[2018-19 Guinness Pro 14] Round 7 (26 & 27/10/2018)

[Leonormous Boozer]

I reckon Lowry would have made the Irish squad if he had another month or two.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I reckon Lowry would have made the Irish squad if he had another month or two.

I'd like to see him get a shot at 10 for Ulster. He has far more upside than both Billy Burns and Johnny McPhillips.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Edinburgh had an embarrassing level of dominance over Zebre in the first half with territory, possession and the scrum, but played so conservative with it to only lead 13-3.

Zebre defend stoutly throughout, get the bounce of the ball second half and get a big BP win. Bradley & Troncon's stock rises a bit further and their ability to engineer a comeback, with a much improved second half scrum. I didn't see this one coming!

 

[Tooting Carmen]

That Leinster team isn't much different to the selection they often put out in the league, even with all their players available!

 

[Amiga500]

Hopefully Lowry hasn't fked his ACL tonight! Would be a massive downer on things.

Aside from that, heavy weather of winning. Set piece utterly brutal.

Calling it now - Ireland need to find another starting hooker. We won't make it far beyond the groups with Rory Best current throwing - its awful (and no, mostly its not the lifters/jumpers). Our scrum is also awful.

Scrum dismantled by the "mighty" Dragons. At home.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Given the situation with injuries and international call ups, that's a big win for the Scarlets.

And likewise for the Ospreys against a more-or-less full-strength Connacht.

 

[bushytop]

And likewise for the Ospreys against a more-or-less full-strength Connacht.

Great result but wow they almost screwed the pooch harder than Freddie Burns.

 

[dullonien]

Great result but wow they almost screwed the pooch harder than Freddie Burns.

Yeah, thought they'd screwed that one up. McCusker was a complete liability in that game, very lucky not to pick up a red not once but twice (the blatant push in the lineout deserved another yellow imo).

Some very good performances from some very young players. Harri Morgan was excellent at scrum half, what a player he could become! Thomas-Wheeler was also excellent at 12 up against Aki.

Hopefully Clarke realises that this is a much better way of introducing young players. There was a good mix of experience and youth tonight, instead of some of his crazy selections this season which he's learnt very little from!

Great to see Sam Davies back playing well again too. Still a far bit to go until he's back to where he was a couple of seasons back, but he was pulling the strings again tonight, with players running off him and Sam mixing his passing well. Lovely cross field for Giles' second try too.

They're still one or two players up front away from being a very food side again (lacking at 3 and 8), but they're starting to develop some real depth in the backline.

 

[bushytop]

Yeah, thought they'd screwed that one up. McCusker was a complete liability in that game, very lucky not to pick up a red not once but twice (the blatant push in the lineout deserved another yellow imo).

Some very good performances from some very young players. Harri Morgan was excellent at scrum half, what a player he could become! Thomas-Wheeler was also excellent at 12 up against Aki.

Hopefully Clarke realises that this is a much better way of introducing young players. There was a good mix of experience and youth tonight, instead of some of his crazy selections this season which he's learnt very little from!

Great to see Sam Davies back playing well again too. Still a far bit to go until he's back to where he was a couple of seasons back, but he was pulling the strings again tonight, with players running off him and Sam mixing his passing well. Lovely cross field for Giles' second try too.

They're still one or two players up front away from being a very food side again (lacking at 3 and 8), but they're starting to develop some real depth in the backline.

Apart from the team selections against Munster and Worcester (which have both been mitigated somewhat by the games to follow) I think Clarke has done really well this season. I feared for the O's going into this term (& things could still go wrong although I hope not) but I feel that Osprey fans can't really have too many complaints.

Edwards has probably played a significant role in the sides organisation but Sherratt looks to have improved things also... and agreed on Harri Morgan, could be a top player.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Leinster getting the ultimate revenge. Beat the home side in the most boring fashion possible so as not to grow the game.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Was there a forward pass there? I couldn't see one.

 

[Amiga500]

Munster getting a bit of a doing at home here.

 

[Groundhog]

Munster getting a bit of a doing at home here.

Worked out alright in the end. Bit of daylight robbery and they played crap but still a memorable win. Thought the ref was good today our discipline is horrendous. Something for coaches to look at and some of the defensive reads were horrendous too which isn't reflecting well on Ferreira. They're technically sound enough and hard tacklers but the positioning is off by miles at time.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Admittedly a little disappointed that I couldn't ask some "pressing" questions of the Van Graan coaching ticket but had it been a different result I'd have been disappointed that Glasgow got an historic win.

 

[Hanley!]

It's great when you go back and watch highlights on Youtube two years later, but sometimes I wish I supported a team that didn't make every game quite so dramatic ...

I thought we looked incredibly comfortable for the first half hour, and it looked like the win was going to come easy, and then suddenly the wheels came off. We were lucky to get the win in the end, though Scannell should take a huge amount of credit for that last kick in tough conditions.

I get the impression that a lot of it was probably down to some of the players being knackered. It's been a tough few weeks with a lot of our best players getting very little in terms of time off, particularly considering the injuries in certain positions. Hopefully that's the reason for some of the defensive lapses, because Glasgow ripped us open far too easily for a couple of those tries.

I imagine Glasgow will still be happy, sitting pretty comfortably on the top of the Pool, but at least they didn't pull away further.

 

[Groundhog]

Think Van Graan was always an unknown quantity after we were left in the lurch by Rassie. He says all the right things in the media but I have no idea of his coaching chops. Jones and Flannery are still very young coaches who have only experienced this club so they need an experienced guy above them. Not willing to right off Van Graan but we have a pretty talented team with very few excuses for awful play. I'm slightly reminded of us under Penny right now as they're definitely trying to play wider and probably have better personnel to do it but it's not coming off as well as it should yet. I'm glad we're at the very least trying to use Carberry to his strengths. He's looked phenomenal. Earls was great tonight and O'Mahony is one of the top lineout men around. Mathewson is the best joker we've had in our memory. I know Williams makes him look like a stallion, but he's an absolute terrier who would start for plenty of European teams. Even his communication around the ruck is so noticeable.

 

[Hanley!]

It's an incredibly young coaching ticket too, so its hard to know what the potential is there. Van Graan might go on to become a really special coach, but we obviously lost a lot when Erasmus and Nienaber left. If they had stayed on and we were able to build some momentum, I reckon Munster would be a level above where they are now at this stage. But I'd like to think that after a couple of seasons in the saddle, Van Graan can take us further too.

Chopping and changing coaches regularly rarely solves problems, so I'm by no means writing Van Graan off just yet.

 

[munstermuffin]

Lads we weren't great but factor in alot of guys have played way too much IMO. Great to get the win with tired bodies. As I said I presume we were allowed play likes of POM etc on basis theu aren't going to USA

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Cardiff Blues faltered badly against the Cheetahs - their set-piece in particular was often abysmal and ruined some potential attacking chances.

 

[Leinster Fan]

I reckon Lowry would have made the Irish squad if he had another month or two.

I'd say he'll be in for the 6N. Pity though because he obviously wouldn't be involved except maybe off the bench v Italy. He's got some talent though. I'd like to see Ulster give him a run at 10.