[2018-19 Guinness Pro 14] Round 17 (01-03/03/2019)

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Friday

Leinster vs Cheetahs

Saturday

Connacht vs Ospreys
Benetton vs Edinburgh
Scarlets vs Munster
Zebre vs Glasgow
Blues vs Kings

Sunday

Dragons vs Ulster


----------------------

The first three fixtures on Saturday are tasty and pretty much coin tosses.

The key questions this week:

Can Benetton put the boot into Edinburgh and close in on the playoffs?
Is it last chance saloon for the Cheetahs?
Can the Dragons throw a grenade into Conference B?
Will the Ospreys grind out a win like wounded animals?
Will me picking the Blues give the Kings a win?



The answers are all No!

 

[big ginger 8]

Leinster:

15. Dave Kearney
14. Adam Byrne
13. Rory O'Loughlin
12. Conor O'Brien
11. Fergus McFadden
10. Ross Byrne
9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Peter Dooley
2. Bryan Byrne
3. Michael Bent
4. Ross Molony
5. Scott Fardy
6. Rhys Ruddock (captain)
7. Max Deegan
8. Caelan Doris

Replacements:

16. James Tracy
17. Ed Byrne
18. Andrew Porter
19. Mick Kearney
20. Josh Murphy
21. Hugh O'Sullivan
22. Noel Reid
23. Barry Daly.

Cheetahs:

15. Louis Fouche
14. William Small-Smith
13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg
12. Dries Swanepoel
11. Rabz Axwane
10. Tian Schoeman
9. Tian Meyer

1. Ox Nche
2. Reinach Venter
3. Aranos Coetzee
4. Walt Steenkamp
5. JP du Preez
6. Gerhard Olivier
7. Abongile Nonkontwana
8. Junior Pokomela.

Replacements:

16. Jacques du Toit
17. Charles Marais
18. Luan de Bruin
19. Sintu Manjezi
20. Marnus van der Merwe
21. Henco Venter
22. Rudy Paige
23. Shaun Venter.


Connacht
15. Tiernan O'Halloran
14. Stephen Fitzgerald
13. Tom Farrell
12. Peter Robb
11. Matt Healy
10. Kyle Godwin
9. Kieran Marmion

1. Denis Buckley
2. Shane Delahunt
3. Finlay Bealham
4. Quinn Roux
5. Ultan Dillane
6. Eoin McKeon
7. Colby Fainga'a
8. Jarrad Butler (captain)

Replacements:

16. Tom McCartney
17. Peter McCabe
18. Conor Carey
19. James Cannon
20. Paul Boyle
21. Caolin Blade
22. Tom Daly
23. Cian Kelleher

Ospreys (v Connacht):
15. Dan Evans
14. Hanno Dirksen
13. Cory Allen
12. James Hook
11. Keelan Giles
10. Luke Price
9. Matthew Aubrey

1. Jordan Lay
2. Scott Baldwin
3. Tom Botha
4. James King
5. Bradley Davies
6. Olly Cracknell (captain)
7. Sam Cross
8. Rob McCusker

Replacements:

16. Scott Otten
17. Rowan Jenkins
18. Ma'afu Fia
19. Lloyd Ashley
20. Will Griffiths
21. Harri Morgan
22. Tom Williams
23. Luke Morgan


Ulster
Louis Ludik
Robert Baloucoune
Darren Cave
Stuart McCloskey
Rob Lyttle
Billy Burns
John Cooney

Eric O'Sullivan
Rob Herring
Marty Moore
Alan O'Connor (Captain)
Kieran Treadwell
Sean Reidy
Jordi Murphy
Nick Timoney



Replacements
Andrew Warwick
John Andrew
Wiehahn Herbst
Ian Nagle
Matthew Rea
David Shanahan
James Hume
Peter Nelson

Dragons (v Ulster)
Jordan Williams
Hallam Amos
Adam Warren
Jarryd Sage
Dafydd Howells
Josh Lewis
Rhodri Williams

Brok Harris
Richard Hibbard (Captain)
Lloyd Fairbrother
Joe Davies
Matthew Screech
Huw Taylor
Taine Basham
Harri Keddie

Replacements
Rhys Lawrence
Josh Reynolds
Leon Brown
Max Williams
Lennon Greggains
Tavis Knoyle
Jason Tovey
Tyler Morgan


Scarlets
15. Leigh Halfpenny
14. Ioan Nicholas
13. Kieron Fonotia (captain)
12. Paul Asquith
11. Johnny McNicholl
10. Dan Jones
9. Kieran Hardy

1. Wyn Jones
2. Ryan Elias
3. Werner Kruger
4. Josh Helps
5. Lewis Rawlins
6. Josh Macleod
7. Dan Davis
8. Uzair Cassiem

Replacements:



16. Marc Jones

17. Phil Price
18. Javan Sebastian
19. Tom Price
20. Will Boyde
21. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22. Rhys Patchell
23. Steff Evans

Munster:
15. Mike Haley
14. Ronan O'Mahony
13. Dan Goggin
12. Rory Scannell
11. Darren Sweetnam
10. Bill Johnston
9. Alby Mathewson

1. Jeremy Loughman
2. Rhys Marshall
3. John Ryan
4. Jean Kleyn
5. Billy Holland (captain)
6. Fineen Wycherley
7. Conor Oliver
8. Arno Botha

Replacements:

16. Kevin O'Byrne
17. Liam O'Connor
18. Stephen Archer
19. Darren O'Shea
20. Jack O'Donoghue
21. Neil Cronin
22. Tyler Bleyendaal
23. Jaco Taute

 

[Leinster Fan]

And that's Conference B mathematically wrapped up. In early March. And here I was told we were disrespecting the league.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Leinster's win against the Cheetahs was an appalling game. I was looking forward to seeing the Cheetahs because they like to throw the ball around but tonight they just kicked everything. The first half in particular was a snoozefest reminiscent of what the ELVs were in operation around a decade ago.

Still, top of the table with 4 rounds to go affords Leinster the chance to mix and match their squad wildly for the final few rounds.

 

[Chetto4]

Huge game for Benetton today, if they will find a way to win they will be in a good position to achieve what would be a historical result for italian rugby. Great to see them keeping on with the improvement after last season's good results. Crowley decided to stick almost completely with the same players that destroyed the Dragons last week and not using many of the guys released form the NT. The squad will be again a mix of young and promising italian and quality SH players, with the addition of McKinley at 10.
Edinburgh will be without Mata and van der Merwe, obviously a big blow for them. It will be a very interesting match!

Benetton Rugby: Luca Sperandio, Ratuva Tavuyara, Marco Zanon, Alberto Sgarbi (c), Monty Ioane, Ian McKinley, Dewaldt Duvenage, Toa Halafihi, Giovanni Pettinelli, Marco Lazzaroni, Niccolò Cannone, Irné Herbst, Marco Riccioni, Tomas Baravalle, Nicola Quaglio

Replacements: Hame Faiva, Derrick Appiah, Tiziano Pasquali, Robert Barbieri, Marco Barbini, Giorgio Bronzini, Antonio Rizzi, Tommaso Benvenuti

Edinburgh Rugby: Tom Brown, Damien Hoyland, James Johnstone, Chris Dean, Jack Blain, Jaco van der Walt, Henry Pyrgos (c), Pierre Schoeman, David Cherry, WP Nel, Fraser McKenzie, Callum Hunter-Hill, Luke Crosbie, Hamish Watson, Ally Miller

Replacements: Ross Ford, Rory Sutherland, Pietro Ceccarelli, Ben Toolis, Senitiki Nayalo, Nathan Fowles, Simon Hickey, Mark Bennett

 

[munstermuffin]

Well we are hit and miss today. But a win will be needed

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

High key supporting Munster until the final. A Leinster v Munster final in Glasgow will be lit!

 

[munstermuffin]

High key supporting Munster until the final. A Leinster v Munster final in Glasgow will be lit!

6 packs of buckfast

 

[bushytop]

Anyone know why the Connaught vs Ospreys ain't on Prem Sport?

 

[Leinster Fan]

Connacht are looking good. Marmion is playing well, which is good from an Irish perspective.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Is there anything more quintessentially Connacht than messing up two consecutive set pieces in the opposition 22 against 13 men?

 

[Ainsthrilln]

Benetton did it, though Rizzi's try was unclear to me.

Both teams were too afraid of losing the game.

Benetton has a huge opportunity this season to reach the play-offs, having a lead of 8 points against Edinburgh and maybe 9 with Scarlets (if Munster does its job), but the road will be bumpy, considering that the have to play in Galway and Dublin before hosting Munster. Getting only the 5 points against Zebre in last round probably will not be enough. Specially if Scarlets beat Edinburgh.

As per the game itself, I have hope in Cannone and Rizzi. They are playing great, all things considered

 

[Amiga500]

Anyone know why the Connaught vs Ospreys ain't on Prem Sport?

It was, was it not?

 

[Chetto4]

Benetton did it, though Rizzi's try was unclear to me.

Both teams were too afraid of losing the game.

Benetton has a huge opportunity this season to reach the play-offs, having a lead of 8 points against Edinburgh and maybe 9 with Scarlets (if Munster does its job), but the road will be bumpy, considering that the have to play in Galway and Dublin before hosting Munster. Getting only the 5 points against Zebre in last round probably will not be enough. Specially if Scarlets beat Edinburgh.

As per the game itself, I have hope in Cannone and Rizzi. They are playing great, all things considered

Great result, even if the performance wasn't that great.

I agree that Rizzi's try was unclear but I think there was a case for a tackle without the ball on him and a penalty try. Also, they were playing an advantage right in front of the posts and so the worst case scenario was getting 3 points and 11-10 up. And it's not like Edinburgh went close to score even three points after that moment...

I also agree that there's still some real work to do to get a top 3 spot in the Conference but this is a huge result and a great season so far for Benetton!

Great to see some young guys giving their contribution as well, there is still hope for italian rugby.

 

[Leinster Fan]

It was, was it not?

To be honest I think @bushytop would have been happier not watching.

 

[Groundhog]

Munster a disgrace so far. Haley should be arrested for murdering a sure try there. So incredibly selfish. Ball handling and effort against a beatable side is shameful

 

[Leinster Fan]

Munster have been woeful. 78% possession and three points in 38 minutes.

Although they're now up to the heady heights of 6.

 

[bushytop]

It was, was it not?

To be honest I think @bushytop would have been happier not watching.

I couldn't get it on my Virgin TiVo... I assume it was on Prem Sports 1 but all I got on my menu was 'This is Premier Sports' that simply had a freeze frame of three dudes in a studio... who 'looked' American to my untrained eye.

As @Leinster Fan suggests though... it was probably for the best.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Great results for Connacht and Benetton. If Treviso can make the playoffs it'll be a brilliant day for rugby.

Ospreys performance against Connacht was shameful though. The score of 46-5 flattered them. Their try came was a chargedown off the otherwise excellent Godwin, who was very good at 10. Marmion had a great game as well.

Leinster game was nothing special but there was some positives. Deegan was excellent, deserves some games at 8 despite doing impressively at flanker. Doris doesn't quite look ready at this level yet. Conor O'Brien continued his strong season, and O'Loughlin was great.

 

[bushytop]

Great results for Connacht and Benetton. If Treviso can make the playoffs it'll be a brilliant day for rugby.

Ospreys performance against Connacht was shameful though. The score of 46-5 flattered them. Their try came was a chargedown off the otherwise excellent Godwin, who was very good at 10. Marmion had a great game as well.

Leinster game was nothing special but there was some positives. Deegan was excellent, deserves some games at 8 despite doing impressively at flanker. Doris doesn't quite look ready at this level yet. Conor O'Brien continued his strong season, and O'Loughlin was great.

Who knows what has been going through the minds of the Ospreys players of late... constant stress is exhausting.