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You'll have to settle for the Beta brother for your Round 3 intro this weekend. It promises to be by far the most competitive weekend of fixtures for the season so far, with the lower ranked teams generally hosting sides higher up in the standings.
Times below are UK (GMT+1) – note that Italian home fixtures routinely posted an hour late! Picks in bold.
Friday 15th
1930hrs - Dragons vs Connacht
From what I saw last week, the Dragons are a step up from last year, with a solid pack, a reliable (albeit old) fly half, and a cracking back three that should benefit from the new artificial surface. Connacht are the better side and have looked handy at the start of the season, but I'd make this a coin toss.
1935hrs – Edinburgh vs Treviso
Edinburgh were very inconsistent against the Dragons but should have too much against Treviso (although Treviso were very competitive for long stretches against Ulster by all accounts – and certainly in the last 20mins that I watched). Hoping to see my hero in the flesh tomorrow (and quietly cheer as he puts Edinburgh to the sword!)
1935hrs – Ulster vs Scarlets (BBC NI & BBC Wales)
Scarlets will go in as favourites against Ulster, particularly with Ulster's limited performance in Italy last week. Cooney at scrumhalf has caught the eye (and in my opinion justifies the IRFU rules around player development that saw Pienaar forced to leave). Ulster would make a huge statement in Conference B if they win this.
Saturday 16th
1415hrs – Kings vs Leinster
The South Africans would have to turn back a few more Leinster players at the airport if the makeshift Kings are to have any chance here. Leinster players should have flown to Zimbabwe and got a lift over the border in Grace Mugabe's car (a little bit of obscure politics for you there!)
1515hrs – Ospreys vs Munster (SkySports)
Ospreys have had a spluttering start to the season. Another slip up here and they are putting Glasgow in the driving seat for third place in Conference A. Match of the round possibly, with two potential finalists. Where is Rhys Webb!? He is required.
1930hrs – Cheetahs vs Zebre (Eurosport)
Zebre have been okay in the first two weeks, but are defensively frail, which is likely not a good combination against the Cheetahs attack. The Cheetahs will be under all kinds of pressure to win this though – lose and their debut season is effectively all but over already. Hopefully they'll have a proper fly half back from injury by now? If not, I quite fancy Zebre to stay off the bottom of their conference.
1935hrs – Blues vs Glasgow (S4C)
Blues are beautifully emulating their Super Rugby namesakes, by sinking to the bottom of the pecking order of their own nation's Pro teams despite being the capital city club. Warburton out for ages now doesn't help either. Glasgow a work in progress, but should be strong favourites here on an artificial surface.
Times below are UK (GMT+1) – note that Italian home fixtures routinely posted an hour late! Picks in bold.
Friday 15th
1930hrs - Dragons vs Connacht
From what I saw last week, the Dragons are a step up from last year, with a solid pack, a reliable (albeit old) fly half, and a cracking back three that should benefit from the new artificial surface. Connacht are the better side and have looked handy at the start of the season, but I'd make this a coin toss.
1935hrs – Edinburgh vs Treviso
Edinburgh were very inconsistent against the Dragons but should have too much against Treviso (although Treviso were very competitive for long stretches against Ulster by all accounts – and certainly in the last 20mins that I watched). Hoping to see my hero in the flesh tomorrow (and quietly cheer as he puts Edinburgh to the sword!)
1935hrs – Ulster vs Scarlets (BBC NI & BBC Wales)
Scarlets will go in as favourites against Ulster, particularly with Ulster's limited performance in Italy last week. Cooney at scrumhalf has caught the eye (and in my opinion justifies the IRFU rules around player development that saw Pienaar forced to leave). Ulster would make a huge statement in Conference B if they win this.
Saturday 16th
1415hrs – Kings vs Leinster
The South Africans would have to turn back a few more Leinster players at the airport if the makeshift Kings are to have any chance here. Leinster players should have flown to Zimbabwe and got a lift over the border in Grace Mugabe's car (a little bit of obscure politics for you there!)
1515hrs – Ospreys vs Munster (SkySports)
Ospreys have had a spluttering start to the season. Another slip up here and they are putting Glasgow in the driving seat for third place in Conference A. Match of the round possibly, with two potential finalists. Where is Rhys Webb!? He is required.
1930hrs – Cheetahs vs Zebre (Eurosport)
Zebre have been okay in the first two weeks, but are defensively frail, which is likely not a good combination against the Cheetahs attack. The Cheetahs will be under all kinds of pressure to win this though – lose and their debut season is effectively all but over already. Hopefully they'll have a proper fly half back from injury by now? If not, I quite fancy Zebre to stay off the bottom of their conference.
1935hrs – Blues vs Glasgow (S4C)
Blues are beautifully emulating their Super Rugby namesakes, by sinking to the bottom of the pecking order of their own nation's Pro teams despite being the capital city club. Warburton out for ages now doesn't help either. Glasgow a work in progress, but should be strong favourites here on an artificial surface.
