[2018-19 Guinness Pro 14] Round 2 (07 & 08/09/2018)

[TRF_heineken]

Friday, 7 September 2018

VS.

Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Time: 20:35 CAT (SA, GMT+2)

VS.

Venue: Scotstoun Stadium
Time: 20:35 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

Saturday, 8 September 2018

VS.

Venue: Rodney Parade
Time: 16:00 CAT (SA, GMT+2)

VS.

Venue: Sportsground
Time: 18:15 CAT (SA, GMT+2)

VS.

Venue: Liberty Stadium
Time: 18:30 CAT (SA, GMT+2)

VS.

Venue: Stadio Comunale di Monigo
Time: 20:30 CAT (SA, GMT+2)

VS.

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Time: 20:30 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

 

[Amiga500]

I'm liking the improved competitiveness in the league carrying over from last season.

Instead of seeing maybe one game which is gonna be a cruncher, I see 4 or 5.

Edinburgh looking to bounce back against us who are probably still fragile but look promising.
Munster vs. Glasgow, both wanting to lay down an early season marker.
Connacht vs. Zebre is of good interest - is Andy Friend's tenure going to be defined by glorious defeats? Are Zebre going to make further steps from last season?
Treviso vs The Blues; can the Italian momentum carry on? Where are the Blues mentally after last weekend?
Scarlets vs Leinster; nothing needs to be said.


Somewhat surprisingly, its only the games with the SA teams that look a bit dead rubbery - due to their poor showings last weekend. If the Kings were handy, then Jackman at Dragons would be under pressure to get a result - as it stands I think they'll win easily enough. The Ospreys almost certainly have too much for a Cheetahs side that looks to have been raided badly over the close season.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I'm liking the improved competitiveness in the league carrying over from last season.

Instead of seeing maybe one game which is gonna be a cruncher, I see 4 or 5.

Edinburgh looking to bounce back against us who are probably still fragile but look promising.
Munster vs. Glasgow, both wanting to lay down an early season marker.
Connacht vs. Zebre is of good interest - is Andy Friend's tenure going to be defined by glorious defeats? Are Zebre going to make further steps from last season?
Treviso vs The Blues; can the Italian momentum carry on? Where are the Blues mentally after last weekend?
Scarlets vs Leinster; nothing needs to be said.


Somewhat surprisingly, its only the games with the SA teams that look a bit dead rubbery - due to their poor showings last weekend. If the Kings were handy, then Jackman at Dragons would be under pressure to get a result - as it stands I think they'll win easily enough. The Ospreys almost certainly have too much for a Cheetahs side that looks to have been raided badly over the close season.

Yeah, I think this first few games will be very bad for the SA teams. This year they didn't have the luxury to play many games ahead of the season, but here's hoping that they'll be able to finish better and not be decimated by injuries like last year. I think it's just a matter of time before they get their groove...

 

[collace]

Ulster: Addison; Gilroy, Cave, McCloskey, Speight; Burns, Cooney; Warwick, Herring, Kane, Treadwell, Henderson, Coetzee, Murphy, Timoney.

Replacements: McBurney, O'Sullivan, Herbst, O'Connor, Reidy, Shanahan, Curtis, Kernohan.

Edinburgh: Kinghorn; Fife, Bennett, Scott, Brown; Hickey, Pyrgos; Schoeman, McInally, Nel, Toolis, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Ritchie, Mata.

Replacements: Ford, Dell, McCallum, McKenzie, Crosbie, Kennedy, van der Walt, Johnstone.

Proper excited about a back row of Coetzee, Murphy and Timoney. We all know how good Coetzee and Murphy are and Timoney is an excellent player - he does a huge amount of unseen work and has a massive engine.

 

[bazwaz]

Glasgow Warriors

15 Stuart Hogg

14 Tommy Seymour
13 Nick Grigg
12 Peter Horne
11 DTH van der Merwe

10 Adam Hastings
9 George Horne

1 Oli Kebble
2 Fraser Brown
3 Zander Fagerson
4 Robert Harley
5 Jonny Gray
6 Ryan Wilson (Co-Captain)
7 Callum Gibbins (Co-Captain)
8 Adam Ashe

Substitutes

16 George Turner
17 Jamie Bhatti
18 D'arcy Rae
19 Scott Cummings
20 Matt Fagerson
21 Ali Price
22 Alex Dunbar
23 Nikola Matawalu

Players unavailable due to injury: Brian Alainu'uese (back), Bruce Flockhart (shoulder), Chris Fusaro(head), Siua Halanukonuka (foot), Sam Johnson (head / knee), Huw Jones (wrist), Lee Jones (achilles), Lelia Masaga (shoulder), Kiran McDonald (hand) and Tim Swinson (lower limb)

 

[bazwaz]

https://munsterrugby.ie/2018/09/06/kick-off-tv-glasgow-warriors-v-munster/

Munster:
Mike Haley; Darren Sweetnam, Sammy Arnold, Rory Scannell, Shane Daly; JJ Hanrahan, Neil Cronin; Dave Kilcoyne, Mike Sherry, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland (C); Dave O'Callaghan, Tommy O'Donnell, Arno Botha.

Replacements: Rhys Marshall, James Cronin, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne, Duncan Williams, Joey Carbery, Jaco Taute.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

https://munsterrugby.ie/2018/09/06/kick-off-tv-glasgow-warriors-v-munster/

Munster:
Mike Haley; Darren Sweetnam, Sammy Arnold, Rory Scannell, Shane Daly; JJ Hanrahan, Neil Cronin; Dave Kilcoyne, Mike Sherry, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland (C); Dave O'Callaghan, Tommy O'Donnell, Arno Botha.

Replacements: Rhys Marshall, James Cronin, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne, Duncan Williams, Joey Carbery, Jaco Taute.

Great to see Neil Cronin get another chance. He was really impressive against the Cheetahs last week.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Munster, Leinster and Blues ( ) for away wins.

I don't think there is much upside for the Italians compared to last season, so mid-table sides in reasonable form should be a step too far for them.

The Pro14 Hour was a bit better than last week, in part due to having Eddie O'Sullivan on hand. The webcam feed with the Welsh guy with the shaky hand was pure comic cuts though.

My upset of the week prediction is that the Kings will lose by less than 18!

 

[collace]

I'm out tonight so won't be at the game but am having trouble recording on Premier Sports 1 HD on Sky. I get an error message saying this programme cannot be recorded.

Anyone else having issues?

 

[sugary tae]

https://munsterrugby.ie/2018/09/06/kick-off-tv-glasgow-warriors-v-munster/

Munster:
Mike Haley; Darren Sweetnam, Sammy Arnold, Rory Scannell, Shane Daly; JJ Hanrahan, Neil Cronin; Dave Kilcoyne, Mike Sherry, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland (C); Dave O'Callaghan, Tommy O'Donnell, Arno Botha.

Replacements: Rhys Marshall, James Cronin, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne, Duncan Williams, Joey Carbery, Jaco Taute.

Both teams have good teams out. It'll be spicy as always so good to see how Cronin and Daly do at this level. Maybe I'm wrong but I think Daly could be a more complete player than whooton. Definitely there's more depth coming through. Interesting to see how Wycherley gets on.....while disappointing/stupid to see him sent off last time it was still nice to see a lad have a bit of bite when we were getting an absolute paddling. Think he could be a good one in the long run.

A very important game in the long term of the season. Munster were always second in the conference last year after the Glasgow loss. It's good to see such a rivalry exist outside of the derbies. It certainly won't be a tickling competition tonight

 

[bazwaz]

Cheetahs team in for another hard day at the office...

15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 William Small-Smith, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter (captain), 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Walt Steenkamp, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Ernst Stapelberg/Marnus van der Merwe, 23 Ryno Eksteen

 

[bazwaz]

CONNACHT: Tiernan O'Halloran; Cian Kelleher, Eoin Griffin, Kyle Godwin, Matt Healy; Jack Carty, Caolin Blade; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham; Gavin Thornbury, Quinn Roux; Sean O'Brien, Jarrad Butler, Paul Boyle.

Replacements: Shane Delahunt, Conán O'Donnell, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, James Cannon, Colby Fainga'a, Kieran Marmion, Craig Ronaldson, Niyi Adeolokun.

 

[bazwaz]

Scarlets

15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens ©, 3 Samson Lee, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Steve Cummins, 6 Blade Thomson, 7 James Davies, 8 Josh Macleod

Replacements; Ryan Elias, Phil Price, Werner Kruger, Lewis Rawlins, Ed Kennedy, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Paul Asquith, Ioan Nicholas

Unavailable due to injury; Aaron Shingler, Jonathan Davies, Rhys Patchell, Wyn Jones, Uzair Cassiem, Dylan Evans, Jonathan Evans, Will Boyde, Angus O'Brien

 

[bazwaz]

Cardiff Blues:
Matthew Morgan; Jason Harries, Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo, Owen Lane; Jarrod Evans, Lloyd Williams; Brad Thyer, Kristian Dacey, Dmitri Arhip, George Earle, Rory Thornton, Josh Turnbull, Ellis Jenkins (capt), Nick Williams.

Replacements: Ethan Lewis, Rhys Gill, Dillon Lewis, Josh Navidi, Olly Robinson, Tomos Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Garyn Smith.

 

[bazwaz]

Leinster

15. Jordan Larmour (22)
14. Fergus McFadden (170)
13. Rory O'Loughlin (43)
12. Robbie Henshaw (24)
11. James Lowe (13)
10. Ross Byrne (50)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (52)
1. Cian Healy (191)
2. Seán Cronin (153)
3. Tadhg Furlong (84)
4. Devin Toner
5. Ian Nagle (18)
6. Josh Murphy (10)
7. Rhys Ruddock (143)
8. Jack Conan (74)

16. James Tracy (67)
17. Peter Dooley (48)
18. Andrew Porter (31)
19. Mick Kearney (36)
20. Max Deegan (22)
21. Luke McGrath (96)
22. Noel Reid (101)
23. Joe Tomane (1)

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)


Read more at https://www.pro14rugby.org/2018/09/07/leinster-rugby-team-to-face-scarlets/#IWZ3EKpdu7TYwb5U.99

 

[bazwaz]

OSPREYS :
D. Evans; G. North, S. Williams, O. Watkin, T. Williams; S. Davies, A. Davies; N. Smith, S. Otten, T. Botha, B. Davies, A. W. Jones, D. Lydiate, J. King, J. Tipuric (capt).

Replacements: S. Baldwin, R. Jones, A. Jeffries, A. Beard, S. Cross, T. Habberfield, J. Hook, J. Thomas.



Zebre

15 Edoardo Padovani*
14 Mattia Bellini
13 Giulio Bisegni
12 Nicolas De Battista
11 Giovanbattista Venditti*
10 Carlo Canna
9 Marcello Violi*

8 Renato Giammarioli*
7 Johan Meyer
6 Matu Tevi
5 George Biagi (cap)
4 David Sisi
3 Giosué Zilocchi*
2 Oliviero Fabiani
1 Andrea Lovotti*

Replacements:

16 Massimo Ceciliani*
17 Daniele Rimpelli*
18 Roberto Tenga
19 Apisai Tauyavuca
20 Jimmy Tuivaiti
21 Guglielmo Palazzani
22 Francois Brummer
23 Tommaso Boni*

 

[Leinster Fan]

That

Leinster

15. Jordan Larmour (22)
14. Fergus McFadden (170)
13. Rory O'Loughlin (43)
12. Robbie Henshaw (24)
11. James Lowe (13)
10. Ross Byrne (50)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (52)
1. Cian Healy (191)
2. Seán Cronin (153)
3. Tadhg Furlong (84)
4. Devin Toner
5. Ian Nagle (18)
6. Josh Murphy (10)
7. Rhys Ruddock (143)
8. Jack Conan (74)

16. James Tracy (67)
17. Peter Dooley (48)
18. Andrew Porter (31)
19. Mick Kearney (36)
20. Max Deegan (22)
21. Luke McGrath (96)
22. Noel Reid (101)
23. Joe Tomane (1)

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)


Read more at https://www.pro14rugby.org/2018/09/07/leinster-rugby-team-to-face-scarlets/#IWZ3EKpdu7TYwb5U.99

That's a much stronger team than I'd thought we'd see tbh. Despite it being a big game away to the Scarlets, to see so many people who were in Australia back at this stage of the season in a world cup year is surprising. That said the lack of Scott Fardy is a big blow, even if having Dev makes up for it somewhat. Given the strength of the team I think we've got a great chance while before I saw the team I though we'd be doing well to nick an lbp. I'm cautiously optimistic and in the in the spirit if supporting my team I'm going to go Leinster by 5.

 

[MikeTheNative]

That Leinster team is rather good, not often you see them put out a team as strong as that this early on.

 

[Amiga500]

I'm out tonight so won't be at the game but am having trouble recording on Premier Sports 1 HD on Sky. I get an error message saying this programme cannot be recorded.

Anyone else having issues?

Can you access the online system and watch on catchup?

https://www.premierplayer.tv

 

[big ginger 8]

Some comeback for Ulster here.