The big Irish clash this weekend is sure to be a thriller - will Ulster beat Connacht? :) Plus I'm going Boks and Pumas

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

The big match this weekend, the one we’ve all been waiting for, the big Irish derby, is of course between Connacht and Ulster. But let’s for sentimentalities sake imagine that the little matter of Leinster taking on Munster at the Aviva stadium – with 45000 people watching – is in fact the big Irish match taking place this weekend.  Munster come in of the back of a good beating at the hands of the Ospreys, while Leinster were thrashed by Connacht. Munster have at least put a few performances together this season, looking excellent in patches against the Dragons, and playing well against Ulster even if they lost. Leinster’s form, meanwhile has been – I think the technical term is crappy. Both teams want to use this match to springboard their seasons – I guess Leinster will win in their own back yard, but at this stage it’s hard to see how this will be the start of anything for either of them. Ulster should win their match easily enough I’d say. No good news on the Injury front either with Rob Kearney out  for months. And if we get Boss or Reddan back that would be a huge step forward.

The Rugby Championship has been wrapped up by New Zealand, so the matches left are dead rubbers now.  The All Blacks however are on a 15 match winning streak, and the Springboks always want to beat them, they are their favourite team to beat.  The match is in Soweto, I think the stadium holds 90000 people, and I’m going with the Springboks, notwithstanding the performance the All Blacks put in last weekend. I think the Springboks are going to be absolutely desperate for the win.

Meanwhile, the Wallabies have limped into Argentina with a severely depleted squad.  If you’re an Aussie supporter going to the match, bring your boots.  I think Australia are ripe for the taking, and that Argentina are going to get their first win.

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , October 5
Zebre vs Ospreys 
Ulster vs Connacht 19:05
Scarlets vs Newport-Gwent D'gons 19:05
Edinburgh vs Benetton Treviso 19:30
Saturday , October 6
Leinster vs Munster 18:30
Cardiff Blues vs Glasgow 18:30
Rugby Championship
Saturday , October 6
South Africa vs New Zealand 16:30
Argentina vs Australia 20:10

Lurching Leinster, magic Ulster, and wobbling Wallabies

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

I had to work late on Friday night, so that ruled out watching the Leinster game, then I had it on the hard drive – and, oh no, the kids deleted it so I didn’t get to see them getting pumped by Connacht. Leinster chops and change every week, scrum half is a problem, but lads, sort it out! Fair play to Connacht, even if it was Dan ‘Evil’ Parks, the nemesis of Leinster and Ireland on numerous occasions, who did a lot of the damage. Now, I wish I’d recorded the Ulster match instead – what a result! And that’s without a host of their big names. I watched bits and pieces of the Munster match – they are going two step forwards, one and half steps back at the moment. ROG is not playing great still, and that magic offloading game they had last weekend absent. Result for Treviso, and Zebre did well as well.

I watched the Springboks sort out Australia quite to my satisfaction on Saturday. I was amazed with how easily they did it – I know Australia were shipping injuries like rats leaving a sinking ship, but the Boks were hardly threatened at all. Look at what happens when you pick a fly half who doesn’t kick all the time. Their goal kicking was ordinary to say the least, otherwise it would have been a thumping for Aus. A player at the top of his game is Francois Lowe, his work on the ground, tackling and linking play between forwards and backs is pretty well faultless. Also in superlative form is Bryan Habana, who is a handful all over the pitch. Australia look down and out – they put in a decent 5 minute spell at the 60 minute mark, apart from that, they just didn’t look like they wanted to be there.

The AB’s wrapped up the Championship in fine style by smashing the Pumas in Argentina. The Pumas tried to open things up a bit, and paid the price. They have come on a lot over the last 6 weeks, and will be looking for their first win next weekend against the Aussies. The Al Blacks looked fairly flat in their last two games, but with Carter back in the seat it was business as normal again. Looking forward to that last game against the Springboks!

RaboDirect PRO12
Newport-Gwent D'gons 32 - 12 Edinburgh 
Connacht 34 - 6 Leinster 
Cardiff Blues  19 - 48  Ulster 
Glasgow 22 - 19 Zebre
Benetton Treviso 22 - 20 Scarlets 
Ospreys 30 - 15 Munster
Rugby Championship
Argentina 15 - 54 New Zealand
South Africa 31 - 8 Australia

Bowe's back, and New Zealand/Argentina is going to be a physical onslaught not seen I gave my ma lip all those years ago

Bowe's Back (picture http://bit.ly/V3P3uR)

The two big matches in the RDP12 are Cardiff Blues v Ulster, and Munster’s trip to play the Ospreys. Tommy Bowe gets to line up for Ulster for the first time in his return to the club. A worry for Ulster is their injury list and absentees, with some real star quality missing: Johann Muller, Stephen Ferris, Paddy McAllister, Chris Farrell, Robbie Diack, Ruan Pienaar, Roger Wilson, Declan Fitzpatrick, Rory Best.  Despite that, it’s going to be an emotional occasion for them, I think they’ll be really fired up and take this one.

Connacht welcome Leinster, who will arrive with Rob Kearney on the field for the first time this season. Madigan gets a start. With Cooney at 9, who’s blowing hot and cold, and a host of changes again from last week, could be a tough day the office for the boys in blue, but they should just about scrape it.

Munster have a tough assignment in the shape of the Ospreys. I had a taste for the Munster scrumming prowess in the burger queue at the Ploughing in Wexford. They are trying Earls and Laulala in centres would should be interesting but.. we’ll see. When are they going to put Murray there like I want them to? Billy Holland seems to be getting more game time under Rob Penney, and is playing well. On the results so far, I’d say Munster could well get an away win.

In the RC, Aus arrive in South Africa with a camp in discord, well as far as I can see from Dublin anyway. Copper is having all sorts of hissy fits, Curtley ‘Make mine a double’ Beale is at fly half. Nathan Sharpe is the only Aussie player not to have played fly half this season. Phipps and Beale at 9 and 10 is going to be challenging for all concerned I’d say. Meanwhile, in hold the press style, Heyneke Meyer has unveiled Johan Goosen at 10. That could be such a step up for SA rugby, their pack is stellar, world beating, and with a bit of attacking flair behind them now, I’m expecting big things from the Boks, with a good win.

In Argentina, the Pumas team is unchanged since their last outing, while Carter is back for the Blacks. I think if the All Blacks get home, it’ll be through old fashioned nous rather than anything else, because I reckon they are going to get slammed by Argentina. It’s going to be a physical onslaught not seen since I gave my ma lip all those years ago. I cannot wait, this is what the game is all about, 80 minutes of barely controlled violence.

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , September 28
Newport-Gwent D'gons vs Edinburgh 
Cardiff Blues vs Ulster 
Glasgow vs Zebre 
Connacht vs Leinster 
Ospreys vs Munster 18:30
Saturday , September 29
Benetton Treviso vs Scarlets 18:05
Rugby Championship
Saturday , September 29
South Africa vs Australia 17:00
Sunday , September 30
Argentina vs New Zealand 00:10

Leinster stagger along, and Connor Murray as a center?

Minutes silence for Nevin Spence at the RDS - Picture with kind thanks to @eoinmcdon

Well, I was a bit red faced watching Connacht after writing them off and seeing how well they got on.  That is such a well drilled team, they weren’t making up the numbers against Glasgow, they weren’t going for a point, they were going for a win, and pushed Glasgow all the way. I was impressed by Mathew Jarvis – what do you say we grab him for Ireland, or is he already tied in to Wales?

Leinster’s match, as did all the Pro 12 matches, started with a minutes silence for Nevin Spence, and then the Leinster crowd singing Stand Up For the Ulstermen. I was so impressed they did the minutes silence in England as well. Makes me proud of my sport.

Leinster still look vey rusty, they could easily have been the team in red they were that rusty. We all know Leinster have great backs, but their strength is always based on a rock solid pack, which it isn’t at the moment. They are trying to do all the pretty bits before the hard work is being done, which is why they are only scraping by. Come back Nathan Hines, pleeease. And we need a SOB like you can’t believe.  Scrumhalf is a bit of problem area, I’ve been impressed by John Cooney so far, but his inexperience told, passing to isolated players, kicking to nowhere in particular. It’ll only get better I suppose. I thought Fionn Carr was at the heart of everything did well, he  deserves to be up the pecking order now.

Munster meanwhile were in smashing form against the Dragons. They have fearsome forwards again, loose forwards to burn, and have developed an off loading game from somewhere that is going to take them far. Downey continues to impress. O’Gara doesn’t though, he is a bit out of sorts, which I suppose game time will fix. If I was the Munster coach (which, thankfully for all concerned, is not the case) I’d take Earls out of center and play him at full back. He’s a dangerous runner, but has all the ball handling and passing skills of a prop forward. Then I’d put Murray into the centre, and play a lot more of Kearney at Fly Half. I’m not blown away by Murray at scrum half, never have been, but with his size he’d make a great centre.

RaboDirect PRO12
Scarlets 16 - 23 Ospreys 
Glasgow 27 - 17 Connacht
Leinster 22 - 16 Edinburgh 
Cardiff Blues 34 - 18 Benetton Treviso 
Munster 33 - 13 Newport-Gwent D'gons

Rabo round up

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

Connacht kick things off for Ireland against Glasgow this weekend, and they’ll struggle to get anything out of that game, that’s for sure.

For Leinster, Rob Kearney and Gordon Darcy are back in contention, potentially joining Kev McLaughlin, Mike Ross, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Brian O’Driscoll, Eoin Reddan and Jonathan Sexton who played last week. Leinster always look a s rusty as anything at the start of the season,  and Edinburgh are sure to keep them honest at the RDS. They should win, and well if they put their minds to it.
For Munster, Simon Zebo is expected to be named in the squad as is Niall Ronan. The Dragons will provide an opportunity to bounce back after the defeat to Ulster..but also a potential banana skin as the Dragons can score trys pretty well. Home advantage to see them through though.

The Rugby Championship takes a break this weekend, no more manning up for a four hour rugby marathon on a Saturday morning.

Ulsters match against Zebre has been postponed as a mark of respect for Nevin Spence, and there will be various memorials at all the match’s this weekend. Ulster and the IRFU have opened books of condolences, and Leinster will have one open before the match on Saturday. You can post a message online here too: http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/chicagotribune/guestbook.aspx?n=nevin-spence&pid=159949236 Laying your life down trying to save your father and brother, you can’t ask for more than that, can you?

RIP Nevin Spence, Ulster/Munster was epic, and in the TRC Deon Greyling has the brainpower of an amoeba

RIP Nevin Spence (picture http://bit.ly/SrjaYg)

Rabid Round Up

I started the weekend watching an epic match between Ulster and Munster. Ulster were good value for the win, but I was hugely impressed by the way Munster stood up and fought. There actually was a wee bit of fighting to liven things up – mostly handbags, but passions as they say, ran high. Trimble had a stormer, with savage tackling, and Jackson is going from strength to strength. The Munster pack looks fearsome again, put Paulie and Ryan back in and then you’re going to have a pack. Lualua and Downey have added something in midfield. I’ve never been a fan of Downey but he does a job. I could see him as an option for Ireland against some teams – Wales or South Africa, when putting people on the ground is as important as anything else.

Leinster scraped home again – I think Treviso are way better that they are being given credit for this season. And Scarlets beat Connacht, as expected, but by less than Leinster lost to them. The Ospreys meanwhile, can’t buy a win – I knew they shouldn’t have sold Bowe!

TRC
The All Blacks/Springboks match was a smasher – literally. The Springboks persisted with their brain dead kick everything tactic, but in fairness, they nearly won it anyway. Their pack, man for man, is about as good as it gets at the moment, with a young back 5 that is only going to get better, and depth of note coming off the bench. Apart from Deon Greyling, where we are talking density. Three crucial penalties,  a yellow card and post match two week suspension. His  brain must hang out in chat rooms with amoeba and other single celled organisms. The All Balcks unloding game is awesome, as is their backline, but they are still a little off their normal excellent standard.

The Wallabies dragged themselves up by their bootlaces past a determined Pumas side. They just look completely out of sorts, and can’t be looking forward to playing Argentina or South Africa away. Genia is a big loss and Cooper is all over the place. The Pumas, meanwhile, will be 3 or 4 in the world any time soon.
Nevin Spence
I’m a bit lost for words here, such a young guy, loads of talent, losing his life in a tragic accident along with his father and brother. It’s just wrong when someone that young gets taken away. As a rugby community, all we can do is offer our condolences to his family.

RaboDirect PRO12
Ospreys 10 - 28 Glasgow 
Ulster 20 - 19 Munster 
Edinburgh 41 - 10 Zebre
Connacht 11 - 24 Scarlets
Newport-Gwent D'gons 5 - 16 Cardiff Blues 
Benetton Treviso 18 - 19 Leinster
Rugby Championship
New Zealand 21 - 11 South Africa 
Australia 23 - 19 Argentina

I'm going Ulster, Leinster, and the Sprinboks need to make the Pumas look like the Little Sisters of the Assumption to beat the All Blacks

What the Boks need to make the Pumas look like

Ulster V Munster is the big match this weekend, and for once the men in red know they have a big challenge ahead of themselves in Ulster.  Ferris, Tuohy, Henry and Trimble are all in the frame, but let’s be honest, the B team have been making a good fist of it without their internationals.  For Munster DOC is back, ROG, Earls and Murray on the bench. Munster have had a good start as well, but seem to be playing quite disjointed rugby at the moment. I’m going for an Ulster win, with Anscombe starting the stronger of the two new Kiwi coaches.

Leinster have a tricky enough away trip to Treviso. Treviso beat the Ospreys and didn’t disgrace themselves against Munster, with home advantage they would have watched with interest what the Scarlets got up to two weeks ago. Leinster’s Internationals are trickling back. Actually, with a bit of work on their defense the players from the last two weeks could do the business, as I’m not expecting Treviso to play Island style running rugby. If we contain their forwards, our backs should do the damage. So I’m going for an away win.
Connacht won’t best the Scarlets I don’t think, although they didn’t do badly against the Blues last week.

In the Rugby Championship, the Springboks are going to have to put in a performance that makes the Pumas look like the Little Sisters of the Assumption if they want to beat the All Blacks. They are going to have to beat the holy crap out of them basically. The Springboks have been a declining spiral since their first 20 minutes against the Pumas in Cape Town. They surely had it in them to beat Australia, but couldn’t and I don’t fancy their chances at all against the All Blacks. New Zealand haven’t really hit their straps, and the Boks could be wandering into a perfect storm. It’s the one game the Boks will always get themselves up for though.  I’m tending on a comfortable AB win.

In Aus, the Pumas will beat the Wallabies if they play like they did last weekend. Australia are shipping injuries at a rate of knots, and when Nathan Sharpe needs protection from the ref, you know their mettle has to be in doubt. However, I see the Wallabies shambling into enough to form to just about scrape this one.

RaboDirect PRO12
Friday , September 14
Ulster vs Munster 19:05
Ospreys vs Glasgow 19:05
Edinburgh vs Zebre 19:30
Saturday , September 15
Connacht vs Scarlets 15:00
Benetton Treviso vs Leinster 18:05
Newport-Gwent D'gons vs Cardiff Blues 18:30
Rugby Championship
Saturday , September 15
New Zealand vs South Africa 19:35
Australia vs Argentina 20:05