2020/21 Guinness Pro 1?: Round 1

[Leonormous Boozer]

Not going to lie, I've only put this up so early for the joke in the ***le. Early season Pro14 is only exciting for getting absolutely smashed drunk on a Friday night in the RDS.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Wait, didn't it only finish like two weeks ago?

 

[munstermuffin]

Expect the first few rounds to be like preseason games. No internationals either

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Wait, didn't it only finish like two weeks ago?

No rest for the disorganised. Honestly have no idea of the structure either, the SA teams might join in 2021, really strange stuff.

 

[Groundhog]

Format of the competition is.... Confusing. Pro 14 make it sound like there may be an opportunity for the Saffas to jump back in after the new year 11 rounds deep into the competition.

Monday night fixtures will be interesting. I know it was done to avoid clashing with internationals but with attendance a non factor for now I wonder if they will do relatively well viewing numbers wise with less competition.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Personally I'd he far more likely to watch ProWhatever game not involving Leinster on a Monday.

 

[Al Bangor]

I just checked and don't see any of these games on the ESPN+ schedule. And that sucks because they've been streaming PRO14 games for the past three seasons.

 

[big ginger 8]

Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets):

15. Hugo Keenan (18)
14. Jordan Larmour (50)
13. Garry Ringrose (76)
12. Ciarán Frawley (26)
11. James Lowe (47)
10. Johnny Sexton (167) CAPTAIN
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (93)
1. Ed Byrne (57)
2. Rónan Kelleher (15)
3. Michael Bent (140)
4. Scott Fardy (61)
5. James Ryan (39)
6. Rhys Ruddock (173)
7. Josh van der Flier (84)
8. Jack Conan (93)

16. Seán Cronin (185)
17. Cian Healy (220)
18. Andrew Porter (66)
19. Ryan Baird (10)
20. Max Deegan (64)
21. Luke McGrath (127)
22. Ross Byrne (89)
23. Tommy O'Brien (3)

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)

Much stronger than expected. The forward subs are a bit ridiculous. Interesting to see Keenan and Larmour swapping positions, probably the right call. Also glad to see Frawley getting time at 12 between our starting 10 and 13.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

God help the Dragons lol

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

 

[Groundhog]

Pretty sure the "stop please he's already dead" meme will apply at halftime too.

Wonder why Keenan and Larmour were swapped. Good to see Frawley in too he's a tidy player. Wonder how far we are away from Leavy time.

 

[Groundhog]

Ulster
15. Jacob Stockdale
14. Craig Gilroy
13. James Hume
12. Stewart Moore
11. Rob Lyttle
10. Michael Lowry
9. John Cooney

1. Jack McGrath
2. Rob Herring
3. Marty Moore
4. Sam Carter
5. Iain Henderson – captain
6. Matthew Rea
7. Sean Reidy
8. Marcell Coetzee

Replacements

16. Adam McBurney
17. Eric O'Sullivan
18. Gareth Milasinovich
19. David O'Connor
20. David McCann
21. Alby Mathewson
22. Bill Johnston
23. Louis Ludik.

 

[collace]

Excited by the 10, 12, 13 axis. Inexperienced but young guys with a bit of spark - hopefully they have a good game.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Pretty sure the "stop please he's already dead" meme will apply at halftime too.

Wonder why Keenan and Larmour were swapped. Good to see Frawley in too he's a tidy player. Wonder how far we are away from Leavy time.

End of that experiment I think. He's never really been as effective, worldie v Munster aside, from 15. Keenan on the other hand looked like he was stuck to Rob K's hip the last season, serious fielder.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Keenan's not a long term option at winger but he showed up well enough in the last few weeks to he considered in contention for a first choice spot going forward. His future for Leinster is at 15.

I don't think Larmour at 15 is as poor as some people think, he was brilliant there earlier in the season and had some good games after the bad showing against Munster. He was actually quite good in the air against Saracens. I do think he's probably more effecitve on the wing though and swapping him with Keenan is the right call.

 

[Groundhog]

Munster
15. Mike Haley
14. Andrew Conway
13. Chris Farrell
12. Damian de Allende
11. Darren Sweetnam
10. JJ Hanrahan
9. Craig Casey
8. CJ Stander
7. Jack O'Donoghue
6. Peter O'Mahony
5.Tadhg Beirne
4. Jean Kleyn
3. John Ryan
2. Rhys Marshall
1. James Cronin


Replacements: Kevin O'Byrne, Jeremy Loughman, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, Neil Cronin, Ben Healy, Rory Scannell.

Pretty happy with that. Gone pretty full strength here by all looks. Sweetnam goes straight back in. Good to see Coombes and Wycherley are there rather than Holland and Cloete/maybe O'Donnell as a sub. Both can play SR and BR. Also happy to see we've got three backs on the bench although slightly surprised we have both Scannell and Healy rather than a back three player. Casey's start is injury enforced, but good to see. Would have liked to see Knox at 18 as he's certainly more of a 'finisher' than Archer. Another one to note is Niall Scannell being out of the squad entirely, which is probably just rotation. O'Byrne has lovely hands for a hooker so he's a good man to bring on.

 

[sugary tae]

Going to be a big game in terms of the conference. Good team. Agreed great to see wych and Coombes ahead of Tod cloete Holland. Both did v well in the game v scarlets last year. Expect a big battle in the mud and scarlets backrow have some monsters currently.

haley is an ideal fb for a mudwrestle. Shows we need to strengthen in the front row.

 

[Groundhog]

Yeah Scarlets are naming a very strong side too.

Scarlets: Leigh Halfpenny; Tom Rogers, Jonathan Davies, Steff Hughes, Steff Evans; Dan Jones, Gareth Davies; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens (C), Werner Kruger; Jake Ball, Sam Lousi; Blade Thomson, Josh Macleod, Sione Kalamafoni.

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Phil Price, Javan Sebastian, Lewis Rawlins, James Davies, Kieran Hardy, Rhys Patchell, Tyler Morgan.

They have that string of **** Lousi playing. Should be a tight one.

 

[big ginger 8]

Dragons' tackle tech is so bad, loads of high shots.

We're playing some decent stuff though. Ringrose should really be used more as a kicker.

Losing Sexton and Frawley isn't ideal.

 

[Al Bangor]

ESPN+ just added the PRO14 games to their streaming schedule today. I wish I would have known earlier and I could have watched more than the 10 minutes I saw of the Ulster vs Benetton game.