Guinness Pro14 2017-2018

[bushytop]

So, coming off the back of a great finish to last years championship from the Scarlet's. Followed by the fantastic drama of the Lions tour to New Zealand, and the news that the coming season will be rebooted with the inclusion of the SA duo. I am looking forward to this coming season more than any I can remember for a while.

The conference system together with the new play-off system are both interesting at the least, with the latter in particular sure to generate more excitement. Undoubtedly Munster and Leinster will be the favourites but I'm particularly excited to see how the Scarlet's deal with the pressure to perform at the level they produced during last seasons later stages. Gonna try to get to a few games at Parc y Scarlet's this year, hoping to see them hit their stride in person as I was so impressed.

For the sake of all teams involved, I hope that the season is viewed as 'enough' of a success that the league is able to negotiate a decent TV deal at the end of the current contracts. If they don't, the already massive finances between the English/French clubs will become insurmountable.

 

[profitius]

Fixtures are out.
http://www.pro14rugby.org/fixtures/


Heres the provisional TV list.
http://d2cx26qpfwuhvu.cloudfront.ne.../08/08165302/Confidential_Fixtures1718_V5.pdf

 

[Groundhog]

Oh my god this is tragic

They're tweeting out for an Out half

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Will actually pay attention to the pro 14 this season.

Quite interested in how it all pans out.

 

[Gavin]

Oh my god this is tragic

They're tweeting out for an Out half

That is horrendous.

 

[Groundhog]

Will actually pay attention to the pro 14 this season.

Quite interested in how it all pans out.

Tigs make a highlights tape of you doing relatively average things in an extremely limited context, split it into the segments tries (14 seconds, mainly walkovers), attack (carrying the ball reasonably well, but just blatantly directly into the defenders) and defense (where you make a tackle, illegally crab over the ball and cut the clip before you're penalised), set it to the background of the XX- Intro and call it something like 'Tigs Man: Ulster's great hope/ the Arrival', tweet it to Ulster Rugby and I'll hype man it for you with all the right people.
You'll be playing provincial rugby within weeks and I will have announced myself as an agent to the lucky and past it.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Tigs make a highlights tape of you doing relatively average things in an extremely limited context, split it into the segments tries (14 seconds, mainly walkovers), attack (carrying the ball reasonably well, but just blatantly directly into the defenders) and defense (where you make a tackle, illegally crab over the ball and cut the clip before you're penalised), set it to the background of the XX- Intro and call it something like 'Tigs Man: Ulster's great hope/ the Arrival', tweet it to Ulster Rugby and I'll hype man it for you with all the right people.
You'll be playing provincial rugby within weeks and I will have announced myself as an agent to the lucky and past it.

But wouldn't i have to move to Belfast?

 

[Groundhog]

But wouldn't i have to move to Belfast?

Mate come on it's only for a couple of rounds before their fans turn on you and they bring in a South African to replace the South African who was let go to allow Irish talent to come through! You'll be behind Brett Herron anyway, he's paved the way for you. A guy born in South Africa, developed at Bath and brought to Ulster because he was IQ!

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Mate come on it's only for a couple of rounds before their fans turn on you and they bring in a South African to replace the South African who was let go to allow Irish talent to come through! You'll be behind Brett Herron anyway, he's paved the way for you. A guy born in South Africa, developed at Bath and brought to Ulster because he was IQ!

True.

I'll see what i can do.

I hope they don't sign Andy Goode before that though.

 

[Groundhog]

True.

I'll see what i can do.

I hope they don't sign Andy Goode before that though.

Must be scary for them that they're facing playing an I think fairly unimpressive Irish Under 20 guy, some lad from the Wreck (lol) or some other babies. I saw on Boards that Stephen Donald and Handre Pollard were mentioned on some fan forum. The first I assume is satire, the second wishful thinking. Andy would demand a decent scrum half inside him to bring order and poise to a rugby field again.
Meanwhile Munster are sitting pretty on Beauden Barrett with a scrum cap, tee kicking ability, and game management skills, the prodigal sonrahan (AKA the most talented Irish rugby player ever who is willing to put his time in prison (Northampton) aside and an actually talented Irish under 20 with an injury profile that is bound to make him soon more machine than man.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

They have done what I'd hoped they would avoid with the fixtures. Edinburghs trip to SA clashes with the last November test. So a vastly understrength Edinburgh will face a full strength Cheetahs and Kings with almost no internationals, away from home. Care to predict the results of those fixtures?

On weekends when international players are unavailable I think Scottish and Italian sides should have been playing either:

a) at home to anyone
b) away to other Scottish and Italian sides (as they will be handicapped to a similar extent)

I'm sure an algorithm for fixtures could be drawn up to factor that in without too much difficulty. Still, it's only a minor blot on the copybook.

 

[Bluemoon]

Oh my god this is tragic

They're tweeting out for an Out half

Was this an attempt at a joke ... or was it serious? I can't get my head around it!

 

[Amiga500]

Must be scary for them that they're facing playing an I think fairly unimpressive Irish Under 20 guy, some lad from the Wreck (lol) or some other babies.

In Pete Nelson we trust....!

 

[Groundhog]

Was this an attempt at a joke ... or was it serious? I can't get my head around it!

I'm honestly not that sure to be honest. It's grim either way and tough times to be an Ulster fan. Of course the poor condition of their rugby team will always pale in comparison to the daily horror of their, and indeed all of our tenuous existence on a dying planet that we seem so unwilling to save despite an abundance of evidence screaming at us to act. What I'm saying is, I'm rooting for you Ulster fans. You'll pull through.

 

[Amiga500]

It's grim either way and tough times to be an Ulster fan.

If Jono Gibbs can work a miracle and Coetzee & Cooney can stay fit, then we can play a 9 man game with the ball.

It'll not be enough to win the league or anything, but hopefully win most/all of our home games and maybe nick a few on the road.

I think my aim this season for the team is just to not be seen as a soft touch. Anything more is a bonus.

 

[Groundhog]

If Jono Gibbs can work a miracle and Coetzee & Cooney can stay fit, then we can play a 9 man game with the ball.

There is another way....
They say that if you turn the lights off in your bathroom, face a mirror and say "Mad dog woof woof" three times, outline the IRFU's policy on picking foreign based players and throw £100'000 in the toilet Ian Madigan will come to your team, try chips from behind the try line and cry when you win.

 

[Bluemoon]

I'm honestly not that sure to be honest. It's grim either way and tough times to be an Ulster fan. Of course the poor condition of their rugby team will always pale in comparison to the daily horror of their, and indeed all of our tenuous existence on a dying planet that we seem so unwilling to save despite an abundance of evidence screaming at us to act. What I'm saying is, I'm rooting for you Ulster fans. You'll pull through.

Haha, yes. When you compare the state of Ulster's team to global warming, nuclear threat, Brexit and Katie Hopkins...

On a rugby front, a bit of perspective is always handy. Could be a Gwent Dragons fan. Or a Force fan. There's always a way back for Ulster. The question is more on the timing. I've been enjoying Cardiff's transition year for the past 7 years.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I completely missed the point that neutral ref teams were used for the first time last year. Although I support a ref's ability to be neutral on their home turf this is probably sensible from a business point of view given the ridiculous level of allegations of bias about refs that there is these days.

Presumably this means South African refs will only officiate in Europe and it'll only ever be NH ones in South Africa (outside of Cheetah vs Kings games).

http://www.pro14rugby.org/2017/08/17/greg-garner-appointed-elite-referee-manager-guinness-pro14/

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

The final is to be in Dublin for the second year running. I don't know what factors go on behind the scenes when making these decisions but that seems totally off to me.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

The final is to be in Dublin for the second year running. I don't know what factors go on behind the scenes when making these decisions but that seems totally off to me.

There was no bid from the WRU anyway, they chose to stage a concert in Cardiff instead. Scotland and Italy would be a lot more difficult to fill for the first 14 team version of the competition which I imagine was taken into consideration when trying to impress South Africans!