Healy's natural position is wing, and Munster come within a testicular hair of losing to Zebre!

Three well known Irish wings (picture http://bit.ly/15lsQzX)

The final round robin weekend finished up with a few surprises, but no major change in the standings. Connacht couldn’t end with a flourish, but they played well enough to prevent Glasgow getting the bonus point, and finish in a hugely creditable 8th position.  Ulster thumped the Cardiff Blues – it seems only a few years ago Cardiff were getting pipped in the Heineken Cup knock outs. I didn’t see the match, but Ulster racked up a good score, and got the bonus point.

Leinster got a very good score against the Ospreys- it was a great match to watch, both teams going at it hammer and tongs, and lots of open attractive rugby. Sexton is playing at his best, and it doesn’t seem to matter who they pick at the moment, they put their hands up. The pack did very well without the front line props, and I applaud Schmidt for moving Healy to the wing, his more natural position. Having said that, Conway was awesome too.

The Scarlets totally fluffed their lines against Treviso, who were only 4 points off 7th place, but still made it through after the Ospreys lost. Scarlets are a Jekyll and hide team, but hard to see them beating Ulster.
It was a makeshift Munster team, but they still came within a testicular hair of being the first victim for Zebre this season.  BJ Botha scored a try to spare their blushes in the 66th minute.

In England, the Exiles finished 9th – it looked a bit dodgy at one stage, but even without London Welsh’s points deduction, it always looked like Sale would keep them up!

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , May 3
Edinburgh 31 - 24 Newport Gwent D'gons 
Connacht 3 - 20 Glasgow 
Ulster 37 - 13 Cardiff Blues 
Scarlets 17 - 41 Benetton Treviso 
Leinster 37 - 19 Ospreys 
Zebre 25 - 27 Munster 

Pos Team P W D L F A PD B Pts
1. Ulster  22 17 1 4 577 348 229 11 81
2. Leinster22 17 0 5 585 386 199 10 78
3. Glasgow 22 16 0 6 541 324 217 12 76
4. Scarlets22 15 0 7 436 406 30 6 66
5. Ospreys 22 14 1 7 471 342 129 4 62
6. Munster 22 11 1 10 442 389 53 8 54
7. Treviso 22 10 2 10 414 450 -36 6 50
8. Connacht22 8 1 13 358 422 -64 4 38

Teeth shaking stuff as Munster and Leinster come out on top!

Dave McSharry (picture http://bit.ly/W9rRbH)

Another weekend of derbies, good teeth shaking stuff!

Saturday started off for the Irish provinces, with a seriously weakened Ulster team taking on a strong Munster  side. Ulster had way the better of the first part of the game, pegging Munster back and enjoying a lot of possession. It was pretty well even stevens until Paul Marshall was sinbinned for dumb rucking after the whistle had gone. I really like Marshall, and would like to see him play for Ireland, but he’s got to watch his discipline. After that, Munster got a penalty try, Zebo sauntered through for another , then O’Mahony blasted over for the try that put the game to bed. Keatley put in a good break, and played pretty well, but there’s no doubting ROG’s class as he steered the ship home with pin point accurate kicking. Munster’s starting loose trio, and bench loose forwards are just awesome.  They should really have got a bonus point try, but even a 2nd string Ulster side is top class these days. For Ulster, Luke Marshall is shouting loud and clear he’s ready for regular Ireland duty.  I was also impressed by McComb and Stevenson, who put in a mountain of work. It’s as well for Ulster to get that unbeaten run monkey off their backs anyway.

Then it was a lightweight Leinster side, taking on Connacht. Connacht are ultra well drilled, their defense is absolutely top class, and their set moves very impressive, they just need a little something, luck even, to realize some of their potential. Nothing much happened for about the first 30 minutes, as Park’s kicking and an impressive line speed kept Leinster at bay. I like the way Leinster adapted their play, the holes were round the ruck, which they used to good effect, and Madigan dropped deeper to give him space. It was Madigan who opened the scoring, and it was pretty well all Leinster after that. McGrath played well and added another try, and although Leinster didn’t quite impose themselves like you’d expect, but there were lots of changes to the team. Jordi Murphy and Rhys Ruddock are growing into their roles, and Andrew Goodman showed some good touches. Fergus McFadden was as outstanding as ever. For Connacht Dave McSharry is a busy physical player, and Kieran Marmion looks like he could go a long way.

I saw London Irish do enough to beat Quins, but they don’t have any luck these days and the game ran away from them. Wake up lads, you’re going down!

RaboDirect PRO12
Saturday , December 29
Benetton Treviso 26 - 18 Zebre 
Edinburgh 17 - 21 Glasgow 
Munster 24 - 10 Ulster 
Leinster 17 - 0 Connacht 
Monday , December 31
Newport Gwent D'gons vs Ospreys 16:15

Irish provinces in the Heineken Cup - so many superlatives, they broke my superlomometer!

James Coughlan (picture http://bit.ly/wxGF9b )

Leinster put in a solid fifteen man performance to top their pool, and confirm their home quarter. Missing a few of their out and out stars in the starting 15, they still had enough in the bag to effectively put away Montpellier, who had picked a full strength side. Kearney, Mc Fadden, and the usual suspects in the pack of SOB and Heaslip all stood up to be counted. A bonus point would have been good, but apart from that it’s home quarters and all to play for.

Connacht had kicked things off for the Irish provinces in awesome style on Friday with a fine gritty over Quins. The match was played in near hurricane conditions, and somehow, Qunis couldn’t use the  wind at their backs in the second half to get the win. To describe Connachts’s tackling as ferocious is to do them a an injustice, it was an out and out war around the rucks and mauls. Connacht won the match with sheer bloody mindedness, just absolutely refusing to lose. Quins could go to Toulouse and win, but not to Galway! The  Galwegians had a win coming in the HC, and this was not no more than their due.

Connacht’s heroics had ensured Ulster’s qualification, but the Ulstermen had to try and get something out of Clermont’s home fortress for a home quarter. It wasn’t their afternoon really, they had a few decisions go against them, and they didn’t have the ruthless efficiency they showed against  the Tigers the week before to put away the chances they did get. But they got close, really close to a win and there aren’t too many teams that get to do that. So qualification again for Ulster, two years in a row, not too shabby.

It was left to Munster to round things off for the Irish provinces, against the in form Saints at the MK stadium. Munster were 5 from 5 coming into the match, but have been in scratchy enough form, requiring a few drop late goals to scrape through and not ever hitting their straps up until now. Even in the first 20 minutes, it didn’t look like it was going to be their afternoon.  Ronan O’Gara got a pass in their own 22, found a pen, wrote ‘hospital’ on the ball and popped it off to Mafi, milliseconds before Mafi was absolutely creamed by Manoa. Saints got a penalty try from that scrum.  Mafi a few minutes later tried a really speculative offload in the Munster 22, and again the Saints came away with points. But Munster hung in there, got a try of their own after a storming run by Coughlan, who’s in sensational form, and were in touch at half time. In the second half, Munster flicked the switch and unleashed a blitzkrieg attack on the Saints, and didn’t let up until the last minute. It was the stuff of nightmares for Northampton. I think it’ll be a while before such a complete second half performance is matched, probably not this year anyway. Munster are back, big time, and must be favourites now for this years tournament. Zebo got a hat trick, but it was the ultimate team performance that delivered those tries and more and that win.

So this is the draw for the next round:

Munster v Ulster
Leinster v Cardiff Blues
Edinburgh v Toulouse
Saracens v Clermont Auvergne

Overall, English clubs are the big losers with one only one club through, the Rabo Direct Pro 12 are the winners with 5/8 and france are about right at 2/8. One Irish side is going to have perish straight away, but apart from that, things couldn’t be better for the Irish teams right now.

Friday , January 20
Connacht 9 - 8 Harlequins 
Gloucester 34 - 24 Toulouse
Sunday , January 22
Biarritz 36 - 5 Ospreys 
Benetton Treviso 20 - 26 Saracens 
Saturday , January 21
Bath 23 - 18 Glasgow 
Leinster 25 - 3 Montpellier 
Leicester 33 - 6 Aironi Rugby 
Northampton 36 - 51 Munster 
Castres 13 - 16 Scarlets 
Clermont Auvergne 19 - 15 Ulster
Edinburgh 34 - 11 London Irish 
Cardiff Blues 36 - 30 Racing Metro 92

Heineken Cup predictions - knowledge of biorhythmic algorithms not required

Steven Sykes - Seldom Seen Man (picture http://bit.ly/zmPmli )

Likely to top the whole shebang are Leinster, and a win against Montpellier should do that for them, even without the bonus point. Leo Cullen is a worry, although not you could tell from the Leinster site, and Fitzgerald and Strauss are back in the frame, as apparently is the seldom seen Steven Sykes, who has not turned out to be a fantastic replacement for Nathan Hines, it has to said. Four points for Leinster.

Munster have to beat the Saints at home tall order in itself, plus they are rocked by injuries, and not in the finest vein of form. I’m not knocking them, they’re unbeaten, but just this moment it would take a minor miracle to come home with a win. The news that Ashton is getting flouncy at training at Franklin Gardens is a bit of comfort, as that is sure to disrupt the Saints.

Ulster have to beat Clermont away. Who knows what Clermont are going to bring to the party, but at home they are a mightily impressive side. Clermont have not lost at their fortress since November 2009. So even a bonus point for Ulster is going to be a major achievement, and could spell the end of the Ulstermen’s campaign. I'll bwe shouting for Ulster all the way though

Edinburgh and The Blues both look like they’ll make it as the Exiles and Racing are not in the best of nick these days.

And in Pool 6 you’d think that Toulouse and Quins should both get out.  Then Saracens should top group 5.
So this is my order:

Linster
Toulouse
Saracens
Edinburgh
Clermont
Munster
Cardiff
Quins

Enjoy the weekend!

Heineken Cup
Friday , January 20
Gloucester vs Toulouse 20:00
Connacht vs Harlequins 20:00
Saturday , January 21
Northampton vs Munster 18:00
Castres vs Scarlets 18:00
Leinster vs Montpellier 13:30
Bath vs Glasgow 13:30
Clermont Auvergne vs Ulster 15:40
Leicester vs Aironi Rugby 15:40
Sunday , January 22
Edinburgh vs London Irish 15:15
Cardiff Blues vs Racing Metro 92 15:15
Benetton Treviso vs Saracens 13:00
Biarritz vs Ospreys 13:00

Heineken Cup - Irish teams in 1,2 and 3 in the qualification standings

Devin Toner (http://bit.ly/zjvEFB )

Leinster had their work cut out for them by the burly Scots in Glasgow. The Warriors brought unrivalled physicality to the party, and had Leinster rocked and pegged back in the first half. So smart game plan by the Scots, absolutely playing to their strengths. Leinster had to keep themselves occupied with repelling the Scots, and it took a moment of magic by Sexton and Kearney, and one prolonged attack finished by a belligerent Boss lunge, to win the match. Well, we know Leinsters defense is the business, but the Scots had their attack under control. They missed Fitzgerald, and I’d be looking at Carr not Dave Kearney. McFadden showed a few good touches, and his place kicking is immaculate. Cronin had some stormng runs, and Toner is growing more influential in the team all the time. Even my photocopier is telling me, you need more toner! Leinster qualify for the quarters, and have next week to work on home advantage.

Ulster Leicester was the match of the weekend, with the Ulstermen using home advantage to absolutely pulverize the Tigers.  It’s seldom that you see the Tigers get so comprehensively outplayed in every facet of the match, but they weren’t just played, they had a tank driven over their scrums, their lineouts, their mauls, their backline. Good times for Ireland as Trimble, Cave, Tuohy, put their hands up for national honours. The crowd, the atmosphere, this match has passed straight into Ulster folklore. It had the hairs on the back of your head standing up the whole match.

Munster had a tough encounter at home against a determined Castres side. Post match interviews with O’Connell talking about frustration with their performance. Hard man to please, five from five, qualification in the bag, only unbeaten side in the tournament, and they feel they should have done better. Admittedly they left a few tries behind, but Castres are some team, big strong talented players. Munster need more composure in the last 5 metres, and I think that’s where Murray is still learning his trade, his control of players and split seconds decisions are still coming. Great to see three Irish sides in such good form, one two and three in the current qualification table.

Toulouse beat Connacht 24-3, so fair showing from the Galwegians. Exiles passed up a good chance to push for something more as they fell to the Blues. I also saw the Scarlets hopes dashed by the Saints, just felt the Scarlets should have done better, they needed to take their chances. And I saw Saracens beat Bairritz, not very convincingly, but they all count.

Heineken Cup
Friday , January 13
Ospreys 44 - 17 Benetton Treviso 
Racing Metro 92 24 - 27 Edinburgh 
Ulster 41 - 7 Leicester
Saturday , January 14
Montpellier 24 - 22 Bath 
Scarlets 17 - 29 Northampton 
London Irish 15 - 22 Cardiff Blues 
Aironi Rugby 0 - 82 Clermont Auvergne 
Munster 26 - 10 Castres 
Harlequins 20 - 14 Gloucester 
Toulouse 24 - 3 Connacht
Sunday , January 15
Glasgow 16 - 23 Leinster 
Saracens 20 - 16 Biarritz 

Heineken Cup taster

(Picture http://bit.ly/ynrFms )

Leinster have a full bill of health for their encounter in Glasgow, with  Leo Cullen, Luke Fitzgerald, Shane Jennings, Ian Madigan, Eoin O'Malley, Rhys Ruddock and Richardt Strauss all in the frame for selection. Glasgow are in fourth in the Rabid 12, and sit at second in their HC pool behind Leinster. A win here and they could really fancy their chances of topping the group. So this is a big match for Leinster,  Scottish teams have often been stumbling blocks in the past, and they want to win all their remaining matches starting on Sunday, and see if they can get home advantages in the next round. I’ve just watched some of the Bath highlights, and awash with pride I’m going with the Leinstermen to crack Firhill , down the bogeyman Scots, and come away with a win, if not a bonus point.

Ulster take on Leicester at home, in what promises to be a fantastic match. Both teams have put together a good string of results in the last few weeks, something to build on and take into this round of HC matches. Ulster would love to put some daylight between themselves and Clermont, and a win against the Tigers would see them get one foot into the next round. I think Ruan Pienaar is the key to this match, his return and excellent form is driving the team forward, and I’m expecting a home win from them.

Munster have Castres at home and have no recent injury worries to contend with, with even Niall Ronan in the frame for the match. There are several new faces in the Munster team at the moment, but the ethos is the same- stand up and fight!  Castres are bottom of the group, and have never made good tourists. I can’t see them telling all their friends that Limerick is a great place to visit after this weekend either. So Munster with a comfortable win then.

Connacht travel to Toulouse, and won’t disgrace themselves I’m sure. They have nothing to lose, Toulouse will be underestimating them, and I could see Connacht giving Toulouse a fright like they did to Quins.
Exiles take on the Cardiff Blues at the Ma-jet-ski stadium, and on recent form it’s hard to know hat to expect from Irish. Expect the unexpected! For the record, I think they’ll win and throw the whole pool open.
Elsewhere, I’ll try and see the Scarlets Saints match to see two form tams slug it out, and will catch the Saracens Biarritz match as well. Sarries are my dark horse team to go far this tournament.

Heineken Cup Friday , January 13
Racing Metro 92 vs Edinburgh 20:00
Ulster vs Leicester 20:00
Ospreys vs Benetton Treviso 20:00
Saturday , January 14
Scarlets vs Northampton 13:30
Munster vs Castres 15:40
London Irish vs Cardiff Blues 15:40
Montpellier vs Bath 13:00
Aironi Rugby vs Clermont Auvergne 13:30
Toulouse vs Connacht 15:40
Harlequins vs Gloucester 18:00
Sunday , January 15
Glasgow vs Leinster 12:45
Saracens vs Biarritz 15:00

Ulster thump, Connacht slump, Leinster slide in on their rumps, and Munster shouldn't get down in the dumps!

Legend! (picture http://bit.ly/A7P2lq)

Leinster welcomed back their internationals, and put last weeks performance behind them as they narrowly beat the Cardiff Blues at Cardiff City Stadium. The Blues were still in holiday mood for the first 10 minutes, asLeinster ran in two excellent tries that the Blues were interested bystanders to. But  the Blues fought their way back into the match and could have sneaked a win with better kicking. The Leinster pack stood up to be counted, Heaslip was immense, Cronin was lively, Toner played the best match I’ve ever seen him play, and in the backs Kearney and McFadden always looked threatening. Reddan has his detractrors, but he sets perfect tempo for Leinster, like a master traffic director. For the Blues, Halfpenny was great, but I thought I’d see more of Warburton than I did.

Munster looked a bit ring rusty as they beat Treviso and landed the bonus point for four tries. The match was closer than the final score suggests, and Munster have to be concerned with the ease with which Treviso scored their try. The International camp, had the biggest influence on Munster of all the four provinces, but this is the sort of warm up they needed for the Heineken Cup matches coming up. The highlight of the match was Nigel Owens’ dressing down of the Treviso scrum half Botes. ‘I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m the referee, you’re the scrum half, you do your job, I’ll do mine. If you keep on shouting at me, I’ll penalize you – this is isn’t soccer’! Legend! Bloody right as well! Munster had a few good touches, Earls, unrecognizable with a new hair cut was sharp, Zebo was useful, and O’Connell led from the front. They need to calm down a bit when they’re in the red zone, and not descend into one off runners, as they left a good few tries behind. And Treviso, to their credit, are a much improved side.

Connacht were in dismal form as they were trounced by Aironi in Viadana. They can turn it around though, they just need to work on tackling, handling, scrums and lineouts then they’ll be there. They can play so much better than this, and they will next weekend in the Heineken Cup. It’s time for them to settle on a fly half, and from what I’ve watched it should be O’Connor or Nikora. At their best, they have a running style similar to Leinster, but we didn’t see any of that.

Ulster got a good win away to Edinburgh, that’s never an place to come away with a result, and they did it emphatically.

London Irish were back to win winning ways with a close win over Sale.

I watched the Saints/Quins match, where Northampton ran a tank over Harlequins, giving them a comprehensive hammering in every facet of the match. Quins miss Nick Evans badly, and have no big guns to bring in and save the day either, while Saints had a really powerful bench. I’m still expecting Quins to bounce back though. Lee Dickson must be in hot contention for an England place, especially after party boy Danny Care ruled himself out with a series of drink related incidents.

RaboDirect PRO12
Aironi Rugby 20 - 6 Connacht 
Munster 29 - 11 Benetton Treviso 
Cardiff Blues 19 - 23 Leinster 
Scarlets 16 - 14 Glasgow 
Newport-Gwent D'gons 21 - 20 Ospreys 
Edinburgh 20 - 42 Ulster 
Aviva Premiership
Sunday , January 8
Saracens 26 - 19 Bath 
London Irish 21 - 19 Sale 
Saturday , January 7
Worcester 21 - 15 Gloucester 
Newcastle 10 - 16 Exeter 
Leicester 29 - 11 Wasps 
Northampton 24 - 3 Harlequins

Leinster take on Cardiff in the battle of the Blues and all the provinces are back to full strength.

Au Revoir Delon (Picture http://bit.ly/xXuzDu )

Coming up for Leinster is a date in Cardiff with the Blues. All of the Welsh sides have been bursting wth confidence since the World Cup and a trip to Cardiff City Stadium is a tough proposition. I didn’t learn much from the Blues website – most of these  club sites are crappy ticket sale vehicles masquerading as information about the club. They say their squad is ‘nearly up to full strength’ As the Heineken Cup gets going again the weekend after this, they are probably right. And ‘Blue Magic’ reckons that Kevin McLaughlin, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney, Eoin Reddan, Mike Ross and Jonathan Sexton are all in the frame for selection. It’s going to be close to full strength for both sides to try to kick themselves into shape for the weekend after, and notwithstanding home advantage, I reckon Blue Magic will prevail.

Ulster are on a high after thumping Munster, but Edinburgh are no pushover with Michael Bradley in charge, and they’ll be hurting from a loss to Glasgow. At full strength, Ulster should do it though.

Connacht travel to Vidana to have a go at Aironi. If they can nearly beat Leinster, they should sort out the bottom team, even away. I see winger Tiernan O’Halloran has signed up for 2 more years with them, which is excellent news. I expect the Galwegians to take this one.

Munster are going to like a bear with a sore head after last weekend, and Treviso are going to feel the pain. They need to pay the Italians their due respect and work through their phases, but they will. Munster are back at full strength, and I’m expecting a big showing from Paul O’Connell, new Ireland captain in Brian’s absence, and having just signed a new two year contact himself.

London Irish are going to have to try and right the wrongs of their humiliation by Bath last week, and do it against in form Sale too. Rumour has it that Delon Armitage is off to France and taking Nick Kennedy with him. Delon will not be a desperate loss, as he hardly seems to find time to play any rugby these days with his busy schedule of suspensions and injuries. Nick Kennedy is a whole different kettle of fish though. At the Madejski, home support should just about see them through, but then I thought they were going to hammer bath, so what do I know. Saints and Quins should be a cracker too.

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , January 6
Newport-Gwent D'gons vs Ospreys 19:05
Edinburgh vs Ulster 19:30
Saturday , January 7
Aironi Rugby vs Connacht 15:35
Scarlets vs Glasgow 18:15
Cardiff Blues vs Leinster 18:15
Munster vs Benetton Treviso
Aviva Premiership
Friday , January 6
Northampton vs Harlequins 19:45
Saturday , January 7
Worcester vs Gloucester 14:45
Newcastle vs Exeter 15:00
Leicester vs Wasps 17:00
Sunday , January 8
London Irish vs Sale 15:00
Saracens vs Bath 15:00

Munster stumble, Leinster stagger, and the IRFU get it in the neck

O'Hallaran -one to watch ( picture http://bit.ly/rPjfr4 )

I caught the Ulster Munster match on Friday, where Munster were absolutely spanked by the Ulstermen at Ravenhill.  Ruan Pienaar was the star of the show for me, scoring a try and doing everything a scrum half should. Terblanche scored a try and is a shrewd short term signing. Munster looked disjointed, and sadly lacking in ideas behind the scrum. In fairness to them, they were heavily affected by the loss of their internationals, while Ulster were hardly affected at all, as they have all their foreign stars to fall back on.


 I suppose the IRFU is hoping that their new rules on foreign players are going to mean all provinces are equally affected when the internationals are withdrawn. I’m not sure if the treatment here isn’t going to kill the patient. I was feeling fine until I saw the doctor, now I don’t feel so good. My two cents worth is that we currently don’t have enough quality players to field 3-4 top level teams. Foreign players are going to avoid Ireland because of the complicated transient nature of the contracts offered. At the same time, the number of games being played goes up and up, so bigger squads are needed. The net result is going to be that the provinces are going to struggle to compete in the Pro 12 and the HC, and if that happens, it hard to see how the national team isn’t going to struggle. Then if  our stars get fed up and chase big contracts in France, we’ll really be shagged.

Now I’ve depressed the hell out you, my alternative suggestion would be that the IRFU brings in a minimum number of games over the season where Irish teams have to field all Irish qualified players, start with 6 maybe, going up to say 12 over 4-5 years. I’d also be interested to see a how restricting players from playing in Ireland would stand up in court.

Leinster straggled past a gutsy Connacht side at the Sports ground. Without Isa Nacewa to kick them home, they would have been in deep poo. They didn’t ever put their stamp on the game, and with the disparity in resources available to both teams, they should have put Connacht away easily. I like the look of O’Hallaran for Connacht, and also their team ethic. Leinster have to work hard on their discipline. Connacht deserved that match all the way, but we’ll take it!

London Irish were hammered by Bath at the Recreation Ground. Player of the match was Michael Claasens with Stephen Donald close behind, and Abendanon is such a classy player for them. Irish looked like they were going to be all over them at the start, but Bath just wanted it more. Is there an issue with leadership at Irish? They really needed someone to pull them together and get stuck in to a vulnerable Bath team.

I went to the Quins Saracens match earlier this week with an 82 000 crowd, fireworks to start, and a lot to admire about the way the match was played. Unfortunately for Quins they got bad stage fright in the first 20 minutes, and Saracens had them eaten by that stage. Saracens have a very cautious game plan, based on massive forward power and watertight defense, and it works. They are going to make waves in the HC I reckon. I also watched Quins scrape past Exeter, with a diabolical kicking display from Clegg. You should never mix politics and sport obviously. From an Irish perspective, great to see prop Andress, fly half Steenson  and lock Hayes shine. Hayes hasn’t missed a league game in three years. Legend! Getting back to Quins, Mike Brown is a pleasure to watch, solid under the high ball and in defense and a danger with ball in hand.

Ulster 33 - 17 Munster 
Exeter 9 - 11 Harlequins
Bath 30 - 3 London Irish
Connacht 13 - 15 Leinster

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

Leinster excell, and Peter Allen, look away now!

Fergus! (picturehttp://bit.ly/sCJzJ7 )

The first match I watched this weekend was Leinster at home to Cardiff. Excuse me while I reach for the book of superlatives. They made fairly heavy weather of the first half, then in the second the floodgates opened and the Leinstermen were queuing up to score. What was impressive was how the understudies rose to the occasion – McFadden is playing and kicking superbly (better than Johnny?), Madigan played really well, and Fionn Carr is hungry for work, on attack, on defense, filling in well at scrum half when needed, he’s knocking on Ireland’s door, never mind a Leinster starting place. Steven Sykes looked impressive, as did van der Merwe, hard to fault anyone really. A big shout out for Nathan White, prop try of the year? The Blues, with their internationals gone, could just about find a 1st fifteen, but had no subs to speak of. Bring on the next round of the HC for Leinster!

Then I caught the Wales Australia. The Welsh seem to have lost their mojo for the moment, I’m sure it will be back, but all the urgency of the World Cup was gone, they didn’t ever really seem to mean it when they attacked. Frankly, the first half was as dull as ditch water. The whole thing was crying out for a try, a punch up, a streaker, anything. In the second half ½ penny made a pretty calamitous decision to bring down O’Connor, because by the time he made it back from his yellow card Wales had leaked three tries and the match. Wales got two tries back and closed the gap to six points, but it was definitely Australia’s day. Shane Williams bowed out with a late try, bringing the curtain down on the match and his long successful career. Wales will be back, bring back Charteris, Phillips and Alwen Jones and they’ll fire again. Apart from Priestland, Warburton and Faletau, they had a quiet day at the office. Australia, meanwhile, miss Cooper and Beale, they looked solid but fairly ordinary.

Ah, Saturday afternoon, time to relax and watch Munster take on a very understrength Ospreys side. Or not. It’s not often in my experience that a ref changes the outcome of a match, generally he’s equally inept with each side. They can really spoil a match though. Peter Allen stuck pins under the fingernails of this match, he drowned it’s sweet little puppy, he told it Santa had died. It’s possible you might have enjoyed this match if you were an Ospreys supporter. But for everybody else, it was a shambles, with Allen trailing around, ineffectually trying to assert his authority on the match. I was impressed with how the Ospreys also-rans stepped up to the plate, and not very impressed with how Munster coped with the pressure they were put under. Peter Allen didn’t help, but they just weren’t expecting the competency Ospreys displayed.

Ulster got baqck to winning ways, and Connacht couldn't hold off treviso.

I rounded off the weekend watching Irish away to Saracens. This wasn’t a great match. I don’t want to make a habit of giving out about the ref, but the biggest feature of this match was Smalls voice, who's apparently an ‘elite’ referee. He didn’t so much instruct the players as nag them, frequently, in an unfortunate nasal tone. It was all penalties for Sarries, hardly any running rugby- turgid- is that the word? Absolutley turgid. Fair play to Irish as for getting the only try. Impressive for Irish were Garvey, and replacements Dermody, Allinson and Armitage. Farell for Saracens is not to everyone’s taste but he can certainly kick.

 Wales 18 - 24 Australia
Ulster 24 - 17 Scarlets 
Edinburgh 50 - 10 Aironi Rugby 
Leinster 52 - 9 Cardiff Blues 
Connacht 13 - 15 Benetton Treviso
Ospreys 19 - 13 Munster
Saracens 15 – London Irish 11

Irish Pro 12 action, and Wales and Australia.

We salute you (picture http://bit.ly/vqN12C )

Pro 12 Preview

Ulster take on the Scarlets at home. Last week they played Glasgow, who are always an awkward side to play against, in admittedly poor weather, but they still took ‘dire’ to a whole new level. I hope they can turn themselves around, and with Scarlets wealth of international players, they should be facing a weakened squad, hopefully featuring an orange peeler or two. No excuses this weekend!

Connacht are going to find it tough enough against Treviso, but this is the type of game they really have to start winning if they want to go places. I think they’ll win.

Leinster have the Blues to contend with this weekend. And no, it’s not the Dublin GAA, it’s the Cardiff Blues this time.

Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 David Kearney, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Sean O'Brien, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Steven Sykes, 4 Leo Cullen (capt), 3 Nathan White, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Damian Browne, 20 Leo Auva'a, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Jonathan Sexton, 23 Rob Kearney.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (capt), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Taufaao Filise, 2 Ryan Tyrrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Michael Paterson, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Dafydd Hewitt.

That’s a strong team for Leinster, with big names on the bench as well. The Blues have a lost a few players to the Aussie match – bet the centers are pleased not to have to tackle Jamie Roberts!No sign of Henson yet, but the combination of orange and baby blue holds little appeal anyway. At home, with a decent away win last weekend, I’m going with Leinster.

Munster have to play the Ospreys away from home, but if you’re going to play a Welsh side, this is the weekend. All their internationals have made a massive impact on their return from the World Cup, but they are going to leave big holes again.  So I kind of fancy Munster in this one.
Wales Australia

This the rematch, Wales were handed 4th spot at the World Cup following their defeat to the Aussies, and this time…it’s at the Millennium Stadium!

Wales have lost a few of their heroes from the World Cup, Phillips and Charteris being their main losses IMO. It’s the swansong for legend Shane Williams, and I hope he goes out on a high. Wales have stated they are targeting the Aussie midfield, and I’ve seen some less than impressive tackling from O’Connor too. The Aussie scrum is still suspect, but more than anything Wales need to bring speed and confidence in attack.

The Australians meanwhile, need to move the ball themselves. Without Beale and Cooper they don’t have the potency they could, but Ioane and O’Connor are the danger men on attack. Rookie scrum half Lloyd Williams can expect to get the treatment, and the Aussies will probably win or lose by how effectively they get to Williams. Wales to take it on with home advantage though.

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Ryan Jones, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Dan Biggar, 22 Alex Cuthbert.

Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 James Horwill, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Radike Samo, 20 Ben Lucas, 21 Ben Tapuai, 22 Anthony Fainga'a.

Exiles and Saracens looks like an excellent match, but a losing point would be a good result for Irish.

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , December 2
Ulster vs Scarlets 19:05
Connacht vs Benetton Treviso 19:30
Edinburgh vs Aironi Rugby 19:30
Leinster vs Cardiff Blues 20:05
Saturday , December 3
Ospreys vs Munster 18:30
Sunday , December 4
Newport-Gwent D'gons vs Glasgow
Saturday , December 3
Wales vs Australia 14.30
Sunday , December 4
Saracens vs London Irish 14.00

Leinster in Italy, and the Ba Ba's take on Australia

James O'Connor (Picture http://bit.ly/uoNyyZ )

Leinster head off to Italy to take on Treviso this weekend – a few years ago the main concern would have agonising over the right trainers to pull the  signoras, after having thumped the Italians. Things are different these days though, and Leinster are not going to be arriving with a B team if they want to win. Fergus McFadden is apparently back in the frame, which would be great, and Damian Brown could return as well. I’m still expecting Leinster to beat Treviso, but bearing in mind that they drew with the Ospreys in the HC cup last week, they will need to play about 60% as well as they did in the first half, for 90% of the match to win. A win then.

Ulster should have enough firepower to take out the Warriors, even at Firhill, while I’d expect there to be unhappy hunting for Connacht against a still classy Ospreys side. Munster are going to have their hands full against Edinburgh, who’ve had a new lease of life with Irish coach Michael Bradley, who’ll obviously have an inside track on the men in red. But if Munster can beat Castre away, they’ll beat the Scots at home.
Scarlets and Dragons, with the current form of the Welsh, could be the match of the Pro12 weekend.

The Exiles take on Wasps at the Madjeski in a London derby, with Irish hoping to put behind their Heineken cup disappointments. I’m backing them to win.

Barbarians vs Australia

This is a decent looking Ba-Ba’s side, where I’m particularly interested to see Robbie Fruean show his stuff, alongside Mortlock who could really still have something to offer Australia. Hope Stringer has a good match as well. The Aussie side is out, with Pocock as captain, good move, and James O’Connor is going to be playing ten. The Ausiies had a fairly disappointing WC by their standards, so hopefully we get to see what they could have done on Saturday.

Barbarians: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Sam Tomkins, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Eusebio Guinazu.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Jason White, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Nemia Kenatale, 21 Richard Kahui, 22 Seru Rabeni.

Wallabies team

15. Adam Ashley-Cooper , 14. Lachie Turner , 13. Rob Horne , 12. Berrick Barnes , 11. Digby Ioane , 10. James O'Connor , 9. Will Genia , 8. Ben McCalman , 7. David Pocock (captain) 6. Scott Higginbotham , 5. Nathan Sharpe , 4. Rob Simmons , 3. Salesi Ma'afu , 2. Tatafu Polota Nau , 1. James Slipper ,

Replacements:16. Stephen Moore , 17. Ben Alexander , 18. James Horwill , 19. Dave Dennis , 20. Matt Hodgson , 21. Nick Phipps , 22. Ben Tapuai

Thu 24 Nov 19:30 Blues   v   Aironi Cardiff City Stadium  
Fri 25 Nov 19:05 Scarlets   v   Dragons Parc y Scarlets BBCw
Fri 25 Nov 19:35 Warriors   v   Ulster Firhill Stadium ALBA/ni/RTE
Sat 26 Nov 15:00 Treviso   v   Leinster Stadio di Monigo  
Sat 26 Nov 18:30 Connacht   v   Ospreys Sportsground S4C/TG4
Sat 26 Nov 20:30 Munster   v   Edinburgh Thomond Park Stadium TG4/ALBA

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

Hide the batteries for the remote - it's Heineken Cup time!

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Pool 1 Castres Munster  Saints Scarlets

Northampton are the 400 pound gorilla in Munster’s group, Castres  sre the other big team,  they may be3rd in the T14 but their HC form has been merde forever. Players like Fodden and Ashton lift the Saints above fairly predictable premiership fare. I want to see the next generation of Munsterites like Murray, Jones and Barnes shine, and they’ll need to get Munster out of this group. They’ll just about pip the Saints at home this week. Saints to top the group and Munster to come out second. The Scarlets will keep them all honest.

Pool 2 Blues Edinburgh London Irish Racing Metro

In this pool I think Irish can do the business, The Blues don’t often perform at this level, Metro are to nouveau riche, and Edinburgh don’t have the consistency so Irish it is.

Pool 3 Bath Leinster Glasgow Montpellier

 Leinster are The Champs©! But without O CAPTAIN! my Captain! BOD it’s going to long and winding road for Leinster. He’ll be back but…    I think Nathan Hines is a big loss as well. But it’s not all doom and gloom, Leinster should make it out of this group fairly easily, Bath are a mid table outfit and Montpelier are 3rd from bottom in the T14, while Glasgow don’t have the resources. And if Leinster make it out of the pool as they should do, pick up a few players and a bit of form, anything could happen. I’m going for an away win for them this weekend agsinsdt Montpellier.

Pool 4 Aironi Clermont Tigers Ulster

Ulster are still the Man City of the Irish provinces, with big name signings two a penny. Not having Pienaar is going to hurt them, and some of that imported beef has been aged well past its prime. This is a challenging group, where I’m picking Clermont to win and Ulster to come out second. Tigers – I think they’ve turned a corner, but not in a good way, and need to rebuild a bit.

Pool 5 Treviso Biarritz Ospreys Saracens

This is another tough as old boots pool. The Ospreys have to be hurt by the loss of their big names, so it’s down to Saracens or Biarritz, and you have to back Biarritz with their experience.

Pool  6 Connacht Harlequins Gloucester Toulouse

Connacht make their debut in the HCup, and face Quins in the first match of the tournament. It’s going to be a learning experience for the Galwegians, they look well enough drilled to pull off a few surprises, and they have the advantage that they are going to be way underestimated. Toulouse are going through IMO, and Gloucester might make it tough for them, or compete for a runners up spot.

I picked 5 out of 8 last year but not Leinster making it out of their pool (cough)