Tales of Herculean barbequing, Pro 12 and the Rugby Championship

Ian Madigan (Picture http://bit.ly/UCvx7r)

First off on Friday night I watched a bit of the Munster match. They made fairly easy work of Treviso, but look like they are still deciding what style of rugby they want to play. It must be a coaches nightmare with injuries and internationals missing.

Saturday morning started early with a seriously good test between the Pumas and the All Blacks. The Argentineans put their bodies on the line, with bone crunching tackling that had my TV shaking! It was a contest up until the last 20 minutes, then the All Black class told and they ran away with it. Ireland and Argentina now have shown there are chances with the All Blacks if you put them under pressure.

South Africa and Australia were up next, frankly the match was a bit of let down after the earlier one. Lots of aimless kicking from both sides, I thought the Springboks would win this easily enough, but they have no ambition at the moment, their back line is there to defend only. Australia hung in there and won this by sheer bloody mindedness rather than any great skill on their part.

I taped and caught the Leinster match after Herculean barbequing efforts (on the level of the Argentinean tackling). Leinster’s attack is back on song. They scored a number of well worked trys, moving the ball around and creating space. Madigan must be the 2nd best fly half in the country, and Sexton will only be too keen to get back into action! The Dragons however, didn’t come for a party in Dublin, and found try scoring a bit easier – they just ran straight through our defense. Lot’s of unfamiliar combinations in the backline, but it’s something that needs to be fixed fast. I thought Cooney was great, and Marshall, Reid and McGrath all played well. Better!

I didn’t see Ulster do their thing, but that’s an impressive away win for them.

Rugby Championship
New Zealand 21 - 5 Argentina 
Australia 26 - 19 South Africa 
RaboDirect PRO12
Zebre 17 - 30 Connacht 
Cardiff Blues 19 - 21 Edinburgh
Glasgow  13 - 18  Scarlets    
 Munster  19 - 6  Benetton Treviso 
Leinster 45 - 25 Newport-Gwent D'gons 
Ospreys 13 - 16 Ulster 

Leinster fans - keep watching through your fingers, and also there's wily Pumas and wobbly Springboks and Walllabies

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

Quick wrap of the PRO 12 first –Connacht get things underway for Ireland first up against Zebre. Interesting choice of name there – are Zebras known to be fierce in Italy?Despite losing a few stars, Connacht are still a competitive team, and for them this is a must win match. Munster should sort out Treviso no problem, and Ulster will have their work cut out at Ospreys, but I can see them getting a win. Meanwhile, for Leinster fans, this is going to be another match to watch through your fingers (the horror, the horror! etc). Now Boss and Ryan could be injured too… At least Leo Cullen is back in the frame, and Quinn Roux may get his debut as well. They should beat the Dragons, but with this amount of inexperience in the Leinster team, anything could happen.

In the Rugby Championship, the Pumas get to travel to New Zealand to take on the All Blacks. They nearly/should have beaten the Springboks in their last match, and they have a real opportunity here. I know I know, the puny Pumas taking on the mighty All Blacks… but New Zealand so think this is already in the bag. The Pumas have a habit of making it awkward for other teams, they tackle like kamikazes and hang in there, and then they sneak up and beat you- like a Puma! I wouldn’t rate their chances as fantastic, but the AB’s haven’t looked too flash so far, and with Ted in the mix for Argentina, it could be lot closer than most people are thinking. The Pumas have Juan Manuel Leguizamon and fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez back in the mix, while the All Blacks have a full squad to pick from, apart from Sonny Bill ‘Show me the money’ Williams.

In Perth, the Wallabies get to have a go at the Springboks. Both teams are looking wobbly at the moment. I’m beginning to wonder (with most of the rest of the rugby world) if Dingo Deans is up to this job. With the Crusaders, there was a total team ethic, no egos, no stars, and in my opinion a forwards based game. Apart from Carter, the outstanding All Black backs were from the Blues, Hurricanes etc. With the Wallabies, he inherited a weak scrum and a host of talented backs with egos. The egos cleared off (Giteau, Tuqiri) but the weak scrum has proved a bugger to fix, and new egos/divas have crept in, Beale, Cooper. He doesn’t seem to know what to do with all those backs.

The Springboks meanwhile have been staggering around trying to find a game plan, and using a set of players that follows the Bulls model. I’m encouraged by the team for this weekend, with Pienaar at scrumhalf, and Vermuelen  at 8. I’d drop Kirchner, get De Jong in the center, and Lambie or Goosen in at 10. At least Meyer seems open to change, and all the Springboks need to wake up as all the positions could now be up for grabs. Who’s going to win? I’d say the Boks, who at least in the first half against the Pumas in Cape Town showed they wanted to play rugby – I haven’t seen that from the Wallabies yet.

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , September 7
Zebre vs Connacht 18:05
Cardiff Blues vs Edinburgh 19:05
Glasgow vs Scarlets 19:35
Munster vs Benetton Treviso 20:00
Saturday , September 8
Leinster vs Newport-Gwent D'gons 18:15
Ospreys vs Ulster 18:30
Rugby Championship
Saturday , September 8
New Zealand vs Argentina 19:35
Australia vs South Africa 18:35

Saracens at Wembley?

Here’s a few pics of Matt Stevens, Andy Saull and Nils Mordt zip wiring across Wembley stadium to publicise Saracens match against Leicester Tigers on the 15th September at Wembley. I’m sure they’d feel a lot safer doing that than facing Manu Tuilagi any day...

More details at www.saracensatwembley.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Joe Schmidt and Jono Gibbes to start for Leinster?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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