in Ireland, it’s been quite a week for the country. I’m still pinching myself, unbelievable is without doubt the best description of this match.

Two Heineken Cups in three seasons, it doesn’t get better much than that.

In the Amlin Challenge Cup, Harlequins picked Stade’s pocket in the last few minutes of the match to score a try and win. I thought this was going to be more entertaining than the Heineken Cup, but both teams had a safety first approach, and in the end when Quins had no option but to throw caution to thewind and go for it, their bravery was rewarded with a try. Is this the start of the Quins’ climb back to the top? Danny Care was the dandy highwayman who provided the spark to see them home. Stade should have won that match for all money, but fair play to Quins.

Shark Bite

The Sharks were absolute pants in their loss to the Bulls, from my Twitter view of the match. ‘Alberts drops the ball AGAIN’ was the most frequently tweeted comment. If you can’t beat a so so Bulls team you aren’t going to get very far are you?

Heineken Cup Final Special 2011 - are the Saints going to be marching to the tune of the Blues?

Heineken Cup Special!

This is it, le grande frommage, 42 matches played in the build up, only one winner on Saturday. Looking back, Toulouse have won the Heineken Cup a record four times, while Munster, Leicester Tigers and London Wasps have won it twice each. Leinster have won it once, and so have the Saints. Cardiff are the only Welsh side to have played in a final, which they lost, and Scotland and Italy have never had a team in the final. Romain Poite is the ref, and the Millenium Stadium is the venue.

Northampton are going to be gunning for Leinster – they were savagely beaten by Leicester Tigers last weekend and winning the Heineken Cup would the prefect tonic for that. Also a number of their players were denied the grand slam in England colours by a very Leinster flavoured Ireland in the Six Nations. Most importantly, they have to avenge Ireland’s slighting of Blue in the Eurovision, after the UK generously gave their douze points to Jedward, while all Ireland could come up for Blue was a measly 6 points. The Queen is bound to have a word this week as well. So it’s going to be revenge, and redemption on the Saints’ mind this Saturday.

Leinster come into the match with a few injury worries, notably BOD, and Richardt Strauss. They’re also carrying the burden of favourites, which hasn’t always worked for them in the past. How do things get decided anyway, who the favourite is? The teams look pretty evenly matched to me. I see the major threats to Leinster as:

1. Northampton’s front row – They have been making mincemeat of most teams this season, and I wouldn’t pick Leinster’s front row as major strength. But Tonga'uiha and Mujati are no strangers to the pie shop, so if Leinster keep the pace up, these lads will start to puff.

2. Discipline – The Saints’ will be all over Leinster like a cheap suit – Hartley and Downey are going to be pushing the boundaries the whole match. This could be yellow cards for Leinster if they react, or it could go the other way as well, depending on how Poite refs the match

3. Careful kicking – Ashton and Fodden are pure dynamite for the Saints, so Leinster need to avoid kicking to them in broken field play – that means kicking the ball into the stands, and chasing up all their kicks.

Leinster’s 9,10.12,13 and 15 are going to have to play as well as they ever have to pierce that Saint’s defence, this is the key is for me - they can, and they will. Leinster by 3. Going to be hanging off the edge of my seat and shouting the house down for this one!

Amlin Chalenge Cup

I can see an almighty clash coming up here. Sure the rugby is going to tough, but the pink of Stade against that Harlequins pattern? On paper, Stade have a much stronger squad than Harlequins. Looking at their league finishes, Stade finished a very disappointing 11th in the T14, while Quins were 7th in the premiership. Stade’s coach Michael Cheika has tasted the big time already with Leinster in the Heineken Cup and Stade won the T14 in 2007. Quins don’t have the cups to back up the quality of their squad, but on their day they can beat anyone. The odds are heavily stacked in Stade Francaise’s favour, but who knows with the French, they’re not the world’s greatest travellers. On this occasion, I see the men in pink prevailing.

Shark Bite

The Sharks scoffed a horse on their last outing, does a Bull have any better chance? The Bulls got biblical on the Rebels arses last weekend, but these are pretty puny rebels it has to be said. With Lambie playing, I’d say the Sharks are going to take this one. Probably should end it that with I hope, but lets see.

Amlin Challenge Cup


Friday , May 20

Harlequins vs Stade Francais 19:45

Heineken Cup


Saturday , May 21

Leinster vs Northampton 17:00

Super Rugby


Friday , May 20

Blues vs Stormers 19:35

Saturday , May 21

Crusaders vs Chiefs 08:30

Waratahs vs Lions 19:40

Western Force vs Brumbies 20:05

Cheetahs vs Melbourne Rebels 17:05

Sharks vs Bulls 19:10

Heineken Cup French aristocrats get their heads chopped off by Leinster, Perpignan get royaly rogered, and Munster slip up.

I hope they saved me some wedding cake! (picture from http://bit.ly/jQqoaS )

Aviva Stadium was a noisy seething sea of blue, broken only very occasionally by a dab of red and black. The pitch was in great shape, it was warm, not windy and dry.The scoring started with an almighty balls up by Leinster, with the ball bouncing off the post from a penalty followed by the simplest of touch downs by Toulouse. It took a good 20 minutes for Leinster to find their rhythm after that early set back, but they clawed their way back into the lead eventually when Jamie Heaslip burrowed his way over to score. After that it was a ding dong battle with the lead changing hands several times until Brian O’Driscoll’s try sealed the win for the home side.

 On the pace for Leinster were Heaslip, O’Driscoll and D’Arcy. Off the pace was Fitzgerald, who looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights every time he got the ball. Also not at the races was Eoin Reddan whose box kicking was ordinary, who unenerringly passed to an isolated player, and if it was on on the left, he went right, and vice versa. There were also a fair amount of dropped balls and Leinster’s front row creaked, but there was awesome defense, heart in spades and bucket loads, and a steely intention to prevail. Toulouse’s scary backs never seemed to really get going, from a neutral perspective that was a pity, but it was a huge relief for me. And we’re in the final now! Sweet!

And we’re going to be facing Northampton, who must have left Perpignan feeling like they’d been sucked through a giant cement mixer. They absolutely pulverised the French, there was some deft running by the outstanding Foden, and Ashton showed a few good flashes, but this match was all about the Saints’ scrum, who basically beat 7 colours of poo out’ve Perpignan. The Saints are a team who really know how to get under your skin, they got Perpignan’s number and dialled it mercilessly until you could feel the French frustration seething out of the screen. I’m really surprised there was only one yellow card and no massive dust up. Tonga'uiha, Hartley and Mujati could be the form front row in the world right now.

Amlin Challenge Cup

Clermont went into this match as favourites (well I said they were going to win anyway). But as they discovered, even they aren’t good enough to give Stade two tries and still expect to win. The tries were both gift wrapped, presented on a silver platter and sealed with a kiss by Brent Russell. If any further proof were needed, Russell is not a fly half, has never been a fly half, and will never be a fly half. His safest bet would have been to catch a taxi from the stadium to the airport and fly straight home to SA. There was a shockingly small crowd in to watch a pretty unlikely victory for the home team, the French don’t get the Amlin Cup I don’t think. There was some good rugby played in the middle of all the gifts, but really, Clermont should have won this at a canter.

Munster’s difficult season dropped down another gear as they were beaten by Quins in front of a 25000 crowd at home. Nobody expected Quins to win, I didn’t catch the match and as a supporter of Irish rugby, the result isn’t something I wanted to see. But as bitter a pill it must be for Munster to swallow, you have to hand it to Quins, going to Thomond Park and winning is arguably one of the biggest challenges in European rugby. I fancy them in the final too now.

Cardiff put in a risible performance against the Dragons to keep the Ospreys play off hopes alive. And Bath’s win over Newcastle leaves them with a mathematical, if not realistic chance of making the playoffs.

Heineken Cup

Sunday , May 1

Northampton 23 - 7 Perpignan

Saturday , April 30

Leinster 32 - 23 Toulouse

Amlin Challenge Cup


Saturday , April 30

Munster 12 - 20 Harlequins

Friday , April 29

Stade Francais 29 - 25 Clermont Auvergne

Friday , April 29

Newport-Gwent D'gons 28 - 15 Cardiff Blues

Aviva Premiership

Newcastle 11 - 14 Bath

Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cup Rugby - a right royal dust up in Paris, London, Dublin and Limerick!

I sent the wife - picture from http://bit.ly/iTqJ98

There’s a huge amount to look forward to this weekend, big crowds, lots of enthusiastic fans, tradition, impressive starting line ups, teamwork , fantastic ball handling skills – but enough about the royal wedding, let’s talk about rugby!

Starting with the Heineken Cup and Leinster v Toulouse, what a match in prospect! The best bit is that I’m going to be there, and Leinster’ll actually to get to hear me roaring for a change. Toulouse have a pedigree as long as your arm - record four times Heineken Cup winners, runners up twice, and with a record 17 T14 titles, it’s amazing they aren’t coming to Dublin as favourites. Looking at their record and their players – Dusatoir, Skrela, Heymans, Poitrenaud – actually I think I’ll stop doing that, it’s one scary team. But Leinster are a complete team this days, tough front row, ultra competitive loose trio, incisive backs, passionate defenders. They play smart, smart rugby, prepare well, and deliver. At home, on a roll after a good portion of the team beat England, pretty well brushed Leicester aside, I’m backing them to take this one. The BOD is going to be missing the aforementioned wedding for his Friday Captains run.

On Sunday, the Saints welcome Perpignan to the MK Stadium. This larger venue for the Saints seems to be quite an intimate cosy ground, but with one fatal flaw - soccer supporters aren’t allowed to drink if they can see the pitch apparently. This doesn’t apply to rugby, but it sounds by all reports that it’s pretty difficult to observe one of the fundamental human rights – that’s liberte´. equalite´ , and having a pint while watching a game of rugby. In the Saints/Ulster match both sets of supporters struggled manfully to deal the problem, and came through without too much hardship. No doubt the Saints/Perpignan will overcome the odds as well. And what about the rugby? Saints’ home advantage makes them favourites of course, and I think they would have been a lot more worried about playing Toulon. Also Perpignan are 9th in the T14. But I hope that doesn’t distract the Saints, Pepignan were beaten T14 finalists last year, this is a one off, and anything could happen. In particular, I don’t think the Saints are going to bully Perpignan’s forwards (one Mr Tualagi will help with that), so it’ll be interesting to see how their backs cope with slower ball. Their broken field players like Aston and Fodden are second to none, but I’d say the teams are pretty evenly matched, and this one will be decided on penalties, and is Myler the man to do that for them? Saints by a whisker.

Amlin Challenge Cup

Stade Francaise/Clermont – should be a mighty match, home advantage in France is everything, but Clermont are such an awesome team I think they’ll win this, even away from home.

Munster/Harlequins - Munster will be without POC for this match, but I don’t think that’ll be much comfort for Quins as they head for the cauldron that is Thomond Park. Munster have clicked back in to gear, they even defeated mighty Leinster a few weeks ago, and will triumph again on Saturday.

Magners

The Blues will wrap up a semi final place if they beat the Dragons, and they will.

Shark Bite

The Sharks head to Cape Town to take on the enigmatic Stormers. Likely to be a typical SA slugfest, which the boys from Durban should win.

Heineken Cup


Saturday , April 30

Leinster vs Toulouse 15:30

Sunday , May 1

Northampton vs Perpignan 15:00

Amlin Challenge Cup


Friday , April 29

Stade Francais vs Clermont Auvergne 19:45

Saturday , April 30

Munster vs Harlequins 13:00

Super Rugby


Friday , April 29

Highlanders vs Blues 19:35

Saturday , April 30

Hurricanes vs Reds 19:35

Waratahs vs Melbourne Rebels 19:40

Western Force vs Crusaders 20:05

Cheetahs vs Brumbies 19:10

Bulls vs Chiefs 17:05

Stormers vs Sharks 19:10

The Magners League


Friday , April 29

Newport-Gwent D'gons vs Cardiff Blues 16:05

Weekend rugby - two out of three ain't bad for Ireland, but cheeky Leicester lose out in the end

No, we said show him a clean pair of HEELS!

Perpignan Vs Toulon

This was a really dull in the first half. Two French teams, big crowd, dry hot day, few penalties – I want a refund! Then in the 39th minute, George Smith ( all over the field, but looking as though there is a pie shop on his road) charged down a kick and scored for Toulon. That put a bit of daylight between the teams. So in the second half Perpignan threw caution to the wind, there was lots of running rugby and I got my money’s worth. I wasn’t that convinced by either side though – certainly Toulon took no advantage of being a man up for 20 minutes, and to me didn’t really look like they thought they could win. And Perpignan, full of fumbles, bumbles and stumbles, are hardly going to strike too much fear into their next round opponents.

Leinster vs Leicester

Speaking of bumbles… In the prematch build up we heard all about how England had been blown away by Ireland at the Aviva – and how Leicester had learnt all those lessons, they were going to bring the intensity, They were going to be patient etc,etc. And of course the matches were completely different- Flood and Youngs, who froze last time they were at the Aviva… froze again. Hand on a minute haven’t we seen this before? Forwards getting outmuscled? English backs standing back and watching with interest while irish backs weave intricate patterns round them? Leicester did of course have something new to bring to the party (see picture above) but unfortunately even this showstopper did them no good. Their attack strategy seemed to be as follows:

Except they didn’t run over everybody, only round a few people which is actually when they actually made some ground.  There's not nearly enough flair or guile in the Tiger's backline at the moment. I though Jordan Crane had a reasonable match for the Tigers, and that was about it. Conventional wisdom was Leicester’s pack were going to make mincemeat of Leinster’s pack, but Leinster looked thoroughly unminced to me, it was the reverse if anything. Tiger’s lineout was a total balls up as well. For Leinster, Strauss is a gift that keeps on giving, Sexton did his thing, thought D’Arcy and O’Driscoll had the Tigers worried in attack and defended stoutly, and all hail Isa Nacewa, the man’s a legend. Oh well, at least the travelling Tigers fans got a nice day out in the sun and a decent pint of Guinness.

Northampton Saints vs Ulster

Saints went into this match as favourites, very threatening in the qualifying rounds, with several players in the England squad, and after a try in the first few minutes it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon for Ulster. Ulster though weren’t going to lie down, bided their time, chipped away with penalties, struck back with a really good try, and went into the break with an improbable lead. Jim Malinder would have been tearing his hair out if there was any left to tear. He obviously found the right words to say at half time, as Ulster didn’t trouble the score in the second half, apart from one achingly close try . The Saints worked one magic try, kicked their penalties, and came away with a comfortable win. For Ulster, Rory Best is in the form of his life – think Roman Poite was a bit confused by his accent though, and in the backs, Humphries, Danelli, Trimble and D’Arcy. For the Saints, Lawes is in fantastic form, Ashton looked dangerous and Fodden is seriously dangerous. Dylan Hartley is in a class of his own, but not for the right reasons.

Biarritz vs Toulouse

It must have been the weather in Spain – which fell mainly on the players – but this match went from the sublime to the ridiculous. The first half was all Toulouse, two absolutely perfect inventive tries, and it looked like there could only be one winner. The second half was all Biarritz’s though, grinding their way back into the game with penalties, then managing to score a try from a charge down in the last few minutes of the match to tie it all up. Then to extra time, penalty apiece, and with the scores tied up, Toulouse were going through because they’d scored two tries. But it was all laid to rest in the last 2 minutes of extra time, as Nyanga charged down Yachvili’s kick and scored under the posts. Nyanga, French international, only managing to make the Toulouse bench.

So the after the quarters, the semis will be: Semi-Final 1: Leinster v Toulouse

Saturday, 30 April - Kick-off 15.30 (14.30 GMT) - Aviva Stadium

Semi-Final 2: Northampton Saints v Perpignan

Sunday, 1 May - Kick-off 15.00 (14.00 GMT) - stadium:mk

Brive 37 - 42 Munster

This sounded like an almighty match – good on Munster for getting a hard fought away win, looking dangerous in this competition.

Shark Bite

Yes please! 4 try bonus point over the Lions, just what the doctor ordered. The rest of the SA teams were pants though.

Heineken Cup


Sunday , April 10

Northampton 23 - 13 Ulster

Biarritz 20 - 27 Toulouse

Saturday , April 9

Perpignan 29 - 25 Toulon

Leinster 17 - 10 Leicester

Amlin Challenge Cup


Saturday , April 9

Brive 37 - 42 Munster

Friday , April 8

Stade Francais 32 - 28 Montpellier

Harlequins 32 - 22 Wasps

Thursday , April 7

La Rochelle 13 - 23 Clermont Auvergne

Super Rugby


Saturday , April 9

Crusaders 27 - 0 Bulls

Brumbies 17 - 16 Hurricanes

Western Force 3 - 31 Waratahs

Sharks 27 - 3 Lions

Stormers 6 - 19 Reds

Friday , April 8


Highlanders 24 - 21 Cheetahs