2020/21 Guinness Pro14 (minus 2) - Round 2

[Groundhog]

Fri 9/10
20:15 Dragons vs Zebre @ Rodney Parade

Sat 10/10
17:15 Ospreys vs Ulster @ Liberty Stadium
17:15 Benneton vs Leinster @ Stadio Comunale Di Monigo
19:35 Munster vs Edinburgh @ Thomond Park
19:35 Cardiff Blues vs Connacht @ Rodney Parade

17:15 Sun 11/10
Glasgow Warriors vs Scarlets @ Scotstoun Stadium

 

[Groundhog]

Munster:
15. Mike Haley
14. Andrew Conway
13. Alex McHenry
12. Rory Scannell
11. Matt Gallagher
10. Ben Healy
9. Craig Casey

1. Jeremy Loughman
2. Rhys Marshall
3. John Ryan
4. Fineen Wycherley
5. Tadhg Beirne
6. Jack O'Donoghue,
7.Tommy O'Donnell
8. CJ Stander (C).

Replacements: Kevin O'Byrne, James Cronin, Roman Salanoa, Gavin Coombes, John Hodnett, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley, Dan Goggin.

Much changed Munster side there. Few decisions I applaud which are the fact Healy is starting, Gallagher is starting O'Mahony has dropped out of the team based on a bad performance, McHenry who I am very high on is in rather unexpectedly and we have Salanoa, Coombes, Hodnett and Crowley all on the bench which is really exciting. Young players played in a big, high stakes game. Sweet as.

Edinburgh:
15. Damien Hoyland (76)
14. Darcy Graham (34)
13. Mark Bennett (39)
12. George Taylor (24)
11. Duhan van der Merwe (60)
10. Jaco van der Walt (59)
9. Nic Groom (13)

1. Rory Sutherland (85)
2. Stuart McInally (147) CO-CAPTAIN
3. WP Nel (143)
4. Ben Toolis (122)
5. Grant Gilchrist (152) CO-CAPTAIN
6. Jamie Ritchie (70)
7. Hamish Watson (112)
8. Nick Haining (15)

Replacements: 16. Mike Willemse (22) 17. Pierre Schoeman (45) 18 Simon Berghan (83) 19. Andrew Davidson (4) 20. Mesulame Kunavula (3) 21. Dan Nutton (2) 22. Nathan Chamberlain (3) 23. James Johnstone (51)

Fairly tough Edinburgh pack, I expect their scrum will be pretty dangerous. They're missing the likes of Kinghorn, Mata and Bradbury though. Could see a repeat of last year where are young lads just lose out to a good Edinburgh side.

 

[big ginger 8]

(15-9) Jacob Stockdale, Matt Faddes, James Hume, Stewart Moore, Rob Lyttle, Ian Madigan, John Cooney.

(1-8) Jack McGrath, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O'Connor, Iain Henderson (Capt.) , Matthew Rea, Marcus Rea, Marcell Coetzee.

Replacements: Adam McBurney, Eric O'Sullivan, Gareth Milasinovich, Kieran Treadwell, Greg Jones, David Shanahan, Louis Ludik, Sean Reidy.

Leinster Rugby (v Treviso)

15. Hugo Keenan
14. Jordan Larmour
13. Garry Ringrose CAPTAIN
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. James Lowe
10. Ross Byrne
9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Ed Byrne
2. James Tracy
3. Michael Bent
4. Ryan Baird
5. James Ryan
6. Caelan Doris
7. Will Connors
8. Jack Conan

16. Seán Cronin
17. Cian Healy
18. Tom Clarkson
19. Ross Molony
20. Rhys Ruddock
21. Luke McGrath
22. Harry Byrne
23. Jimmy O'Brien

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

 

[sugary tae]

Delighted to see some of the Munster Selection decisions. Good blend of experience with plenty of hungry young guns about to get their chance. Strong Edinburgh selection too.
Can't wait to see how hodnett and Crowley get on tbh. Mchenry getting his chance too. Lad has always looked composed and has never looked out of place.
Johann Has gotten plenty of online abuse but with selections like this nobody could complain.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

I predict home wins for all (even Benetton).

 

[Al Bangor]

Dragons
Ospreys
Leinster
Munster
Connacht
Glasgow

 

[big ginger 8]

Not looking good for Larmour.

 

[Groundhog]

Some of the young lads are struggling a small but with Edinburgh's physicality at times. Healy being targeted a bit, McHenry has had a few blushes and there are mistakes being made but happy enough with that first half even though we're down. Healy has a cannon of a boot, Casey is a heads up rugby player and Beirne and Stander have both been very good. O'Donoghue is very busy and I think Ryan is playing well too. Our pack looks on top but they have a lot of muscle in their backline.

 

[big ginger 8]

Casey squaring up to Hainig is gas.

Edinburgh's tackle tech is really poor.

 

[Groundhog]

Gerrup!!!! Delighted with that result and there was more positives than last week. Casey and Healy were excellent in their pairing especially Casey who I think was full value for his MOTM. Hodnett was excellent and played 50 minutes. He's definitely good to go at this level. Both Cronin and Ryan had really good shifts, Beirne became less effective as the game went on (and started killing the ball imo) but had a good performance. Stander put the team on his back at times and got the crucial try. We tried to play a bit of rugby out there with mixed results. The defense was monumental at times and bar a few slips that had us on our heels dominated the gainline when they came at us.
I think O'Donogue cost us a few times too many tonight and while his workrate is good his discipline is poor. Wycherley also needs to work on discipline a little bit. Don't have a huge amount to say about our back three to be honest because they saw **** all of the ball.

 

[munstermuffin]

Given our week. Last night was huge. And more impressive was it was a squad win driven by the younger lads up front I thought starting front row did well and all 3 replacements were huge in playing a part. Tadgh showed a different side last night and Fineen was his usual self. 9n the edge but good.
Backrow was very good and Hodnett doing as JVG said he would by pushing forward and staking a claim. CJ was again a true leader and not just in terms of the try but a calm captain and great attributes.
9 and 10. Need I say anything. Healy was massive and Craig was a swarming bee. But also must say Murray came in at right time and did contribute excellently too. His experience was important at that time. Centres were ok but thought Goggin was vital when he came in and calmed our backline. Back 3 was good. Not alot asked of them. I thought Haley was excellent in bossing lads around

 

[Al Bangor]

Kudos to Glasgow on their 20-7 victory over the Scarlets. Their defense came up big several times in final 20 minutes to secure the win.

#WeAreWarriors

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Scarlets nought from two, and on top of that they're losing thirteen players to Wales for several weeks. Had they been a bit more composed and accurate, they could have scored several times and won.